Читать книгу Dance, Belle, Dance! - Beth Huffman - Страница 11

Recess lasts forever when you’re spending it in detention. As much as I hated sitting in that boring room, it did give me plenty of time to read and to think about my talk with Miss Rex. Her advice about dealing with bullies made sense … until Brooklyn mocked me at lunch.

“So Macey, what was it like sitting in the principal’s office for five days? Was it fun?”

“It was a blast. You’ll find out when you finally get caught shooting off your mouth.”

“Your sister should have been named Macey. It rhymes with spacey and that’s what she is.”

“Congratulations, Brooklyn! I didn’t know you were smart enough to rhyme words.”

That comment left her pretty much speechless. She was ticked off, especially when everyone at our lunch table started laughing. It made Kylie nervous. “Macey, what if she tells Miss Rex what you said?”

“I’m not worried. She started it. Miss Rex knows what she’s like. I don’t want to talk about her anymore. Let’s go out for recess and have fun. I’m not letting anything ruin this day.”

I couldn’t wait to try out the new tunnel slide. It was the biggest one I’d ever seen. The best part of all was that kindergarteners and 1^st graders weren’t allowed to use it. If they crossed over to our part of the playground, the recess monitors blew their whistles and yelled at them to go back with their classes.

It seemed like all the 2^nd graders wanted to go down the slide. I could see why after my first try. I couldn’t believe how fast it was. The second I landed, I raced to get back in line. “Kylie, this is so cool. I hope we can go down two more times before recess is over.”

“I know but there are so many kids in front of us.”

“Yeah, but at least we’ll get one more try for sure. Let’s see if we can find Belle. She loves to climb things. I bet she’s on the jungle gym. Look for her bright pink tennis shoes.”

Kylie saw her first. “There she is. I hope she doesn’t get in trouble. She’s hanging upside down from the jungle gym.”

The recess monitor spotted her immediately. Even though the playground was noisy, we could hear her yell, “Belle Andrews, that isn’t allowed. Pull yourself up right now!”

She didn’t listen. She kept hanging upside down like an acrobat. So the monitor yelled even louder, “If I have to tell you one more time, I’m sending you to the principal’s office!” By then it was my turn to go down the slide. When I reached the top step, I turned to see what she was doing. Even though she was back on the ground, the monitor was still yelling at her. I could tell that she didn’t understand why she was in trouble.

A few minutes later, all three monitors blew their whistles twice. That meant it was time for everyone to go back to class. Just as we started walking into the building, the kindergarten monitor blew her whistle nonstop. That meant there was an emergency. Somebody was probably hurt. We all turned around to see what was going on and there was Belle. She was standing on the platform at the top of the slide. Kylie and I started running as fast as we could. She could see us coming and started waving. She thought we were playing a game.

“Macey, look how high I am! I’m going down headfirst. Watch me!”

“No! Belle, you can’t! Stand still! I’m coming to get you.”

I was already at the top of the steps and had my arm around her waist before she could lean over. “Macey, quit squeezing me so tight. Let go of me.”

“Please don’t argue. We’re going down the steps together. Hold the side poles and take one step at a time. You won’t fall. I’ve got you.”

Kylie was so petrified that she started stuttering. “You’re d-d-doing great, Belle. T-t-take your time and listen to Macey.”

When we got to the bottom, I was so relieved to see Mrs. Heldman. She put her arm around Belle and walked her into the school. The other kindergarteners looked shocked. They couldn’t believe she would have done something that scary. Then I saw Mrs. Basinger standing off to the side. She was shaking her head in total disbelief.

I wasn’t surprised to see Mom sitting on the front porch when we got home. She left her office early after getting a phone call about the recess catastrophe. None of this had entered Belle’s mind. That was obvious when she dropped her backpack in the yard, hopped on Mom’s lap and gave her a big hug.

“Mommy, where’s Quinn? Why isn’t she our babysitter today? She’s always here until you and Daddy get home from work.”

“I told her she didn’t need to come.”

“Why?”

“Mrs. Basinger called me. She explained what happened at recess. Tell me why you got in so much trouble.”

“Macey can tell you. I can’t remember everything. I’m getting a snack.”

Mom tightened her grip on Belle’s arms. “You aren’t going anywhere. Do you know how much trouble you’re in? Start talking.”

“Mommy, my recess monitor is real mean. She said I couldn’t hang upside down on the jungle gym but I did it anyhow. She kept yelling and then she got real mad when I said I didn’t like her. Then she said I couldn’t play on the jungle gym for two days and she told me I acted like I was in preschool. So then I tried to play on the swings but no one let me have a turn and they told me to go away. Then the monitors blew their whistles because recess was over. So nobody was on the big slide and I climbed to the top and the monitors started blowing their whistles again. Macey and Kylie ran over and then Macey climbed the steps and wouldn’t let me go down the slide. Mrs. Heldman said I could have been hurt real bad. What else happened, Macey?”

“You left out the part where you said you were going to go down the slide headfirst.”

“Yeah, I said that. Can I get a snack now?”

Mom was furious. She tried to make her stand still. “What you did today is very serious. Don’t you ever talk back to the recess monitor! Don’t you ever break the rules again and don’t go near that slide! Do you understand me?”

She nodded her head slowly and said, “Yes.”

“You’re going to be punished for this. You can’t play any video games for a week. You’re going straight to your room.”

She started throwing a tantrum. It was like all of her other tantrums when her video games were taken away. She bawled and said, “You’re the meanest Mom in the world!”

Belle was her usual self at breakfast the next day. She fidgeted in her chair nonstop and kept kicking the table leg. It was like she didn’t remember a thing that had happened at recess. It didn’t bother her a bit when Mom said, “We expect you to behave and follow the rules today.” She didn’t say anything because she was more interested in twisting a strand of her long hair.

I grabbed my backpack. “Let’s go. I’m not waiting on you.” When I started out the door, she yelled, “Wait for me! I can’t walk to the bus stop by myself. Where’s my backpack? Help me find it.”

Mom grabbed it from the couch in the family room and Belle hurried out the door. I could hear her struggling to catch up. I kept walking until she finally begged, “Macey, will you tie my shoes? I keep tripping.” It was easier to turn around and tie them than it was to argue with her. “Hold my hand and walk fast. We’re late, Belle. If any of the kids call you names today, ignore them.”

“If they call me names, I’ll call them names.”

“No. Act like you don’t hear them. Then they’ll stop bothering you.”

We were the last ones to board the bus. I told Belle to sit in the empty seat at the front. “Stay here. I brought some rubber bands you can play with. Wait for me when you get off the bus.”

As soon as I sat down, Kylie said, “I thought you guys weren’t going to get here in time.”

“Me too. I practically dragged her the whole way. I’m so glad it’s Friday. This has been a long week.”

“I know. I already asked Mom if you could stay over tonight.”

“Great. I know Mom will let me. You’re lucky you have a brother and not a sister, especially one like Belle.”

“Is she tired this morning? She’s not bouncing around in her seat as much.”

“That’s because I gave her some rubber bands to play with. She loved fiddling around with them in preschool. She still does. I’m not surprised because she still acts like a preschooler. I don’t know why but she isn’t as hyper when she’s doing something she likes.”

“Is that why she sits still so long when she’s playing video games?”

“Yeah, it’s unbelievable. She’s so good at them too. She’s way better than I am. She can pay attention if she likes something - like her ballet class. The teacher told Mom she’s one of the best. She said that Belle has a big smile on her face the whole time she’s dancing.”

“Did she get in trouble for climbing the slide?”

“Yeah, she got in big trouble. Mom took away her video games for a week. She flipped out and threw a fit. I’ll tell you more about it later.”

Belle was waiting for us when we got off the bus. She had her hands behind her back. “Give me the rubber bands. You can’t take them to class. I’ll give them back to you after school.”

“Uh, I don’t have them. I think I left them on the bus.”

“That’s a lie. You’re holding them behind your back.”

She wrinkled her mouth in disgust. “Here they are.”

“Belle, I gave you three rubber bands. Not two. Hand over the other one.”

“I don’t have another one. You only gave me two.”

So I reached into the pocket of her jeans and there it was. She grinned. “Oh, I forgot about that one.” Then she grabbed our hands and shouted, “Let’s have a race to the door!”

I pulled her back immediately. “We aren’t allowed to run and you know it.”

“Are we allowed to skip?”

“No.”

“Am I allowed to give you and Kylie a hug when we get to my room?”

“No. Don’t embarrass me either and say you love me like you did yesterday.”

She let go of our hands and started skipping when we were close to her room. Then she turned around and yelled, “I love you, Macey! Have fun in school today!”

Kylie couldn’t keep from laughing and neither could I. That ended when Brooklyn walked up to me in the hallway. She handed me a picture. “I drew this for you, Macey. I hope you like it.”

I looked at it after she walked away. Every part of my body felt sick. There was a stick figure of a girl standing at the top of a big slide. She was yelling, “I’m Belle. I’m stupid! I’m a moron! Help! Save me!”

Kylie started to pat me on the shoulder when Miss Rex walked up. “What’s the matter, girls?” My lower lip started to tremble when I handed her the drawing. I could feel some tears on my eyelids.

“Macey, did Brooklyn draw this?”

“Yes.”

“I’ll take care of it. Wipe away your tears and then walk into the room like nothing happened.”

So I walked to my desk and pretended everything was fine. The morning went quickly and it was soon time for lunch. I didn’t eat much. I kept wondering how much trouble Brooklyn was in. Kylie and I were careful to keep our voices down.

“Macey, you have to do what Miss Rex said. If Brooklyn says more mean things, you can’t talk back to her.”

“I know.”

Once we were outside, I started to feel better, especially since Brooklyn didn’t come out for recess. Kylie and I guessed that she’d be in detention for a week. Instead, it was two weeks. I was so happy. I wanted to walk up to her and say, “I never heard of anyone missing recess that long. Wow! That’s a big accomplishment.”

Then I thought about my promise to Miss Rex. It wasn’t easy but I kept my mouth shut.