Open Wide (3 page)

“I don’t mind,” Katie assured him.

“I don’t want to gross you out,” George told her. “It would just make me feel bad.”

Suzanne bit her lip and took the plate from his hand. “I’ll do it, George, no problem.”

Katie looked at her strangely. It didn’t seem as though there was anything wrong with Suzanne. But maybe the fall yesterday did something to her head, because she sure was acting strangely!

“I’ll be a steady-ender!” Katie offered during recess as some of the fourth-grade girls gathered to play double-Dutch jump rope.

“Me too,” Emma W. added, grabbing the other end of the two jump ropes.

Katie and Emma W. began twirling the two ropes one after the other. Katie smiled at Emma. Emma returned her grin, flashing her really white teeth right at Katie. Katie knew her teeth were just as white. After all, the girls had just brushed . . . and brushed . . . and brushed.

Katie looked down at the key chain with the tooth attached to her belt loop. Emma had given her one of hers, because they were both members of the Pearly Whites Club. Emma had made that name up. Katie thought it was perfect!

“I’ll go first!” Becky declared, leaping in between the two twirling ropes. “Teddy bear, teddy bear, turn around! Teddy bear, teddy bear, touch the ground . . .”

Katie stared at Becky with admiration. She couldn’t believe how easily Becky was able to turn around and touch the ground without missing.

Katie always missed. She never seemed to be able to get the rhythm of the two double-Dutch ropes going round and round one after the other. That was why she always asked to be the steady-ender. Katie was really good at turning the ropes, even if she wasn’t great at jumping.

“Suzanne, want to get in line?” Mandy called out across the yard.

At the moment, Suzanne was sitting on a bench next to George. He was reading a bunch of skateboarding magazines during recess.

“Sure!” Suzanne called out, jumping to her feet. “I just learned the greatest rhyme . . .”

“Oops, look what I just did!” George said as a whole bunch of plastic bugs fell from his jacket pocket. He looked down at the fake tarantulas, cockroaches, and worms that were scattered all over the blacktop. Then he glanced up at Suzanne and asked, “Could you pick them up for me?”

Suzanne made a face.

“They’re fake, don’t worry,” he assured her.

“Okay.” Suzanne bent down and began picking up the bugs.

“Be careful,” George warned her. “Don’t break off one of their legs or an antenna or something.”

“Hurry up, Suzanne,” Mandy called to her. “You can go after Jessica.”

Suzanne looked longingly over at the jump-roping girls.

“You’ve got to get all the bugs,” George insisted. “I don’t want to lose any. I’d do it myself, but I’m not supposed to put any weight on my ankle, remember?”

“Can’t Kevin or Jeremy pick them up for you?” Suzanne asked hopefully.

George shook his head. “They’re playing football. They can still play football because no one knocked
them
over and sprained
their
ankles.”

Suzanne sighed. “Forget it, you guys,” she shouted over to the girls.

As Katie watched her best friend picking up plastic bugs, she felt terrible. She knew how much Suzanne loved double-Dutch.

It didn’t seem fair to Katie. She couldn’t help thinking that George was really having fun making Suzanne feel so bad.

When the bell rang at the end of the school day, Katie found Suzanne waiting outside the door of class 4A. That was weird, especially since Suzanne usually left school with the kids from her own class, class 4B.

“What are you doing here?” Katie asked.

“I got to leave early so I could help George carry his book bag home,” Suzanne explained. She frowned and rubbed her shoulder. “I’m sore from carrying it to school this morning.”

“I’ll carry it for him,” Katie told Suzanne. “I go right by his house on my way home.”

“But I promised
I
would do it,” Suzanne insisted.

“You’ve done enough for George today,” Katie assured her. “It doesn’t matter who brings his bag home.”

“Katie, it’s really heavy,” Suzanne told her. “And besides, you’re not the one who banged into him.”

Katie smiled at Suzanne. “We don’t have a lot of homework tonight, so there won’t be a lot of books in his bag.”

“Are you sure?” Suzanne asked her.

Katie nodded.

Suzanne smiled at her. “You’re the best friend anyone could ever have!” she exclaimed. Then Suzanne ran off before George could stop her.

“I don’t know what happened to Suzanne,” George told Katie as they left the school and headed for home. “She was supposed to carry my bag home.”

“It doesn’t matter,” Katie replied. “I don’t mind helping you.”

“But that’s not the point, Katie Kazoo,” George said.

“How come your mom didn’t pick you up in her car?” Emma W. asked. She and her little brother Matthew, who was in first grade, were walking part of the way with Katie and George. “That way you wouldn’t have had to walk at all.”

“I told her not to bother,” George explained. “She’s working today. She shouldn’t have to leave work early just because Suzanne knocked me down yesterday.”

“You know, George, it’s not all Suzanne’s fault,” Katie told him.

“She wasn’t watching where she was going,” George reminded her.

“But you were running forward. That means you could see her coming. And you didn’t get out of the way,” Katie explained.

“Can I try your crutches, George?” Matthew asked.

George ignored Emma’s little brother. “Katie, it all happened really fast,” George insisted. “I didn’t have time to move.”

“You just didn’t want to miss the ball,” Katie guessed.

George frowned. “Whatever. I’m still the one who got hurt.”

“Katie, does your mouth still feel fresh?” Emma asked, in an attempt to change the subject. “Mine does.”

Katie ran her tongue over her teeth. “Mmm. Minty.”

“What are you guys talking about?” George asked.

“Katie and I are in the Pearly Whites Club. We brush our teeth after lunch,” Emma explained.

“And we brushed them again right before we left school,” Katie added, patting the tooth key ring Emma had given her.

“We’re going to do it every day,” Emma added. “No more cavities for me.”

“Ooo, cavities,” George said with a slight groan. “I’ve had two.”

Katie didn’t doubt it. Not with all the sweets George chowed down.

“Dr.
Fang
filled them both. It was horrible!” George continued.

“Dr. Fang,” Katie giggled. “That’s a good one.”

“Man, I hate going there,” George told her. “The dentist is the worst.”

“Uh, George,” Emma said quickly, shaking her head. “Don’t . . .”

“I know what you mean,” Katie added, agreeing with George. “Don’t you hate when he tells you to open wide, and then he sticks that metal pointy thing on each of your teeth?”

“Katie, could you not talk about . . .” Emma started.

“And how about that weird X-ray machine thing that goes all around your head?” George continued, ignoring Emma completely. “It makes the creepiest noise. And you’re stuck in there. You’re not even supposed to move!”

“Did Dr. Fang stick a giant needle in your gums when you had a cavity?” Katie asked him. “That’s what he did to Emma.”

“Uh—guys!” Emma said louder.

George nodded. “Uh-huh. And then he stuck this drill thing into my tooth. I could hear it digging.
Grrrrrr
. . .
grrr
. . . ”

Suddenly, Matthew Weber’s face turned bright red. Tears began streaming down his face. “I am not going to the dentist!” he declared angrily to Emma. Then he raced down the street ahead of them.

“What’s with him?” George asked Emma.

“I was trying to tell you. He has to go to the dentist this afternoon,” Emma told him. “He doesn’t like going to any doctors. This is his first time at the dentist. And he was scared enough before you two started talking about it.”

“Oh no! I’m so sorry, Emma,” Katie apologized. “We didn’t know.”

“I tried to stop you from saying all that bad stuff,” Emma explained. “But you guys just ignored me. Now it’s going to be harder than ever to get him to go.”

“Let me talk to him, Emma,” Katie suggested. “I’ll tell him we were just kidding.”

“Forget it,” Emma replied. “You and George said enough already.”