The More the Merrier Read Online Free PDF Page A

terrible with them.”
    â€œMe too,” said Erin.
    â€œGo wash your hands,” said Aunt Flora. “Maybe some more of the purple will come off before we eat.”

    We raced to the bathroom, and I washed three times. “I think it’s fading.” I showed Erin.
    â€œMaybe a little,” she said.
    We sat down, and Aunt Flora wrapped her fingers around her chopsticks and clacked them together. I tried to copy her, but the chopsticks felt wobbly in my fingers. She reached down to her plate, picked up a piece of chicken, and ate it. I reached down to my plate, picked up a piece of chicken, and spun it out of my chopsticks and onto the table.
    Erin tried too, and chicken pieces kept plopping back down onto her plate. “When I was little, I did it this way.” She put down one of her chopsticks and waved the other one around. “I pretended it was a magic wand and . . .” She stabbed the chopstick through a piece of chicken and held it up. “Ta-da!”
    We all clapped.
    â€œMe! Me!” yelled Tess, and she stabbed down on a piece of chicken too. “Ta-da!” She waved it over her head.
    â€œIt doesn’t work with rice and noodles, though,” said Erin.
    â€œI’ll go get us some forks.” Aunt Flora headed into the kitchen just as the phone rang.
    Tess ran and picked it up. “Hi!” she said, and then she nodded.
    â€œYou have to talk out loud,” I said.
    â€œOh yeah,” she said. “Yes. No.” She hung up.
    Erin and I burst out laughing as Aunt Flora came back into the room with a bunch of forks.
    â€œWho was on the phone?”
    â€œRosemary T.” Tess climbed back up into her chair.
    â€œWho’s that?” asked Aunt Flora.
    â€œShe’s a girl in our class. She lives down the block,” I said. “It’s good you answered the phone, Tess, because I’m in the middle of giving her the silent treatment.”
    â€œWhy?” My aunt gave us all forks and sat down.
    â€œBecause she’s being very, extremely mean lately,” I said.
    â€œWhat has she done?”
    â€œShe says I’m childish and I embarrass her,” I said. “And she won’t let me be in her Pierced Ears Club.”
    â€œShe won’t let me be in her Dance Class Club either,” said Erin, “even though I start next week.”
    â€œBut we don’t want to be mean right back to her,” I said, “so we’re giving her the silent treatment instead.”
    â€œBecause if you can’t say anything nice,” said Erin, “you shouldn’t say anything at all.”
    Aunt Flora was about to say something, but the phone rang.
    â€œIf that is Rosemary T. again,” I said, “remember, I’m giving her the silent treatment because I don’t want to be not-nice.”
    My aunt picked up the phone. “Hello? Oh hello, Rosemary T., Cinderella’s busy at the moment. Can I take a message?”
    Me and Erin looked at each other very surprised. Grown-ups don’t usually do things like that for kids.
    â€œI’m sorry, but Cinderella has plans for tomorrow. She and Erin are practicing spell . . .”
    Erin and me started shaking our heads like mad because Aunt Flora was about to tell the super secret. My aunt’s eyes got all big, and she covered her mouth with her hand. She had just realized what she’d almost done. “Spells,” she said. “They’re practicing spells.”

    Tess turned the bag that the Chinese food had come in upside down, and fortune cookies spilled all over the table.
    â€œAnd now it’s fortune time,” my aunt said, and she hung up.
    We all burst out laughing.
    â€œSorry, I almost blew it,” said Aunt Flora.
    Tess chose a fortune cookie, cracked it open, and handed the little white piece of paper to my aunt to read.
    â€œâ€˜You will take a chance—and win,’” read Aunt Flora.
    â€œMine says: