"Phoebe is about to come over soon so no talking Lulu!" I reminded her.
"All good Peaches," replied Lulu as she sat down next to my chair at the kitchen table. "My lips are sealed. Zip. Zip. Zippoed. Zippy.."
"Shush!" I demanded.
Let me tell you about Phoebe. Phoebe is my best friend. She is in the third grade with me at Amelia Earhart Elementary School. She also lives on the same street as me, but just a few houses down. We have been best friends since we were babies! At least my mom tells me so. I don’t know what we did as babies except slobber all over each other and ourselves. Phoebe’s nickname is Phoebs or Phoebers but never ever call her Fifi. Her older brother Garrett does that sometimes as a joke and Phoebe will just lose it on him.
What’s extra cool is that our dogs are totally BFFs too! Phoebe has a wiener boy dog (also known as a dachshund) named Gello (pronounced Jello). He’s also four years old like Lulu. Gello is actually his nickname. His real name is Gelato, like the Italian ice cream. He was a gift from Phoebe’s Italian aunt. Gello and Lulu have a lot of fun together playing. Lulu likes to try to trip his short little legs. Gello likes to try to catch Lulu’s fluffy pom-pom tail. Sometimes I think Lulu is really in love with him.
My mom usually drops Phoebe and I off at school in the morning and Phoebe's mom picks us up in the afternoon. This morning, Phoebe was going to come by a little earlier to show me her new designs for the rubber band bracelets she’s making. She’s so good at the Rainbow Loom now, she can make up her own patterns and techniques.
"So…tell me what you REALLY think," said Phoebe, while opening the kitchen door from the backyard. Phoebe always comes in through the back door so she can talk to me right away.
"I thought you might like the turquoise and purple one I since I know those are your favorite colors," said Phoebe, as she hands me the most beautiful bracelet with my three favorite colors in a zig-zag pattern.
"Wow! I have never seen anything like this before. The pattern is amazing!" I exclaimed. Lulu walked over and tapped my leg. I knew she was curious as she was pacing throughout the kitchen ever since Phoebe came in. She tapped my ankle with her tiny paw and I glanced down at her. I knew she was curious about the bracelet, so I bent my arm down to show Lulu. She gives it a good whiff with her nose and smiled showing her approval.
"Your dog is just too cute," Phoebe beamed. "It’s almost like she’s a little person."
"Yeah," I chuckled. "More than you know." I looked down, giving Lulu a knowing smile.
"I'm going to learn how to make rubber band animals next," Phoebe exclaimed.
Phoebe really is one of the most creative people I know. She’s very crafty, and even knows how to sew with her mom’s sewing machine. She’s also an amazing gymnast. Right now, she’s teaching me how to do perfect cartwheels, but I can’t seem to get my wobbly legs straight. Phoebe is the only person who can make me laugh so hard that my stomach hurts. One time, she told me the funniest joke while we were eating a snack at my kitchen table. I laughed so hard that milk actually came out of my nose. Let’s just say Mom wasn’t too happy about that.
Once Phoebe and I arrived at school, we instantly scanned the school yard for Sabrina. Sabrina Lee is another one of our best friends. She moved to our city last year from Southern California so she hasn’t been at our school as long as the rest of us. She was my reading partner last year in 2nd grade and we became fast friends. Now Phoebe, Sabrina and I are inseparable at recess and lunch. We just started our own tinkering science club that meets in my garage sometimes on the weekends. She loves to draw and is super funny too. Sabrina has two older sisters who are in high school. She thinks they are really annoying and says that I am lucky I’m an only child.
We finally spotted Sabrina by the benches and immediately ran over to her to show off our new bracelets. Phoebe had made one for her one too in her favorite colors, red and orange.
"I love it so much!" Sabrina smiled. "Phoebes, you’re super talented!"
"HEEEAAAADS UP!" shouted a boy from the distance.
Instinctively, the three of us immediately ducked down while a red dodge ball flew overhead and hit the fence.
"Phew, that was close," I said, looking towards Phoebe and Sabrina.
"Yeah, too close," says Sabrina with her eyes glaring in the direction of Alex Davidson who was handed back the ball by another boy.
Alex Davidson. What can I say about this boy? How about this… He’s also known as Alex Burp-ison. He’s probably one of the most annoying boys in our class because he’s constantly burping. What’s even worse is that he’s actually really smart, like good in school smart. Last year when Mr. Sullivan our second grade teacher told him to stop burping in class, Alex replied it was impossible because his brain was working so hard couldn’t control it! Can you believe that?! Another time in the cafeteria, he burped so loud that even the fifth graders all the way at the end of the cafeteria heard. All the boys think he’s a hero now.
Alex is sort of my archenemy, not in burping of course, but in school. He’s always trying to do better than me on class projects. He also brags each time he aces his spelling tests. Annoying! He lives in my neighborhood and his dad owns the appliance repair shop that is around the corner from my house. Sometimes when I walk by his dad’s shop I can see Alex inside and he’ll stick his tongue out at me. Phoebe and Sabrina told me to just ignore him. Boys can be so weird sometimes.
Read More in Chapter 3: The Contest
