Schoolyard

''Allie Granger isn't looking forward to her new year at Pineville. She's moving away from her                 friends, and not only that, but she's forced to give up her rock collection and her mom buys her new,                ugly sweaters and bans her from wearing a skirt over her jeans. She keeps four rocks, but little does she                                               know, one does something very strange...''



One
There are a few rules to life.

When a grown-up asks you to please pay attention in class, you do it.

You see, this isn't a problem for me, Allie Granger, because my teacher Mrs. Will loves me and so I never get in trouble. But for somebody, it doesn't work so easily.

Karl Berry, for example. We used to laugh about his name until one day Mrs. Will caught them. They went to the principal's office.

I've had Mrs. Will for three years in a row. She's my favorite teacher, and I was really looking forward to having her.

One of the rules is don't shove cupcakes in other people's faces. But I made an exception for Karl.

We were sitting at the table, them behind us, and they were eating and slurping loudly, like always. "Were you in the bathroom when they handed out manners or on a plane to Russia?" I asked with disgust, turning around to look at them. Unfortunately, it was Karl Berry sitting behind me, and he didn't look too happy about my remark.

"I'm telling!" She snitched.

"She won't believe you. Remember how you stole the trophy cup last year?"

Karl stuck his nose up at me for this and stuck his tongue out. Boys these days were so immature. "Besides, I'm her favorite. There's no way she'd tell on me."

"Would too!"

"Would not!"

By now, you would've thought that everyone would be looking over at us. But nope. Lunches were usually extremely loud, which meant there was no way but a little chance that someone trying to talk to us would notice. Fortunately, nobody turned and yelled, "Hey, Karl, you're gonna get cooties!" or "Did you see them lose last night?"

Instead, I smashed my cupcake into his face. I was sort of sad because I wanted a bite and it was my only dessert, besides frozen lemonade, so I stuck my tongue out at him and turned away, yelling, "Sorry! That was an accident!"

Karl growled at my back, and my palms got just a little bit sweaty. I couldn't imagine what it would be like if Mrs. Will did believe him.

But of course, I had no way to find out.

Karl stayed after school for bad behavior everyday. The entire walk home with my best friend, Alex, I was distracted. She rambled on and on about opening a salon if her mom agreed to it, which even I knew she wouldn't. But that was another rule: don't crush your best friend's hope, even if it's impossible.

So I stumbled as I walked, tripping over cracks. Alex tried to challenge me to a 'don't step on the cracks' game, but I lost about a dozen times before she called it off.

We reached my house and Alex said she could stay until dinner. We ate popsicles as we did our homework, but I wasn't focused and my vision kept going blurry. I was even distracted until Barbies. I heard the faint sound of water boiling, but I couldn't even jump very high with Alex. Finally, she plopped down on the bed and fidgeted with Skipper's hair for a while. I didn't go next to her, just sat down on my carpet and changed my doll. Finally, she spoke up.

"Allie, why are you acting so weird?" Alex asked, obviously concerned. Or irritated. Or both. My mom tended to have those feelings a lot, like when my older sister Sophia burns the quesadillas or when I got lost in Target and picked out a diary for when I got found again.

"It's just... I shoved a cupcake in Karl's face, and I'm afraid he'll tell. What if Mrs. Will gets mad at me?"

"You did what?" Alex asked, and I winced. "That's amazing, girl!" She held up her hand, but I didn't high-five her. "Oh, come on. Seriously. Don't I always get in trouble? It's not bad. Once, I threw pizza at Jasmine. Mrs. Will told me not to do that again and gave me a lollipop."

"True," I said, recalling the event and smiling slightly, my spirit rising.

"See? It's not too bad. Plus, the yucky feeling goes away once you taste that sweet lollipop!"

"Stop, you're making me hungry," I said, abandoning my Barbie as I hopped onto the bed to join Alex. She smelled like sugar cookies, even though it was the beginning of June.

"Also," Alex called over her shoulder, as she was in front of me as we made our way downstairs for pasta, "School's almost over, so it won't matter anyway."

I smiled at mom as we came into the kitchen, and she grinned back, handing us each our bowls and drink. I kissed her forehead and she smiled and walked into the living room to watch some of her humorous doctor shows.

"So, when did this happen? Yesterday?" Alex asked, and once I realized what she was talking about, my stomach hurt a little bit, even though I'd went to the bathroom earlier and I hadn't eaten since lunch and was now enjoying my dinner.

"No, today."

"How come I didn't notice? I was sitting right next to you!"

"Engrossed in conversation?" I suggested, shrugging my shoulders. Alex frowned and hugged me. "Don't worry, you're still my favorite person."