Wedding Drama Read Online Free PDF Page A

next to the class library, in the corner. Nikki glances over at them. She’s bubbling with excitement. She doesn’t want to be left out. She starts to work really fast on her math problems, hoping she isn’t making a lot of careless mistakes. Ms. Shelby says it’s easy to make careless mistakes in math if you rush. She glances over to see Deja looking like she’s taking her time.
    At last, Nikki finishes her work and jumps up from her chair to march her math paper to Ms. Shelby’s in-basket. As soon as she returns to her seat, her hand flies up. She doesn’t even wait to be recognized. She just blurts out, “Ms. Shelby, can I have free time, too? My color’s still green and I finished all my work.”

    Ms. Shelby sighs.
She’s probably getting tired of all the interruptions,
Nikki thinks. Over the next five minutes, Ms. Shelby is interrupted five more times as the girls in the Wedding Planners Club ask for free time to go to the class conference table.
    Nikki loves the conference table. It’s their class art center, so it’s already equipped with colored pencils and markers and scissors and big sheets of construction paper in a neat stack. There are still some splatters of dry paint on it, from when the class made papier-mâché globes for social studies. Nikki loves the feeling of independence she has whenever she goes to it. It’s a busy table, even when no one is working there. Each girl approaches it with an excited look on her face.
    Nikki wonders what’s taking Deja so long. Finally she sees her take her paper up to the classwork basket and then, on her way back to her desk, stop by the kidney-shaped table to ask quietly if she can join the other girls. Ms. Shelby nods without looking up from helping Ralph.
    Lost cause,
Nikki thinks, glancing back at Ralph.
    Rosario has decided that they should form their teams now. As soon as she gets the words out of her mouth, nearly everyone at the table starts whispering frantically about who they want on their team.
    â€œWe have to do it organized,” Rosario says.
    â€œBut there’s only seven of us,” ChiChi observes.
    Then a startling thing happens. Antonia, Deja’s nemesis, puts her math paper in the in-basket, gets Ms. Shelby’s permission, and saunters over to the conference table. She takes a seat and folds her hands as if she’s waiting for something. “I’d like to be a wedding planner, too,” she says calmly.
    Everyone looks at one another. Then Rosario speaks up. “Okay.”
    â€œGood. Now we have an even number,” ChiChi adds.
    Rosario empties the marker box and says, “Let’s write our names on pieces of paper, fold them up real good, and I’ll pick out two names for team captains. And then they get to pick who they want on their team.”
    Rosario looks over her shoulder at Ms. Shelby, takes a piece of construction paper, and folds it in half three times. She tears it along the folds and hands everyone a piece.
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    Each girl writes her name on her paper, folds it up carefully, and drops it into the empty marker box. Rosario, continuing to run the show, pulls out the first piece. “Keisha,” she says as soon as she unfolds it. She pulls out a second paper. “Antonia,” she says. Nikki sees Deja frown. It’s been a while since Deja and Antonia have clashed. It’s almost as if they’ve called a truce.
    â€œI should go first because my name begins with an
A,
” Antonia says quietly.
    Rosario agrees. “Okay, choose.”
    â€œNikki,” Antonia says.
    Nikki can’t believe her ears. “Me?” she asks.
    â€œYes, you,” Antonia says.
    Nikki looks at Deja, but Deja just gives her a little shrug. Nikki frowns.
Why is Deja acting like that?
she wonders.
    Once the teams are made—Antonia, Nikki, ChiChi, and Ayanna on one team, and Keisha, Deja, Rosario, and Yolanda on the