Read Online The Lemonade War by Jacqueline Davies - Free Book Online
Authors: Jacqueline Davies
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wanted face painting
and
hair braiding
and
fingernail polishing
and
toenail polishing. One boy had asked for face paintings on both cheeks, both arms, and his stomach. One girl begged for lots of little braids with ribbons woven in. And the nail polishing! They all wanted different colors and decals, and it was impossible to get them to sit still long enough for the polish to dry.
"We're going to run out of lemonade," Megan had said to Jessie at noon, as the line stretched all the way to the street.
"Pour half-cups instead of full ones," whispered Jessie. "It has to last."
Jessie and Megan had each made twenty-four dollars on lemonade, but they'd worked eight hours to do it. At the end of the day, they'd agreed: A good idea, but
not worth it!
After breakfast, Jessie pulled out her lock box and sat on her bed. She kept the box hidden in her closet on a shelf under some sweaters. She kept the key in a plastic box in her desk drawer. The plastic
box was disguised to look exactly like a pack of gum. You would never know it was hollow and had a secret sliding panel on its side.
Jessie unlocked the box and opened the lid. First she took out the three torn slips of paper. There was one for
value-added
and one for
goodwill.
There was also a new one that Jessie had added last night:
Jessie lined up all three scraps of paper on the bed beside her. She wasn't sure why she was saving these words, but she felt like they belonged in her lock box.
Next, she took out her lemonade earnings. Every day, Megan had squealed over how much money
they'd made. But every day, Jessie had known:
It's not enough. It's not going to be enough to win.
Jessie counted the money. So far, she had earned forty dollars. It was a lot of money. But it wasn't nearly enough. She still needed to earn sixty more dollars. And today was Saturday. Only two more selling days before she and Evan counted their earnings on Sunday night. How was she going to sell enough lemonade to earn sixty dollars in two days?
She couldn't. That was the problem. No kid could earn a hundred dollars in just five days by selling lemonade. The
profit margin
was too small. She knew because she'd used her calculator to figure it out last night.
The numbers said it all. There was no way two girls in one neighborhood could sell 375 cups of lemonade. Nobody wanted
that
much lemonade, no matter how hot the day was.
Jessie looked at the money in her lock box and the page of calculations on her desk. Any other kid would have quit. But Jessie wasn't a quitter. (On
good days, Jessie's mom called her
persistent.
On bad days, she told her she
just didn't know when enough was enough.
)
Jessie reached for
Ten Bright Ideas to Light Up Your Sales.
It was on her bedside table, right next to
Charlotte's Web.
Jessie's hand hovered. She looked longingly at Wilbur and Fern watching Charlotte hanging by a thread.
But this was war, and she couldn't stop to read for fun.
She grabbed the booklet and opened it to Bright Idea #6.
An hour later, she had a new scrap of paper stashed in her lock box and a whole new page of calculations on her desk. It might work. It
could
work. But she and Megan would have to risk everythingâ
everything
they'd earned over the past three days. And Jessie would have to be braver than she had ever been in her whole life.
Jessie carried her lock box and calculations downstairs. She went into the kitchen and pulled down the school directory, scanning the names of
all the third-grade girls from last year. She knew them allâfrom Evan, from recess, from the lunchroom. Knew who they were. Knew their faces. Which ones were nice. Which ones were not so nice. But she didn't
really
know any of them. Not enough to call them up. Not enough to say, "Want to do something today?" Not enough to ask, "Would you like to have a lemonade stand with me?"
These girls were going to be her classmates. Jessie felt her face grow hot and her upper lip start to sweat. What was it going to
and
hair braiding
and
fingernail polishing
and
toenail polishing. One boy had asked for face paintings on both cheeks, both arms, and his stomach. One girl begged for lots of little braids with ribbons woven in. And the nail polishing! They all wanted different colors and decals, and it was impossible to get them to sit still long enough for the polish to dry.
"We're going to run out of lemonade," Megan had said to Jessie at noon, as the line stretched all the way to the street.
"Pour half-cups instead of full ones," whispered Jessie. "It has to last."
Jessie and Megan had each made twenty-four dollars on lemonade, but they'd worked eight hours to do it. At the end of the day, they'd agreed: A good idea, but
not worth it!
After breakfast, Jessie pulled out her lock box and sat on her bed. She kept the box hidden in her closet on a shelf under some sweaters. She kept the key in a plastic box in her desk drawer. The plastic
box was disguised to look exactly like a pack of gum. You would never know it was hollow and had a secret sliding panel on its side.
Jessie unlocked the box and opened the lid. First she took out the three torn slips of paper. There was one for
value-added
and one for
goodwill.
There was also a new one that Jessie had added last night:
Jessie lined up all three scraps of paper on the bed beside her. She wasn't sure why she was saving these words, but she felt like they belonged in her lock box.
Next, she took out her lemonade earnings. Every day, Megan had squealed over how much money
they'd made. But every day, Jessie had known:
It's not enough. It's not going to be enough to win.
Jessie counted the money. So far, she had earned forty dollars. It was a lot of money. But it wasn't nearly enough. She still needed to earn sixty more dollars. And today was Saturday. Only two more selling days before she and Evan counted their earnings on Sunday night. How was she going to sell enough lemonade to earn sixty dollars in two days?
She couldn't. That was the problem. No kid could earn a hundred dollars in just five days by selling lemonade. The
profit margin
was too small. She knew because she'd used her calculator to figure it out last night.
The numbers said it all. There was no way two girls in one neighborhood could sell 375 cups of lemonade. Nobody wanted
that
much lemonade, no matter how hot the day was.
Jessie looked at the money in her lock box and the page of calculations on her desk. Any other kid would have quit. But Jessie wasn't a quitter. (On
good days, Jessie's mom called her
persistent.
On bad days, she told her she
just didn't know when enough was enough.
)
Jessie reached for
Ten Bright Ideas to Light Up Your Sales.
It was on her bedside table, right next to
Charlotte's Web.
Jessie's hand hovered. She looked longingly at Wilbur and Fern watching Charlotte hanging by a thread.
But this was war, and she couldn't stop to read for fun.
She grabbed the booklet and opened it to Bright Idea #6.
An hour later, she had a new scrap of paper stashed in her lock box and a whole new page of calculations on her desk. It might work. It
could
work. But she and Megan would have to risk everythingâ
everything
they'd earned over the past three days. And Jessie would have to be braver than she had ever been in her whole life.
Jessie carried her lock box and calculations downstairs. She went into the kitchen and pulled down the school directory, scanning the names of
all the third-grade girls from last year. She knew them allâfrom Evan, from recess, from the lunchroom. Knew who they were. Knew their faces. Which ones were nice. Which ones were not so nice. But she didn't
really
know any of them. Not enough to call them up. Not enough to say, "Want to do something today?" Not enough to ask, "Would you like to have a lemonade stand with me?"
These girls were going to be her classmates. Jessie felt her face grow hot and her upper lip start to sweat. What was it going to
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