to laugh When Paisley didn’t respond Dad explained Attractive as in magnets attract iron certain types of steel nickel and cobalt Get it Ha ha Yes Paisley said too worried about Ben Where was he Ben usually met up with Paisley so they could walk to school together Unless they were arguing which didn’t happen often Did Ben somehow sleep through his birthday gift or had his parents taken him out for breakfast and she’d missed it Paisley had her answer a moment later when Ben raced over Water droplets covered his glasses and his shoes sloshed with water as he walked His outfit was remarkably dry I take it you’re responsible for the sprinkler songs that woke us all up Ben asked Paisley couldn’t tell if he was upset She could easily blame it on a sprinkler malfunction Well maybe not What sprinkler randomly starts playing the Happy Birthday song and shoots waterworks 8
It was epic if so Ben said I ran outside to watch but got soaking wet I had to change but I outgrew all my spare shoes Anyway that’s why I’m late Mia Paisley’s other neighbor met up with them The little girl had played in the sprinklers too and hadn’t bothered to change out of her soaking wet puffy pink skirt and matching top She left a trail of water as they
walked to school Super epic Mia said Drats Paisley couldn’t believe she’d missed the show she’d engineered Just to make sure you’re not mad at me are you Paisley asked Ben as he cleaned his glasses off No way What a cool start to my birthday he said Paisley felt a little better but she couldn’t shake the bad feeling she had about the day Maybe it was because she forgot to study for the math quiz Paisley wished teachers would stop giving quizzes and homework on days like her best friend’s birthday But no Mr Rhombus didn’t go easy on the students either with all of his decimal and percentage questions Paisley tugged at her hair during the middle of the quiz her brain swirling with too many numbers and not enough sleep Whitney-Raelynn was the first to finish the quiz She jumped out of her chair to turn her quiz in Easy peasy You’re making me grump-peas with your cheese 10
Rosalind said under her breath Ben chuckled Paisley laughed a little too loud You think this quiz is entertaining Paisley Atoms Mr Rhombus asked No sir Paisley answered Mr Rhombus gave her a stern look She ducked her head and stared at the numbers on her quiz Whitney-Raelynn snickered but was distracted by the buzz of her cell phone She couldn’t answer it in class or Mr Rhombus would take it away Don’t let the Grammar Grinch get to you one of the identical twins said Paisley was the only one at Roarington Elementary who could tell the twins apart but now she wasn’t so sure Thanks Sumi Paisley said taking a guess What Paisley Atoms confused the two of us That’s never happened before Suki said She high fived the real Sumi You are messing with my math mojo Arjun said His phone buzzed too Something strange was going on 11
