That afternoon when I got home, Lulu was anxiously waiting for me at the door.
"Peaches!" Lulu shouted. "What happened?"
"Lulu, I did the best I could but I think Alex’s robot is better than mine," I said.
"Alex made a robot too?"
"Yes"
"For reals?"
"For reals."
"Ugh, boys annoy me," Lulu declared.
"Lulu, you don’t even know any boys except Dad," I explained. "Besides, Dad is a man, not a boy."
"Oh, I know boys plenty," Lulu exclaimed. "There’s that TV show with boys who travel through time and meet the dinosaurs."
"Oh brother," I said, shaking my head.
"So, when do you find out the winner?" Lulu asked.
"Tomorrow," I said. "But just be prepared because it probably won’t be me."
"Peaches, if watching all that TV has taught me one thing, it’s that winning isn’t everything," Lulu explained.
"Look, you had fun building Digit, right?" Lulu asked.
"Yes," I nodded.
"And you actually built TWO projects since Robee was destroyed by that evil cat who shall not be named."
"That’s true," I said, starting to see where this was going.
"Please don’t feel bad." Lulu explained. "You did the best you could do! You had fun making it while hanging out with meeeeee!" sang Lulu.
"That’s definitely true," I said smiling. I reached over to give Lulu a hug.
"You, my dear, have fabulous taste in dogs," Lulu said.
"You, my dear, have fabulous taste in girls," I added.
Lulu gave me a high five with her paw while we both laughed hysterically.
That night, Mom came into my room before bedtime and gave me a big hug and much needed pep talk. "You know sweetie, winning isn’t everything. You did a really great job with that project. Dad and I are really proud of you."
"You are?" I asked.
"Yes and we will display it proudly in our house whenever you bring it back home from school," added Dad, while standing in the doorway to my room.
"Mom and Dad, thanks for always making me feel warm and fuzzy inside," I said sleepily. "I love you both."
"We love you too," Mom said softly. "Now get to sleep." She turned off the light switch and closed the door.
Just then, Lulu whispered to me, "Psst, Chloe, don’t I make you feel warm and fuzzy inside too?"
"Yes, Lulu you do," I grumbled. "Now go to sleep."
"Yay!" whispered Lulu sweetly. "Now I can really go to sleep. May you have sweet dreams about pancakes!" giggled Lulu.
I laughed, "Thanks Lulu. I hope I do too!" I tried to get my mind off the contest and wondered if Lulu’s dream trick would work. I started to think about yummy pancakes drizzled in maple syrup. I drifted off to sleep.
The next morning, I was slightly nervous while waiting for class to start. I quickly unloaded my backpack and settled into my desk. Ms. Harris was already in the front of the class with a piece of paper in her hand, waiting for everyone to sit down.
Finally, the moment came.
"I’d like to thank each and every one of you for the hard work you have put into your tinkering project," Ms. Harris said. "The amount of creativity in this room makes me so happy and proud. All of you understood the meaning of this project and it looked like you had a lot of fun too! Before I announce the winner of our Tinkering Contest, I want to say that it was almost a landslide vote for the winner. However, each of you are winners because you have learned how to take old objects and materials and turn them into something new and different –works of art, in fact!" said Ms. Harris. "That is why I think we will all be so proud to have Chloe’s Digit on display in the Exploratorium representing our class and school," Ms. Harris announced. "Congratulations Chloe for winning the Tinkering Contest!"
Everyone in the class turned toward me and clapped. "YAY!" cheered the class. Phoebe had a big smile on her face and she waved her hands up high in the air, wiggling all her fingers. Sabrina clasped her hands together and mouthed the words "You did it!" to me.
It was all too surreal. I was so sure that Alex would win, I didn’t know how to react while the class was cheering for me. I just sat there with a big smile on my face. All I could think inside was that I couldn’t wait to get home to tell Lulu.
Later that day, Alex came up to me while I was playing tag at recess. "Your project was really was the best! Digit has such personality!" said Alex.
"Thanks Alex!" I said, a little confused at the compliment. "But I actually voted for your robot. I thought he looked really cool!"
"Thanks Chloe," Alex said cheerfully. "You definitely have tinkering chops." He said this while giving me the "you’re cool" double finger point.
"You too!" I replied, minus the cheesy finger pointing he was doing. Hmm…maybe this burp boy isn’t so bad after all?
Read the Ending in Chapter 10: The Tinkering Studio
