Georgia's Greatness by Lauren Baratz-Logsted Read Free Book Online Page A

still absent.
    But that was okay! Because there was Serena Harkness, floating into our classroom on her usual sea of beauty.
    Mandy's hand shot up.
    "Yes, Mandy?" Ms. Harkness said.
    "Is Mrs. McGillicuddy still sick?" Mandy asked.
    "Obviously," Ms. Harkness said. "Why else would I be here?"
    "But it's been such a long time," Mandy said. "It's been a whole week!"
    "Don't you like me?" Ms. Harkness asked sweetly.
    We all looked at Mandy, wondering what she'd say. We knew for a fact that Mandy didn't like Ms. Harkness, that Mandy thought Ms. Harkness was A Bad Person, but Mandy never told lies. So what would she say now?
    "That's not the point," Mandy said.
    Nice side step! we thought.
    "A week is a long time for a teacher to be absent," Mandy went on.
    "But when Principal Freud introduced me, he told you she might be gone that long, even longer," Ms. Harkness countered.
    "Yes," Mandy said. "But we all wrote Mrs. McGillicuddy those get-well cards, and you sent them for us. And yet we haven't received any thank-you notes in reply. I think it is all very odd. Cards are very important to Mrs. McGillicuddy—I know this for a fact, and I'm sure she would have replied to ours by now."
    "Perhaps," Ms. Harkness said, "she is too sick to write."
    Did we just see Ms. Harkness's candy-apple lip curl as she said that last thing to Mandy? Well, we could hardly blame her. Mandy did have that effect on people.
    "I'm sure you'll hear from her just as soon as she's feeling well enough," Ms. Harkness added, her usual sweet tone back in place. Then, before Mandy could say any more annoying things, Ms. Harkness clapped her hands together. "Today is March tenth," she said, "yes?"
    We all shot our hands up.
    "Yes." Ms. Harkness answered her own question without giving us a chance. "And that means that just one week from today, there will be a very important holiday. Can anyone tell me what that holiday is?"
    "St. Patrick's Day!" Will shouted without raising his hand.
    "Very good, Will," Ms. Harkness said.
    "I didn't know St. Patrick's Day was an important holiday," Mandy said. She was puzzled. Then she looked sad. "But I'm sure that if Mrs. McGillicuddy was here, she'd enjoy it."
    Ms. Harkness ignored Mandy. We could understand why.
    "I'll bet you all like holidays," Ms. Harkness said.
    Yes and no, we thought.
    We always used to love holidays. And we had enjoyed Valentine's Day back in February. That's when we realized that Will loved all of us just as much as we loved him, plus it had been nice when Carl the talking refrigerator's romance with robot Betty had begun. But we'd been stranded by a snowstorm last Christmas and then our parents had disappeared—or died—on New Year's Eve, so we knew that a holiday could turn on a person without notice.
    But we couldn't tell Ms. Harkness all of that, so for once, we kept silent.
    "What do you normally do here at the Whistle Stop to celebrate St. Patrick's Day?" Ms. Harkness asked.
    "Do?" Mandy was puzzled again. "If it falls during the week, we come to school. I mean, it's not like it's Christmas or Thanksgiving or anything."
    Ms. Harkness looked shocked. "You mean you've never had a St. Patrick's Day parade in school before?" she asked.
    "No," Zinnia said, her eyes going round as saucers. "But we would like one. A parade is almost as good as getting presents."
    "I'm glad you feel that way," Ms. Harkness said. "Because this year, the Whistle Stop is going to have a parade! And guess what else."
    We all leaned forward.
    "The third grade is going to lead the parade," Ms. Harkness said.
    This truly was amazing news! The Whistle Stop ran from kindergarten through twelfth grade, and yet we would be marching ahead of the whole school!
    "Will this all be in the Tuesday folders?" Mandy asked without raising her hand. "You never sent Tuesday folders home last week. Tuesday folders are red and contain Important Papers. Will you be sending Tuesday folders home this week?"
    "No," Ms. Harkness said. "Why would I do