Spirit Week Showdown Read Online Free PDF Page A

fold your paper twice, and place it inside a hat when I walk down your aisle; boys in the boy hat, girls in the girl hat.”
    Once Mrs. Davis collects the names, she walks to the front and stands in front of Susan Acorn. “The girls will pick first.”
    Susan reaches inside the hat and pulls out a piece of paper. “I pulled Starr Falling.”
    Starr smiles, but I know she’s going to ask for a trade so she can partner with her sister.
    Lisa “Lotta-Germs” McKinley is next. She reaches inside the hat. “Yay! My partner is Naomi Jackson!” Lisa hurries to Naomi’s desk. “We’re partners, Naomi— achoo —sorry!”
    Naomi wipes Lisa’s germs off her. “Yuck! She didn’t cover her mouth!”
    Mrs. Davis hands Naomi a wet wipe. “Lisa, try to be faster with the tissue.”
    â€œSorry, Naomi,” says Lisa.
    â€œYour turn, Mya,” says Mrs. Davis.
    I pick a piece of paper out of the hat. I’m so excited that I can barely unfold it.
    Good gravy in the navy.
    The longer I stare at the letters written in green ink on that little piece of paper, the bigger her name gets. My voice flat-out refuses to say what my eyes already know.
    â€œMya, who is your Spirit Week partner?” asks Mrs. Davis.
    I try to tell her. “It’s . . . I pulled . . .”
    Skye grabs my arm and reads the paper, then bursts out laughing.
    â€œMya got Mean Connie Tate!”
    Some of my classmates cover their mouths in horror. Others laugh. Whispers are everywhere. Mrs. Davis holds up two fingers and everything stops. She grabs the office pad from her desk. “Skye, go to Principal Winky’s office right now!”
    Skye’s crying, “What did I do? I just said Mya pulled Mean Connie Tate.”
    Starr’s crying, too. “That’s all she said, Mrs. Davis.”
    Mrs. Davis rips the paper from her pad. “Tell that to Mr. Winky.”
    We watch in silence as Skye leaves the room, and Starr puts her head down on her desk.
    Naomi raises her hand. “My partner, Lisa McKinley, wants to trade.”
    â€œNo I don’t,” says Lisa.
    There is something goose-bumpy about Naomi’s voice as she tells Lotta-Germs, “Yes, you do want to trade. I really, really, want you to trade, Lisa.”
    Lisa takes a tissue from her backpack and blows her nose. “Okay.”
    I have never asked for a Spirit Week partnertrade. I’ve always kept the person I picked or stayed with the person who picked me. But today, I’m trying something new. I raise my hand and wave it with excitement. “I’d like to trade, too, Mrs. Davis.”
    Three words come out of Mean Connie’s mouth and splat across my face worse than the blue paint she spilled on my vest.
    â€œI’m not trading.”

Chapter Six
    M y knees wobble, the room’s spinning, and my brain’s asleep. I’m going to faint. My best friend locks her two pinkie fingers together. I know what she’s telling me, so I give Mean Connie my best stink eye and tell her the same thing Naomi told Lisa Lotta-Germs.
    â€œYes, you dowant to trade. I really, really want you to trade, Connie.”
    Connie frowns and steps toward me. “Don’t tell me what to do, Tibbs.”
    I step back. “Okay, I’m sorry. You win.”
    Naomi yells at me. “What are you doing? Don’t punk out! Make her trade, Mya!”
    Mean Connie’s face is hot-sauce red. “She can’t make me do anything.”
    Mrs. Davis lifts her office pad from her desk and slowly walks toward my best friend. “Naomi, we don’t talk to each other like that in this class. This is your only warning.”
    I wipe sweat from my forehead. My jaws won’t unlock for me to talk. My words must be afraid of Connie, too. Naomi’s frowning. Connie’s frowning. I don’t know what to do.
    â€œConnie, Mya, in the hall, right now,” says Mrs.