Somebody had a secret, she knew. And suddenly, this was no longer the perfect September morning she had hoped it would be.
Even though it was warm, Alfie shivered.
The invisible rainbow above the girls’ heads had turned into a stormy little cloud.
The newest girl in class sidled up to Alfie and Phoebe like a spy. It was Bella Babcock, the girl with three dogs.
Bella had joined Mr. Havens’s class two weeks late. Alfie remembered the exact moment she decided to give her a personal tour of Oak Glen Primary School. Bella was eating her recess snack all alone, as if that were the most important job in the world. Her only job.
No talking, no laughing, no smiling, even.
And Alfie had suddenly thought, What if that was me? What if I was the new kid at a brand-new school?
“Wanna hang out?” she had asked Bella, who seemed suddenly to melt a little, hearing her words. “I can show you around if you want.”
“I guess,” Bella had said, shrugging—but smiling, too, as she ducked her head. “I mean, okay. I don’t mind.”
“Maybe you do, and maybe you don’t?” Alfie had teased.
“I don’t mind,” Bella had said, laughing. “Let’s go!”
Bella was nice. She had a short, tufty haircut that looked cute on her, a wide smile, and freckles scattered across her nose like a dash of cinnamon.
“I think someone’s giving a party,” Bella murmured now in an excited, husky voice, glancing over at Hanni, Suzette, and Lulu, who were still whispering. “That girl Lulu, I think it is. A sleepover.”
She said the last word as if it were a very special thing.
“Great,” Phoebe said, breaking into a smile. “Because my cousin goes to sleepovers all the time, and she loves them. It sounds like fun.”
“But you told me your cousin’s in fifth grade,” Alfie reminded Phoebe. “We’re only in second grade. Have you even gone to a sleepover yet, Pheeb?”
Alfie had, in first grade—though it had been more an overnight babysitting thing than the real deal. And it had not ended well.
First, Alfie had gotten homesick—after only half an hour.
Then her stomach started to hurt.
Then the worst had happened. Blarrrt! All over her brand-new pink and purple Fairy Kitties sleeping bag, which was not as washable as the label bragged it was.
“Lulu says it’s gonna be the best sleepover ever,” Bella reported. “Like the big girls have. And it’s this Saturday night! But Lulu’s not inviting everyone. Only her best friends.” She sounded as if she really wanted to go.
“It’ll be fun, if it really happens,” Phoebe said again. But she sounded a little less sure of herself this time.
“And if we get invited,” Alfie pointed out—because Lulu Marino was an up-and-down kind of girl when it came to being, and staying, friends.
“My special darling,” her mom called her, Lulu bragged.
“Well, Lulu said she’s deciding this week who she’s gonna ask,” Bella said.
“But the rule at Oak Glen Primary School is that you have to ask everyone in class, if you have a party,” Phoebe pointed out, the usual blush flooding her cheeks. “Or else you aren’t allowed to talk about it at school at all. So Lulu’s breaking the rules. She could get in trouble.”
“But if we tell on her,” Alfie said, “we won’t get invited for sure.”
“Yeah. You’re right,” Phoebe said, her blue eyes wide with alarm. “And anyway, who would we tell? Mr. Havens?” she asked as the warning buzzer sounded, and most of the girls started gathering their things.
Alfie, Phoebe, and Bella stared at each other for a moment. To the second grade girls’ surprise, they all liked their “boy teacher” just fine, they had slowly agreed over the past four weeks. But he hadn’t really been tested yet.
Did he “get” girls?
Not to mention important girl-stuff such as sleepovers?
And how would he handle a big deal like this, if someone tattled on Lulu?
“We’d better keep our mouths shut,” Alfie said as they hurried across the playground toward the main school building.
“I guess you’re right,” Phoebe agreed. “Because I want to go to that party, even if Lulu doesn’t really know me yet. I’ll make her know me,” she vowed.
Wow! Phoebe was gutsier than she thought, Alfie told herself.
Bella didn’t say a word.
But Alfie admitted silently to herself that she wanted to be invited, too.
Even though she didn’t know why she wanted to go.
3 Shared Reading
“Listen up, All-Stars,” Mr. Havens called out to his students as Alfie was stowing her backpack in the cubby room.
Each class at Oak Glen Primary School had a name, and Alfie’s class was called the “All-Stars.”
The girls hadn’t gotten to vote on it. No one had.
“Bottoms in chairs, people,” Mr. Havens—“Coach”—said from his very great height. He used to play basketball in college, EllRay had told Alfie more than once. He was very strong. Even his neck looked strong, Alfie thought. It went straight down from his small, muscle-y ears into his shirt.
“Hup, hup,” Mr. Havens said, urging his students to hurry. “We have shared reading and a writing workshop to get under our trendy little belts before morning recess. So settle down while I take attendance.”
“Trendy little belts!” That was probably a jokey dig aimed at Lulu or Suzette, Alfie thought, hiding a smile. Mr. Havens liked to tease them about how fussy they were with their “outfits,” as the girls liked to call the clothes they wore each day.
But Mr. Havens was also always quick with a compliment. For example, he had told Dr. and Mrs. Jakes during Back to School Night that Alfie was “as bright as a button.” He said it was a pleasure having her in his class, they told her.
A button?
“Bright as a button” wasn’t as good as cute, talented, adorable, or smart, in Alfie’s opinion. But it was better than nothing.
Alfie and Arletty exchanged looks and smiled. Arletty had arrived at school just
