CHAPTER 1 The Tattoo Queen I had a total ick day A make-me-feel sick day A crumple-it-up-and-give-it a-kick day My cousin Crockett has a calendar that lists special holidays around the world Not just mega holidays like Christmas but super secret holidays like Take Your Houseplant for a Walk Day Give an Apple to Your Teacher Day and Talk Like a Pirate Day On Fridays Crockett brings the calendar to recess and lets our whole third grade class take a sneaky peek Crockett said today was Dare to Be Different Day 5
So at breakfast instead of eating my usual bowl of cereal I dared to be different I spied a can of cream soda in the fridge Cream soda’s practically milk isn’t it I drizzled it over my Crispies and watched them swirl before sinking After the first spoonful my taste buds freaked out Maybe I’m not a dare to-be-different girl after all Before my mom woke up I dumped the bowl into the trash If she knew cereal à la soda was on my menu there’d be major mama drama I bolted upstairs to brush the grungy taste out of my mouth After two seconds I knew something was wrong Diaper rash ointment Yuck I spit into the sink and grabbed the minty fresh mouthwash to get rid of the disgust-o taste 6
Things were looking up at school when my teacher Mrs Bingsley made an announcement Our class is responsible for the school-wide service project next month she said She tapped the character education poster on the board and turned to Vanessa Garfinkle aka Miss Priss-A-Poo Wasn’t your family in charge of the car wash last year Vanessa Vanessa stood and bowed We raised the most money EV-er Her nose shot into the air on EV-er Let’s try to raise just as much this year said Mrs Bingsley Let’s work together and brainstorm ideas On Monday we’ll vote for our favorite I raced over to the best thinking spot in the class the purplicious beanbag chair in the art center But Miss Priss-A-Poo the Car Wash Queen beat me to it 7
