Always, Abigail (19 page)

We looked at all the pictures the kindergartners had made for us. Some were of me in my Sam I Am hat, holding up the plate of green eggs and ham. Some were of Gabby in her hat, scrunching up her face, getting ready to eat the green eggs and ham. And some were pictures that didn't have anything to do with
Green Eggs and Ham
. But they were all cute! And they were for us!

Other kids leaving homeroom tried to look over our shoulders to see what the pictures looked like. And I knew no matter what Jackson Dawber or anyone else said, they were wishing the pictures were for them. I could just feel it. It was the same feeling I'd had when I thought I'd made captain of the pom squad.

“I want to show these pictures to my mom and dad.”

1.
Gabby didn't have a mom to show them to.

2.
Did she have a dad?

“Yeah, I think I'll ask Old Hawk to make copies so I can send them to
my
dad.”

Where
is
your dad anyway?

Whatever the answer was, I was worried that it would somehow make me feel even more guilty.

1.
Ask Old Hawk if I could take a few of her picture books home.

2.
Read the picture books tonight and find another good one for Gabby and me to read to the kindergartners.

“Wait 'til I show you the cute thank-you notes the kindergarten kids gave Gabby and me.”

1.
“Are you talking about Gabby Marco?”

2.
“Didn't her brother drop out of school to become a lumberjack or something?”

(Actually the
Way
I Said It Is What Surprised Me)

“He's a tree climber, and it's superdangerous. And for your information, he
had
to quit school to take care of Gabby.”

“Cool.”

1.
Sylvester and the Magic Pebble

2.
Stone Soup

3.
Miss Nelson Is Missing!

4.
Abiyoyo

5.
Jack and the Beanstalk

1.
The minute I walked into the gym, AlliCam and J&M saluted me with the secret wave. Then they ran to me screaming, surrounding me with their pom-poms, and I knew right then that I was NOT an alternate anymore. And when Jackie put my very own “POMS FOREVER” T-shirt over my head, I felt like I'd just been crowned Miss America.

2.
Jackie liked my idea for the ending pose of our second routine, and since she was the squad's captain, she said we'd probably use it at our next game.

3.
The whole basketball team walked through our practice on the way outside to run laps. I swear Kip Thompson winked at me. I almost passed out.

All my pom-pom dreams were coming true.

AlliCam,

What's with Abigail and Gabby? They aren't friends, are they? Doesn't she know she's part of the Fab Five now?

Poms Forever,

J&M

Cry.

Crumpled up the note that I'd planned to leave in AlliCam's locker and threw it away.

It said:

AlliCam,

Poms for real is even better than I dreamed, and J&M are soooo great!

SPF,

Abigail

The fire alarm went off. Ms. Jenson filed us out into the parking lot. The fire department showed up. Right away they said it wasn't anything serious. A small fire in the faculty bathroom, which made sense, since we saw smoke coming out of the window. They said we wouldn't be getting back into the building anytime soon. Ms. Jenson decided to have us practice out in the field, but when she realized Jackie and Alli couldn't stop drooling over the cute firemen, she decided to cancel practice. I was glad. I couldn't concentrate anyway.

All I could think about was Gabby.
Were
we friends?

All I could think about was the Fab Five. Were
we
friends?

All I could think about was poms. Was this the way it was supposed to be?

A stink bomb had started the fire. Mr. Buckley found out it was Jackson who lit it. It was his own dumb fault he got caught because he left an extra stink bomb in his locker. It was out in plain view when Old Hawk had us do our weekly locker cleanup. Now Jackson's in HUGE trouble. Besides an in-school suspension, Mr. Buckley is making Jackson earn twice as many service points by the end of the school year. Looks like Jackson will be putting down his highlighter-microphone and picking up a broom, a shovel, and a trash bag full of litter. Worse than that. If he doesn't watch it, come summertime, he'll be packing his bags for bad-boy boot camp just like his brother did last summer.

1.
I got to do the “secret wave” in the hallway with all the other poms, even the seventh- and eighth-graders.

2.
I was finally part of the inside jokes and pom-pom politics with AlliCam.

3.
Maddie Jacobson, a seventh-grade pom, told me she loved my gym bag, and now she has one just like it.

4.
Kip Thompson said hi to me in the hall exactly three times
and
smiled at me in the cafeteria.

5.
We have a game on Friday, and I get to wear my uniform to school. I CAN'T WAIT!!!

Dear Sixth-Grade Pom Squad,

Yearbook photos will be taken two weeks from Saturday. We will meet in the main gym that morning at 11. Be prompt and be sure both you and your uniform are at their best.

Ms. Jenson