Bookmarks Are People Too! Page 3

  “What are you doing, Hank?” Ms. Flowers said with a smile. I guess she had never seen a bookmark flopping across her classroom before.

  “I am looking for my place in the best book,” I said.

  “Well then, wiggle on over to me,” Ashley said. “Zombies are always fun to read about.”

  I twisted and squirmed and rolled all the way over to Ashley. Everybody in class was cracking up. Even Ms. Flowers couldn’t stop herself from laughing.

  “You’re not going to put that stupid wiggling junk in the play, are you?” McKelty grumbled. His face was as red as a radish.

  “Are you kidding?” Frankie said to him. “Hank is being really funny.”

  “But he’s not supposed to be funny,” McKelty answered. “Besides, the parents are here to see me in the play. I’m the star.”

  There he was, being Nick McKelty again. He never tells the truth. It’s always the truth times one hundred. Frankie and I call that the McKelty factor. Ashley didn’t know about the McKelty factor. But when she heard it in action, she went nuts.

  “You are so not the star of the play,” she said to him. “Every one of us is important. And remember, you’re a fly. Everyone wants to swat you.”

  We all cracked up at that. Boy, oh, boy, did that ever make McKelty mad. He frowned so hard his lips almost dropped to the floor.

  “Okay, everyone,” Ms. Flowers said, trying to settle us all down. “We have a lot of work to do. The play is only two days away.”

  “So can I keep the wiggle in?” I asked her.

  “Only if you keep it very short,” she said. “Remember, a little wiggle goes a long way.”

  We went on with the rehearsal, but McKelty kept giving me angry looks. Once, when I was standing next to him, he leaned over and whispered in my ear.

  “You better not try to steal the show again, Zippernose,” he said, snarling at me through his slimy green teeth. It looked like there was a bunch of lettuce growing in there.

  “What are you going to do about it?” I snarled back.

  “Let’s just say, you’ll be sorry.”

  I gulped hard. As much as I don’t like to admit it, that Nick McKelty can be very scary.

  All the next day, we rehearsed very hard. The best part about it was that we got to skip math and spelling. Any day I can skip math is a good day for my brain. And not having to take a spelling test is like a mini vacation. By the end of school, everyone seemed ready.

  Since I didn’t have any lines, my rehearsal time was shorter than everyone else’s. So Ms. Flowers had me work on my bookmark costume. I stapled lots of sheets of construction paper together, and then cut some fringe at the top and the bottom. To make it look really cool, I took a black crayon and wrote the word BOKMARK right down the middle.

  “Hey, Zip,” Frankie whispered to me on one of his breaks. “Hand me that black crayon.”

  “How come?”

  “You left out one of the Os in book,” he said. “It has two Os.”

  I handed him the crayon, and he added a very skinny O to make it look like it had always been there.

  I’m so lucky to have a friend like Frankie. He always saves me from being really embarrassed.

  The next day was the big performance. All our moms and dads were coming to see us.

  We were so excited. Everyone got there early. We helped Ms. Flowers arrange the chairs for the parents around the edge of the classroom. Lots of us brought snacks for the treat table. Frankie’s mom made her famous brownies without walnuts, in case any kids were allergic to nuts. Katie Sperling brought rice-crispy treats that she decorated with M&M’s. My mom, of course, had to be different. She sent in a deli tray with nothing on it that even looked like food. Well, there was one thing that could have been tuna fish, but nobody was willing to taste it and find out for sure.

  Ms. Flowers had us wait in the hall while the parents filed in and took their seats. Once they were in the room, we put on our costumes. Frankie wore just a sweatshirt and jeans. Ashley had a zombie wig with fake blood dripping off it. The top of my costume went up over my face, so I had to cut out holes for my eyes and mouth.

  Just before the play was about to start, Ms. Flowers came out into the hall to check our costumes and give us a pep talk.

  “Is everyone ready?” she asked.

  “Everyone but Nick McKelty,” Ashley answered. “He went to the bathroom.”

  “I always pee a lot when I’m nervous, too,” Luke Whitman said. “Before my oral report on Thomas Edison, I must have gone to the bathroom twenty times.”

  “That’s something we really don’t need to know,” Katie Sperling said.

  “As soon as Nick returns, I’ll introduce you,” Ms. Flowers said. “There’s no reason to be nervous. You all know your lines. If you just concentrate and work together, nothing will go wrong.”

  Just then, Nick McKelty ran down the hall. Well, he was half running and half hopping, trying to tie his Aqua Fly wings back on.

  “Are you ready, Nick?” Ms. Flowers asked.

  “You should have heard me practicing in the bathroom,” he bragged. “I crushed it.”

  “How do you know?” I said to him. “Did all the sinks applaud?”

  “That’s so funny I forgot to laugh,” he snarled.

  “That’s enough, boys,” Ms. Flowers said. “Remember, keep your mind on the play and enjoy yourselves.”

  She went into the classroom.

  “Welcome to Children’s Reading Week,” we heard Ms. Flowers say to the parents. “And now, allow me to present the Room Four Players, starring in A Night at the Library.”

  The parents clapped as we all filed in and took our places.

  I looked out and saw a sea of flashing lights, some from real cameras and some from cell phones. My mom and dad were there, and so was Papa Pete. It was easy to pick him out because he was wearing his favorite bright red running suit. It makes him look like a ripe strawberry.

  The parents got very quiet, and then Frankie began. And once he fell asleep, the “books” came alive. It was all going great. Katie popped up. Luke erupted. And the parents were laughing their heads off.

  Then it was Nick McKelty’s turn. He buzzed right by me and introduced himself to the audience, adding buzzing sounds in between the words.

  “Say hello . . . buzz . . . to Aqua Fly . . . buzz . . . the most powerful . . . superhero . . . that ever landed on a tomato . . . buzz.”

  The parents laughed, and McKelty seemed pretty pleased with himself.

  Then it was my turn. I stepped out and dropped to the floor. I wiggled over to Ashley, being careful not to over-wiggle. Ashley flashed me a smile. When I saw that, it tickled my brain. Suddenly, from nowhere, my mouth flew open and in my best bookmark voice, out came these words:

  “I am here to hold your place and put a big smile on your face.”

  I heard the parents laugh. A few even clapped. I felt great. I rose to my feet, being careful not to trip on my fringe. I turned to face my family, so they would get a good picture of me. As I took a step, I felt something under my foot. It was a shoe—a big shoe—that could only belong to Nick McKelty. He had stuck his foot out in front of me, and since I couldn’t look down in my costume, I tripped over it.

  “Let me know what the floor looks like,” McKelty whispered with a nasty laugh. “I told you what would happen if you tried to steal my show.” That was the last thing I heard before I fell.

  As I was going down, I knew there was nothing I could do to stop it. I was going to make a fool of myself in front of everyone.

  Then it came to me. A line, a really funny line, just popped into my head.

  “Oops,” I said, as I hit the floor. “I lost my plaaaaaaaaaaaace.”

  The audience laughed, thinking it was part of the play. But I didn’t laugh. My purple construction paper ripped right
in two, and I thought I might have split my pants. I was too scared to look.

  The only thing I saw for sure was McKelty’s face, laughing down at me.

  “Remember, Zippercreep,” he said. “I’m the star. Not you!”

  And at that moment, lying there on the floor, I totally believed him.

  I was sprawled out on the floor, my costume destroyed, my pants probably ripped.

  I didn’t know what to do. But Ms. Flowers had told us that an important rule in plays is that “the show must go on.” No matter what, you have to keep the show going.

  So I figured that the best thing for me was to get out of the middle of the stage so the play could go on. I pulled myself along the floor until I reached Ashley, who held out a hand and dragged me the rest of the way.

  This made Nick McKelty even angrier, because the parents weren’t watching him, they were watching me. And let me say, this was one time I didn’t want to be the center of attention.

  “Carry on, kids,” Ms. Flowers whispered. “You know what comes next.”

  Frankie lifted his head off the desk and pretended to wake up. He yawned and stretched.

  “I had the strangest dream,” he said. “The books were alive.”

  Everyone stood very still, except Nick McKelty.

  This was the part of the play where Aqua Fly was supposed to buzz over to Frankie and tell him it was not a dream at all. That books always come alive, as long as we believe in them. Ms. Flowers had told us it was the biggest moment of the play. It was the line she was most proud of writing.

  McKelty buzzed over and took his place next to Frankie.

  He opened his mouth, but all that came out was a buzzing sound. That would have been okay, but the next thing that came out of his mouth was another buzzing sound. And then another one. And another one.

  “Say your lines, Nick,” Frankie whispered. “We have to finish the play.”

  “Buzz,” Nick said. “Buzz, buzz, buzz!”

  There was panic in his eyes.

  “You can’t just buzz,” Frankie told him.

  “Buzz,” McKelty answered.

  “No, say the words!” Frankie whispered.

  “I forgot them,” McKelty whispered back. I could see his hands starting to shake with fear. He looked like Katherine, the iguana, the first time she saw Papa Pete’s cat, Morris.

  I looked around and saw everyone in the audience waiting for the big ending. Ms. Flowers was trying to mouth the words to McKelty, but he wouldn’t look at her. He just stood there, buzzing.

  Without even thinking about it, I jumped to my feet and shuffled my way over to Frankie. He looked just as surprised as I was. When I opened my mouth, I couldn’t believe what came out.

  “I am just a lowly bookmark,” I said. “But one thing I know for sure: Books always come alive when we believe in them.”

  “So this wasn’t a dream?” Frankie said.

  “No,” I answered. “Not at all. All the books here are alive and waiting for you whenever you want to have a great adventure.”

  And without thinking, Frankie and I threw our arms around each other.

  The parents started to applaud.

  “Thanks for coming,” I said to the parents. “The Room Four Players have enjoyed putting on this play for you.”

  All the kids came forward to take a bow. Everyone but Nick McKelty. He was still buzzing.

  After the play, we all got behind the treat table and served our parents lemonade and snacks. Luke Whitman was the only one who ate my mom’s so-called deli meats. But that wasn’t surprising, since he also enjoys already-chewed gum he finds in his pockets.

  “Hankie, my boy,” Papa Pete said, as I put a rice-crispy treat on his plate. “You were so great. It looked like you saved the day.”

  “Yes,” my mom chimed in. “We thought you didn’t have any lines in the play.”

  “Well,” I said. “That’s what was supposed to happen. But when McKelty froze up, I had to jump in.”

  “But how did you know the lines?” Papa Pete asked.

  “I have a good memory,” I said. “I learned everyone’s lines by hearing them over and over while we were rehearsing.”

  “Such a smart boy.” Papa Pete beamed.

  That made me feel very happy. I always think Emily is the smart one in our family, not me.

  I really loved it when all the kids and Ms. Flowers thanked me for saving the play. The only one who didn’t congratulate me was—you guessed it—Nick McKelty.

  “I could have done those lines better than you,” he said, shoving his third brownie in his mouth.

  “Yeah? Well, why didn’t you?”

  “I wasn’t in the mood.”

  As for me, I was in a really good mood. Even Nick McKelty couldn’t make me feel bad. I was on top of the world. I felt great. So great that I just had to make a list.