A Lot to Tackle by Belle Payton Page B

or skirt. I’m just surprised to see you looking so . . .” Mrs. Gusman’s voice trailed off.
    Alex glanced down at her gray sweatpants and grungy pink sweatshirt. She didn’t think she’d ever worn sweatpants to school. Sweats were for lazy kids, she liked to tell Ava. But this morning she couldn’t find the energy to care about fashion. She would’ve come in her pajamas if she hadn’t been wearing her fleece pants with dancing penguins.
    Alex perched on the edge of Mrs. Gusman’s desk, eager to change the subject. “How are O’Malley and Malarkey?”
    Mrs. Gusman brightened and stopped typing. “At one in the morning last night, little Malarkey began to bark and bark. Scared me silly! I thought an intruder had broken in. Turns out that O’Malley snuck into Malarkey’s bed. Two pugs in one little bed! It took an hour to sort out the sleeping situation.”
    â€œWhat silly dogs!” Alex said. Mrs. Gusman always told her O’Malley and Malarkey stories. She held up her paper crane pass. “Madame Knowlton said you wanted to see me.”
    Mrs. Gusman’s smile faded. “We have a problem.”
    â€œWe do?” Alex asked hesitantly.
    Mrs. Gusman pulled open the top of a largecardboard box. She unfurled an enormous banner made from shiny royal-blue-and-orange material. “The middle school Booster Club banner arrived.”
    â€œGreat!” Alex stood to examine it. “Oh! Not great!” She gasped when she read the words embroidered on the banner: GO ASHLAND TIGGERS!
    â€œTiggers? Tiggers?” Alex found herself repeating the mistake.
    â€œSame as the character in Winnie the Pooh . Do you know Tigger? My grandson used to bounce around like Tigger does.” Mrs. Gusman smiled at the memory.
    â€œBut we’re the Tigers!” Alex cried. “How could the printer make such a huge mistake?”
    â€œCalm down, Alex.” Mrs. Gusman rested her hand gently on Alex’s arm. “We will solve this.”
    She picked up the phone and dialed a number. While she waited for an answer, she handed a parent a pass to retrieve her sick child from the nurse’s office.
    â€œHello, this is Beatrice Gusman at the Ashland Middle School office, calling about the banner delivered today,” she began. Then she told the printing company about the hideous mess-up. “Uh-huh. I see.” Mrs. Gusman typed something, then squinted at her computer screen. “Yes, yes.I agree. No, it will have to be fixed. We’ll have to figure that part out. Thank you.”
    Mrs. Gusman hung up the phone and swiveled the screen so Alex could see.
    Alex’s stomach gave a sharp squeeze. The order form—the one she had filled out in the library and submitted—said Tiggers , not Tigers. She had made the typo. She had turned her dad’s football team from fierce, fighting Tigers to silly, bouncing Tiggers! What if Mrs. Gusman hadn’t opened the box before sending it on to Austin? She cringed at the thought.
    â€œI never would have expected you to mess up, Alex,” Mrs. Gusman mused.
    â€œI’m so sorry.” Alex felt terrible. “Truly I am. Will they fix it?”
    â€œThey will. They’ll need to charge the Booster Club more money, though,” Mrs. Gusman said quietly.
    â€œBut it’s my fault.” Alex’s stomach squeezed so tightly, she held her side. “I should pay.” Her piggy bank held about thirty dollars from her birthday. She wondered if her parents would let her take money out of her savings account.
    â€œLet me try to work out the money with the printer on Monday.” Mrs. Gusman turned toanother parent signing out her son. “Mistakes happen to the best of us, Alex.”
    Except they’ve been happening to me a lot, Alex thought.

CHAPTER
Seven
    â€œYou’re still in your pajamas?” Mrs. Sackett’s voice registered her surprise. “Do you