Always Watch Out for the Flying Potato Salad! #9 Read online

  “Look what you’ve done, Hank Zipzer,” he shouted. “Instead of giving your teachers a delicious meal, you’ve created a sloppy mess.”

  I have never been so embarrassed in my life. My face turned as red as the ketchup that was all over my shoes.

  “I’m sorry,” I said. “I was just trying to wave hello.”

  “You never think before you act,” he said.

  “Whoa, that’s harsh,” Carlos said.

  Papa Pete put down the half-empty meat tray and walked over to Principal Love.

  “What do you think he’s going to say?” Ashley whispered to me.

  “I don’t know, but I hope I don’t get into more trouble.”

  “Don’t worry,” Frankie said. “Papa Pete will handle this. He never lets us down.”

  “Excuse me,” Papa Pete said to Principal Love. His voice was very calm. “What happened here was an accident.”

  “And I’m so sorry about it,” I said. “It was all my fault.”

  “It was an accident, Hankie,” Papa Pete said. “It isn’t anyone’s fault. That’s why they call them accidents.”

  “Nonsense,” a teacher named Ms. Adolf said. Everyone in school knows that she’s the meanest teacher we have. “I saw what happened with my very eyes. That boy was careless.”

  “My grandson Hank is a very thoughtful person. Sometimes he gets excited and that causes problems. But he always tries his hardest to do the right thing.”

  “I agree,” Ms. Flowers said. “Hank is always the first one in my class to raise his hand when I ask for help.”

  “And he tries very hard in my music class,” Mr. Rock said. “He plays the triangle with all his heart.”

  Principal Love still seemed angry. His mole looked like it was doing the hula.

  “Do you consider this a party,” he grumbled to Papa Pete, “with most of the food on the floor?”

  “I just happen to have several trays of black and white cookies in the van,” Papa Pete said. “How about if I bring those up?”

  “Oh, that’s my favorite kind of cookie,” Ms. Flowers said. A lot of the teachers agreed.

  “Me too!” I said. “Hey, I have an idea. We can have a reverse dinner! We’ll have dessert first.”

  “Good thinking, Hankie,” Papa Pete said. “While everyone is enjoying the cookies, Carlos and I will go back to the deli and bring some meatloaf and macaroni and cheese. We already prepared it for the dinner crowd.”

  “Let me remind you, Carlos has a hot date,” Carlos said, shaking his head.

  “Come on, Carlos,” I whispered to him. “I really need you to do this for me.”

  “Okay, Little Man,” he said. “I’m going to do this for you. But if my girlfriend, Ramona, doesn’t talk to me again because I’m late, you’ve got to call her and explain.”

  “No problem there,” Frankie told Carlos. “Hank can talk his way out of anything.”

  “Yeah, he’s got a magical mouth,” Ashley chimed in.

  “This is certainly not the Teacher Appreciation Dinner we had planned,” Principal Love said. “A dessert-first dinner is a very strange way to let your teachers know how much you appreciate them.”

  “Actually, Principal Love,” Ms. Flowers said, “I find this a very creative way to say thank you to us. Everyone loves cookies, don’t we?”

  All the teachers nodded in agreement.

  “And Hank’s idea to have a reverse dinner is very original. It shows that his mind is always working.”

  I felt so good when she said that out loud to everyone that my mouth opened all by itself, without my brain even telling it to. And this is what came out.

  “Ms. Flowers, you are the best second-grade teacher in the whole world,” I said. “No matter what mistake I make, you’re always the first one to understand. You never make me feel stupid just because I can’t spell or do math. And you teach me lots of interesting stuff, like if you lift a kangaroo’s tail off the ground, it can’t hop.”

  Everybody burst out laughing. Everybody but Ms. Flowers. She stood up and came over to me.

  “Hank,” she said, “you have just given me the best Teacher Appreciation Dinner any teacher could wish for.”

  “Even if the potato salad is all over the floor?” I said.

  “Yes, even then. What’s a little mess compared to the wonderful feelings you just expressed?”

  “Whoa,” Carlos said. “I think I’m going to cry—and it’s not good to show up on a date with watery eyes.”

  Everybody smiled. I think I might have even seen a mini-smile on Principal Love’s face.

  “You’re a great kid,” Mr. Rock called out.

  “That remains to be seen,” Ms. Adolf said. “Wait until he gets to my fourth-grade class. Then we’ll see how great he is.”

  Just the sound of her voice made me shake in my sneakers.

  “Hank,” Ms. Flowers said. “I so appreciate your appreciation. You remind me why being a teacher is such a great job. You have a good heart, and that’s what I appreciate most about you.”

  And even though I had made a big mistake with the potato salad, all the teachers stood up and applauded for me.

  Wow, that was a surprise. I never expected that the Teacher Appreciation Dinner would turn into a Student Appreciation Dinner, too—potato salad and all.

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