Sticks & Stones Read Online Free PDF Page A

who made them all fall down like a stack of dominoes.
    Now it was down to Snotty Ami, Nice Andy, and, somehow, me. The crowd roared like we were in an epic battle for an Olympic gold medal.
    â€œWow!” Nice Andy whispered in his usual overly happy voice. “You’re really good at this! Too bad I’m going to win!” He jumped up and down a few times as if to prove how talented he was at standing on one foot. But then, in only a split second, Nice Andy tripped over his own shoelace and landed in a heap on the floor. Everyone clapped politely.
    â€œWhoops!” he said, laughing as he got up.
    â€œAnd then there were two!” hollered Mr. Todd.
    The Loud Crowd practically flew up to the stage.
    â€œYou got this, Ami!” Paige squealed.
    â€œC’mon, girl!” Lindsey shrieked. She leaned in close. “You can’t get beaten by a loser.”
    I squeaked as LOSER sprang up on my knee through my leggings.
    â€œOh, oops,” Lindsey said, as if she’d just remembered she wasn’t supposed to say stuff like that. “I was just kidding. It was, like, a funny loser, not a real one. Sorry.”
    She didn’t sound very sorry.
    I shot Jeg a look at the same time and couldn’t help but notice her plain black hair. Snotty Ami worked fast; the pink streaks were all gone. It was like they had never even existed.
    I hopped up and down on one foot in a circle, hoping that the hopping motion would somehow make LOSER go away. When all my hobbling around didn’t make it better, I tried to reach down and scratch my knee without falling over. I probably looked like I was trying—and failing—to do that sprinkler dance that my dad always did when I had friends over.
    I didn’t have friends over too much these days.
    â€œOh, you want a dance-off?” Snotty Ami said. Before I knew what was happening, she was jumping up, spinning in a circle, and landing perfectly on one foot. “It’s on.”
    I pretended I hadn’t noticed any of it and kept my gaze focused into the audience straight ahead.
    â€œHey, El.” Jeg came closer to me. “You’re doing great.”
    â€œThanks,” I whispered. Then she moved past me and scooted over to join the Loud Crowd’s clump. Huh?
    LOSER itched again, making me feel awful. And if that wasn’t bad enough, DORK and PATHETIC prickled my skin, too, like they were feeling left out and wanted some attention. I closed my eyes and tried to focus on breathing and forgetting about the itchy words.
    It didn’t work.
    At. All.
    Why is it that when you try to forget something, you only end up thinking about it more?
    I really was PATHETIC . It had to be true. Otherwise Snotty Ami would want to be my friend like she wanted to be Jeg’s friend. Otherwise Jeg wouldn’t have gone to stand by the cool people instead of by me.
    My whole body itched, even though only a couple of words were ruining it for the rest of me. It stung. Everything stung.
    But it didn’t have to. If the blue-note writer was right, I could be a really good Explorer Leader, and being Explorer Leader could be really good for me. As an added bonus, it sounded like it would make me really busy. Too busy to think about Liam, Jeg, Snotty Ami, or myself. And if I couldn’t think about myself, then I definitely couldn’t think about how pathetic I was.
    And that was exactly what I needed.
    Snotty Ami nudged me with her elbow, reminding me that I was still on a stage in front of everyone, fighting for a shot at something that might really make the itches go away forever.
    â€œGive up yet, nerd?” she whispered.
    NERD pinched my skin. I swallowed hard and stumbled back a little. Between NERD , DORK , LOSER , and PATHETIC all trying to out-itch each other, I was getting a little wobbly. I rolled my foot in circles and then hobbled around the stage, but it was no use. I was a doomed Jenga tower, leaning sideways until I