Read Online Zoe in Wonderland by Brenda Woods - Free Book Online Page B

protected from the sun or cold weather . . . so it can grow and bloom.”
    â€œOh. Am I like that?” I asked.
    â€œYes,
my Zoe
. I love you. G’night.”
    â€œG’night.”
    And then the light was out, the door was closed, and Daddy Reindeer was gone.
    I wanted to holler, Come back! Come back so I can ask you another question.
    Am I ugly?

20
    The Day After Trouble Day
    T he next morning at school, everyone, including me, tried very hard to act normal, as if nothing strange had happened. Of course, I got a few funny looks, but no one said anything mean. Plus, Zena had been suspended for the day.
    Lucky Zoe.
    But that day at lunch in the cafeteria, something puzzling happened. A new kid named Adam York, who is in Mr. Summer’s class too, came over and sat down across from me, Zoe G. Reindeer.
    The only person I’ve ever sat with during lunch is Quincy—almost always at this same small table in thecorner. And since Quincy’s been gone, the only person I sit with is me.
    He smiled, said, “Hi,” and started chomping a burger.
    â€œHi.”
    As always, the cafeteria was crazy noisy, most people yapping, some people hollering, wild loud laughter, the sounds of dishes and trays. But sitting there next to Adam felt quiet—quiet like when the class is taking a really hard test and every mind is busy thinking. Quiet like when you’re so nervous, everything seems to have come to a stop—including your heart.
    For some reason, I began checking the buttons on my sweater to make sure they were buttoned right. My clothes kind of matched today; that was good. I wondered why I’d never really noticed him before. But then again, to me, most kids at school were like streetlights—always there but hardly ever noticed.
    Why did he come and sit beside me? Why am I feeling weird inside? More and more whys kept coming, but no answers followed. My shyness was orbiting around me like a giant moon. I couldn’t speak. Then, all of a sudden, I remembered something about him. He has a sister named Eve. Like Adam and Eve, I thought, in the Garden of Eden.
    From her spectacular tree house in the Garden of Eden, Zoe could see clear to the horizon, where the blue sky meets the bluer ocean. African elephants, gazelles, and zebras roamed the plains. Zoe didn’t need a radio because all day long the birds were singing songs. A monkey waved and handed her a banana . . .
    â€œWhat’s BQ mean?” Adam blurted, interrupting my fantasy.
    So that was it. He was a spy on a mission—sent, in all likelihood, by Zena or her puppets. I glanced over to the table where they were sitting and waited for one of them to look our way, but their eyes stayed focused on each other.
    Hmmm. Maybe he’s not a spy.
    â€œIt means ‘be quiet,’” I replied.
    â€œOh.”
    And Adam went on eating his lunch and I went on eating mine and then he was finished and he got up to leave, but before he did, he told me, “You’re not ugly, Zoe.”
    â€œOkay.”
    As he walked away, I watched him to see if he was going to stop at the table where Zena’s clique wassitting, to tell them what BQ meant so they could make fun of me again—but he didn’t.
    He seems nice—maybe.

    Before bed that night, I stared hard at myself in the bathroom mirror from the front and sort of from the sides, which is kind of hard.
    Not ugly?
    Does
not ugly
equal
pretty
?
    I dabbed some of Jade’s pink lip gloss on my lips. It tastes like bubble gum, I thought as I slipped the tube in my pocket. It was just borrowing. I’d bring it back tomorrow. Jade had so much makeup, she wouldn’t miss one tube for one day, would she?
    Then I used her flat iron on my hair. Was straight better than not straight, or did it just look different? Just different, I decided.
    When I was finished, I opened the bathroom door to find the snox waiting outside. How does he