Sherman isn’t exactly the coolest geek in the band More like the weirdest He keeps a yo-yo tucked in his pocket and is always showing off his newest trick And he warms up every day before band practice Like seriously warms up with jumping jacks and yoga Super weird But I still like hanging out with him Most of the time Act cool Sherman nodded his brown curls bobbing up and down Got it Hey watch this I stooped to pick a flower with bright yellow petals I’m gonna give her this daisy Sherman held up his wildflower field guide Actually that’s a black-eyed Susan See how the center is brown Daisies have yellow centers with white petals Dude who cares It’s summer break But I didn’t give Sherman time to answer I hurried on over to the girl with the trumpet A flower for you I said holding it out to her 8
Her eyes widened but she took it It’s pretty she said Thanks You’re welcome I smiled My name’s Zac Wiles by the way What’s yours Aubrey Fowler Hey Sherman jumped in if you mixed the letters around that would spell flower Aubrey laughed and tucked the flower I gave her behind one ear Nice I said Did you know that’s a black-eyed Susan Sherman asked her Aubrey shook her head Yep Sherman said It’s sad so many earthlings don’t know the different species of wildflowers Sherman I said hoping he’d zip it But he ignored me and kept on going Wildflowers are important you know I wish we could petition the president to create a law so we could learn more about them in school 9
Great idea Aubrey nodded Hey Sherman I think I just saw a I tried to think of a flower he’d told me about on the bus A chocolate lily I remembered it because hello chocolate And because Lilly Reyes plays flute in our band Maybe you should check it out Impossible Sherman said Dude I wiped my cheek with the back of my hand You just spit a little Sorry Sherman dabbed at my cheek too Dude I got it I said pushing his hand away That stopped him There was no stopping Sherman about this wildflower stuff though Anyway you couldn’t have seen a chocolate lily Zac He flipped open his guidebook See Page 16 shows their range They don’t grow around here Okay Sherman I get it Then I shot him a You’re killing me here look But Aubrey was digging this wildflower stuff too She obviously liked geeky guys I didn’t stand a chance 10
By then some other kids had gathered around anyway This one guy lugging a sax case said Do pansies grow here He laughed Cause you both look like pansies to me Nate Lutz That was mean Aubrey said What Nate acted surprised Then he looked at me Check out all the camouflage this kid’s wearing Dude I can still see you Real original I said I always wear camouflage so I’d heard that lame joke before I made a big show of rolling my eyes before totally changing the subject What band are you in Aubrey Morrison Junior High she said What about you Benton Bluff Junior High And hey I’m not bragging or anything I grinned but my sax skills are pretty cool Puh-lease Nate nodded toward his sax case Nobody’s better than me I make the all-stars camp band every year 11
