with as few words as possible. Deja decides to ignore this. Nikki has acted this way before. Eventually, she will forget why she's angry and things will go back to normal. Deja will just wait it out. Plus, when she's elected student body president of Carver Elementary, Nikki will be happy to be her best friend.
Tuesday, speech day, comes quickly. Deja can barely sit still, for two reasons. First, she is wearing the beautiful new lavender sweater that Auntie bought her. It's a little itchy, but it's the same color as the blossoms on the jacaranda tree that grows in front of a house on her street. Second, any minute a helper is going to come to Room Ten and pick her up. She will be taken to the auditorium to wait backstage for the assembly to start.
Assembly days are always good days because lots of work gets missed. Deja looks down at her open Sustained Silent Reading book and wonders why she chose one with so many pages. It's so boring, yet she's going to be stuck with it for another week because Ms. Shelby makes them keep the books they check out of the classroom library for two weeks. Nikki must have a great book. She looks as if she's really reading. Finally, there's a light rap on the door and one of the fifth grade helpers enters with a note for Ms. Shelby. Ms. Shelby reads it, nods, then smiles at Deja. "You're wanted in the auditorium, Deja."
All of the other candidates are already sitting in chairs lined up onstage when Deja enters. The last chair in the row is empty. It's her chair. She swallows hard and scratches an itchy spot just under the neck of her sweater. She suddenly feels hot.
"Oh, Deja," Mr. Willis says. He's the fifth grade teacher. "Come on up and take your seat."
The walk down the center aisle seems to take forever. She feels all eyes on her until she settles in her chair. Mr. Brown is fooling with the microphone onstage. He repeats, "Testing, testing, testing..." until his voice finally booms across the auditorium, making Deja jump. She feels her heart beat faster and, it seems, louder, too. She wonders if anyone can hear it. Surprisingly, her mouth feels dry, and the itchy spot just under her collar has now spread down her arms and across her back.
The auditorium doors open then, and in file the kindergarten classes. They take the front rows. Right behind them are the first- and second-graders. By the time the third-graders come in, the room is buzzing with anticipation. She can barely make out her own class. She can't even see Nikki. She'd feel better if she could see Nikki, even though Nikki's still being cool to her. In the car that morning (Nikki's mom had taken them to school), she'd kept her face turned toward her window and didn't speak to Deja. The fourth and fifth grade classes file in, and by the time they take their seats they are just a dim blur. Deja can't focus on the students in the crowd, but she can hear their rustling and their excited voices.
Mr. Brown takes the center of the stage and raises his hand with his five fingers spread out. "Five!" he says and looks around, waiting until most of the auditorium catches on.
"Five!" they repeat with their hands held up.
"Four!" he says, and looks around until they repeat what he says.
By the time he gets to three, the auditorium is perfectly quiet.
"That's better," he says. Then he gives a long talkâat least it seems long to Dejaâabout auditorium behavior, which is different from playground behavior. He reminds them how important the day is and how hard the candidates have worked and how worthy they are to represent their classes. A lot of what he is saying doesn't sound all the way true. Deja looks down the row of seated students onstage. Gregory Johnson is sitting up straight and confident. Lashonda is yawning, and Paula is shuffling her feet. Sheena is playing with the ball barrette at the end of her braid, and Arthur is slouched, showing poor posture. The other fourth-grader is biting her thumbnail. But Deja supposes
Tuesday, speech day, comes quickly. Deja can barely sit still, for two reasons. First, she is wearing the beautiful new lavender sweater that Auntie bought her. It's a little itchy, but it's the same color as the blossoms on the jacaranda tree that grows in front of a house on her street. Second, any minute a helper is going to come to Room Ten and pick her up. She will be taken to the auditorium to wait backstage for the assembly to start.
Assembly days are always good days because lots of work gets missed. Deja looks down at her open Sustained Silent Reading book and wonders why she chose one with so many pages. It's so boring, yet she's going to be stuck with it for another week because Ms. Shelby makes them keep the books they check out of the classroom library for two weeks. Nikki must have a great book. She looks as if she's really reading. Finally, there's a light rap on the door and one of the fifth grade helpers enters with a note for Ms. Shelby. Ms. Shelby reads it, nods, then smiles at Deja. "You're wanted in the auditorium, Deja."
All of the other candidates are already sitting in chairs lined up onstage when Deja enters. The last chair in the row is empty. It's her chair. She swallows hard and scratches an itchy spot just under the neck of her sweater. She suddenly feels hot.
"Oh, Deja," Mr. Willis says. He's the fifth grade teacher. "Come on up and take your seat."
The walk down the center aisle seems to take forever. She feels all eyes on her until she settles in her chair. Mr. Brown is fooling with the microphone onstage. He repeats, "Testing, testing, testing..." until his voice finally booms across the auditorium, making Deja jump. She feels her heart beat faster and, it seems, louder, too. She wonders if anyone can hear it. Surprisingly, her mouth feels dry, and the itchy spot just under her collar has now spread down her arms and across her back.
The auditorium doors open then, and in file the kindergarten classes. They take the front rows. Right behind them are the first- and second-graders. By the time the third-graders come in, the room is buzzing with anticipation. She can barely make out her own class. She can't even see Nikki. She'd feel better if she could see Nikki, even though Nikki's still being cool to her. In the car that morning (Nikki's mom had taken them to school), she'd kept her face turned toward her window and didn't speak to Deja. The fourth and fifth grade classes file in, and by the time they take their seats they are just a dim blur. Deja can't focus on the students in the crowd, but she can hear their rustling and their excited voices.
Mr. Brown takes the center of the stage and raises his hand with his five fingers spread out. "Five!" he says and looks around, waiting until most of the auditorium catches on.
"Five!" they repeat with their hands held up.
"Four!" he says, and looks around until they repeat what he says.
By the time he gets to three, the auditorium is perfectly quiet.
"That's better," he says. Then he gives a long talkâat least it seems long to Dejaâabout auditorium behavior, which is different from playground behavior. He reminds them how important the day is and how hard the candidates have worked and how worthy they are to represent their classes. A lot of what he is saying doesn't sound all the way true. Deja looks down the row of seated students onstage. Gregory Johnson is sitting up straight and confident. Lashonda is yawning, and Paula is shuffling her feet. Sheena is playing with the ball barrette at the end of her braid, and Arthur is slouched, showing poor posture. The other fourth-grader is biting her thumbnail. But Deja supposes
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