Big Whopper (6 page)

“Borrrrring,” Gina said. “Let’s head for the store. I have all this money to spend.”

Sumiko and Charlie were up ahead. They were going to the Discover Japan room.

“Let’s—” Destiny began.

But Gina didn’t wait. “I know someplace else we can go first,” she said.

Destiny followed her. She saw the sign. DISCOVER THE PRESIDENTS.

“You can even see their pictures,” Gina said.

Destiny felt her own heart thumping. “Let’s go somewhere else.”

Gina turned. “I guess this is borrrrring for you.”

What was Gina talking about?

“You know all about the presidents,” Gina said. “Just think about your greatest-grandfather.”

Destiny swallowed. “You said you knew something about me. For the not-so-white discovery board.”

“Yes.” Gina slid onto a bench outside the presidents room. “You’re a good Afternoon Center person.”

“Really?” Destiny said.

Gina nodded. “You tried the pineapple. You gave me a seat on the bench.” She made a face. “A little piece of seat. But even so.”

Destiny looked into the presidents room. She saw a statue of George Washington. And another of Abraham Lincoln.

She thought about being a good Afternoon Center person.

Ms. Katz was coming down the hall toward them.

She knew she had to tell the truth. No matter what.

It was the way they did things at the Zelda A. Zigzag Afternoon Center.

CHAPTER 9
STILL THURSDAY

D
estiny could hardly breathe.

Ms. Katz stopped in front of them.

“My greatest-grandfather wasn’t President Washington,” Destiny said.

Gina’s mouth opened. “He wasn’t?”

Ms. Katz’s mouth opened, too. “Is that what you said?”

Ms. Katz sank down on the bench next to

Gina. “You’d better sit down, too,” she told Destiny.

“You told a whopper,” Gina said.

Destiny began to cry. “I’m sorry,” she said.

Gina began to cry, too.

That Gina. Why was she crying?

“I told a whopper, too,” Gina said. “I even wrote it on the not-so-white-paper wall.”

Ms. Katz tilted her head.

“I can’t break a glass when I sing,” Gina said. “Only when it falls off the table. By accident.”

Destiny sniffled. “That’s a whopper.”

Ms. Katz put one arm around Destiny. She put the other arm around Gina. “It’s easier to tell the truth. That way your stomach doesn’t get tied in knots.”

Destiny nodded. So did Gina.

Destiny looked up at Ms. Katz’s plain brown hair. She looked at her no-polish nails. But most of all, she looked at Ms. Katz’s face.

She had just discovered something.

Ms. Katz didn’t need lip gloss, or nail polish.

She was gorgeous anyway.

Ms. Katz stood up. Something was happening to her face.

What?

“Is she trying not to laugh?” Gina whispered.

Destiny wasn’t sure. But one thing she knew. Ms. Katz wasn’t angry.

And another thing. Destiny was never going to tell another whopper. Even when she was forty years old.

“Come on,” Ms. Katz said. “Let’s learn about discoveries.”

Destiny stood up. So did Gina.

They went into a room. It was dark as night. Ms. Katz gave them a map. “Look up at the ceiling,” she said. “Can you see the stars?”

Destiny didn’t look up. She flapped her jacket around in the dark. Trevor was right.

Sparks!

Next they went to the presidents room to discover some presidents. After that, they walked inside a huge heart.

What a discovery! It didn’t look one bit like a Valentine heart.

But best of all, they went to the gift store.

Gina lent Destiny a dollar.

Destiny bought a book about the presidents. President Washington’s picture was right on the front!

CHAPTER 10
FRIDAY

E
veryone crowded into an upstairs classroom with Ms. Katz and Mrs. Farelli.

Ms. Katz opened the window.

“Are you ready?” Mitchell yelled.

“Ready,” everyone called back.

Destiny began to count: “One. Two. Three. Go!”

“Goodbye, robot,” Habib said.

He and Mitchell tossed the parachute out the window.

It sailed outside—

And got caught in the oak tree.

“Wack!” Habib yelled.

“Good try,” Ms. Katz said.

“That’s the way it works with discoveries,” Mrs. Farelli said. “Some turn out better than others.”

Destiny took a breath. She was going to write in her discovery space at last.

She skipped out of the room. She was still thinking.

She went downstairs.

She heard a noise.

The mop closet door was open a tiny bit.

She looked inside. Her mouth flew open.

She stood there for a few minutes, smiling.

Everyone else was coming downstairs now.
They had last-minute things to write before Discovery Week was over.

Gina crossed out her breaking-the-glass discovery. She put in something about Destiny.

It was too messy to read.

“Sorry,” Gina said. “It’s good, though.”

Sumiko wrote:

Mitchell went next:

Then Destiny began to write in her own space.

First she put down two things she had discovered about presidents:

“Don’t forget Franklin Obama,” Mitchell said.

That doesn’t sound right
, Destiny thought.

“It’s Barack Obama,” Mitchell said.

“That sounds right,” Destiny said.

She liked discoveries. You could keep finding new ones all the time.

And then she wrote her biggest discovery.

She drew a big red arrow. She wrote: SURPRIZE!

Everyone followed her down the hall.

Jake the Sweeper was leaning on his broom. It was the first time Destiny had ever seen him smile.

She smiled, too.

Destiny put her finger to her lips. She opened the mop closet door.

“No more Terrible Thomas,” Destiny whispered. “It’s Mrs. Thomas.”

The cat looked up at her.

Together everyone counted. Six kittens.

Destiny leaned over. She gave Mrs. Thomas’s head a pat.

Her discovery certainly was the most surprising!

“Koun!”
she said.