EllRay Jakes Rocks the Holidays! by Sally Warner Read Free Book Online

the brown-skinned dolls. “She’s pretty, isn’t she?”
    Because—Alfie’s pretty, too. And
she
has brown skin.
    “Yeah,” Alfie says. “Vanessa. But she’s stuck-up and mean. Like Suzette Monahan,” she explains, naming her secret enemy—sometimes, anyway—at Kreative Learning and Playtime Day Care. “Momand Dad were talking about you yesterday, EllWay,” she says, jumping to another subject like she always does.
    “You were listening in?” I ask, frowning.
    “Not on purpose,” Alfie says. “I was hiding under the dining table, behind the tablecloth. Pwetending to be a mouse. And they just started talking.”

    “Huh,” I say, wondering what they might have said. A “Needs improvement!” comment on a progress report can really set them off, especially my dad. So can any remark by Ms. Sanchez having to do with my so-called organization skills.
    Who even
wants
to be organized? I think keepingthings organized is boring—and
hard.
When I pull my notebook out of my backpack when I get home, I never know what’s gonna fly out and hit the ground. Old permission slips, party invitations, stuff I found on the sidewalk on the way home, sandwich halves I was saving for later. It’s kind of exciting!
    But that’s why Mom has started sitting down with me on Sunday nights, so we can go through my backpack—and notebook—together.
    I think that’s treating me like a baby. But my mom says it’s important.
    “They were talking about you being king of the school assembly,” Alfie whispers, as if the blabbermouth Barbies might spread this stupendous news all around.
    “I’m not
king
,” I tell her. “I’m just the emcee. That’s like an announcer,” I add, before she can ask. “And the assembly is only for kids up to the third grade. And I only got named emcee because Ms. Sanchez told me to go to the principal’s office in the first place. And because the principal wanted to get the assembly planning over with, once and for all. And because Kevin wouldn’t doit. That’s
why
. It’s not like kids voted for me.”
    “Mom told Dad it was because you were a born leader,” Alfie informs me.
    A born leader.
    Yeah, right!
    I can lead the way when it comes to not getting permission slips signed, I guess. And I’m a born leader at losing socks. And I am the leader at hurting one of my best friend’s feelings without really knowing how it happened.
    I can even lead the way down the rabbit hole to the principal’s office.
    What I
can’t
lead the way at is being someone who does not STICK OUT .
    And that would be so much more
relaxing
in life, not to have to worry all the time about people noticing me. Especially for the wrong reasons!
    And I’m not saying that just because I am one of not-too-many kids with brown skin at a school with mostly white kids, either. Well, sort of
pink
kids, to tell the truth. Or freckled, or sometimes even a little tan.
    But that’s not the same thing as being officially brown.
    And it’s not like I wouldn’t stick out anyway, even if my skin was pink, too. I’m the shortest kid in the whole third grade. And face it, I have a weird name.
    The brown skin part just makes it a triple-header.
    It’s like the cherry on the sundae.
    “And then Dad said he was pwoud of you,” Alfie says, thinking it over.
    Proud
of me? For accidentally being named the emcee?
    Listen. There’s tons of good stuff I’ve done that he doesn’t even know about!
    1. I was nice a few times to this goofy kid in second grade who everyone was making fun of for dragging his blankie to school. In fact, I told them to cut it out.
    2. And once, I secretly gave Annie Pat my sweatshirt to wear when she got the extreme shivers on the playground.
    3. But I didn’t make any lame excuses to my mom when Annie Pat forgot to give it back. I just took the heat.
    4. And I watch Alfie’s back all the time.
    But Dad’s proud of
this
? Me being named the emcee—almost by accident?
    “He’s pwoud of me, too,”