Just Kidding by Annie Bryant Read Free Book Online Page B

would have had to beg her father to pack up and move back to the Serengeti in Africa where no one could find her, especially the Queens of Mean.
    What did Charlotte’s father always say? “Never put anything down on paper that you wouldn’t want made public.” Now she knew just what he meant. It’s easy to write something down, but it’s not as easy to erase it if you change your mind.
    Avery mouthed a genuine I’m sorry to Charlotte, and when Charlotte smiled at her, they both knew that whatever weirdness had been between them was gone. “I’m kind of glad Ms. Ciara caught Joline with that note,” Avery whispered. “I bet Ms. C knew it wasn’t really my fault. She’s cool like that. Are you okay now?”
    Charlotte gave her a thumbs-up. “I’m fine,” she assuredAvery. Charlotte was not one to hold a grudge.
    Crossing the Line
    The bell rang, and the class swept out into the hall, still raving about the dance demonstration. The girls were enthralled with Sarah’s swishy skirt, her rhinestone ankle strap shoes, and those fantastic lifts, while Riley kept talking about the great rhythms of Count Basie’s orchestra.
    Dillon Johnson dismissed the dance talk as unimportant. “Hey, people, you’re missing the whole point. The best thing about Spirit Week is these short classes. You hear me? S-h-o-r-t. As in, we have more time to do other things, more important things, like planning the sports events and doing stuff outdoors. Do you realize how much time we spend being cooped up inside at school day after day? We have to cram it all into this one week when we’re actually allowed to have fun.”
    Dillon’s cranky tirade was starting to get on his classmates’ nerves. “Chill, Dillon,” the always chill Nick Montoya advised him. “Spirit Week is great, but you gotta relax, man.”
    â€œWhatever, peeps. I’m just saying…”
    â€œWe got it, Dillon.” Avery snickered, rolling her eyes. Avery was all for getting the most out of Spirit Week, but Dillon was being ridiculous. “You should have your own talk show or something,” she suggested. “Ya know, talk show hosts are all about opinions, and you’ve obviously got a lot of those.”
    Dillon was smarting under everyone’s snickers. “And you should be a dancer,” Dillon retorted, and unexpectedly,he grabbed Avery and tried to throw her in the air, just like they’d all seen Michael do to Sarah. But Dillon wasn’t as strong as Michael and Avery wasn’t experienced at swing dancing, so she just tumbled down awkwardly into his waiting arms.
    â€œPut me down!” Avery hissed at Dillon, her face turning red with embarrassment. “Put me down now , Dillon, I mean it!”
    Dillon saw that Avery was really furious. Quickly, he lowered her to the floor. “Hey, Ave, come on, I was just kidding around. I didn’t think you’d get all mad about it. It was just a joke, ya know, no big deal.”
    â€œI didn’t think you had to be reminded not to pick people up and throw them around!” Avery fumed. “What do you think this is, the WWE?”
    She yanked herself free from Dillon’s arm and stormed off toward the cafeteria. The short curse strikes again , she grimaced. If I wasn’t so small and easy to toss around, Dillon wouldn’t have even thought of throwing me in the air like that . Avery wished some teacher had caught Dillon tossing her through the air like a football; they would’ve thrown him out of Spirit Week, and it would have been just what he deserved!
    â€œHey, Avery, wait!” Katani called to her.
    â€œDid you see what Dillon just did?” Charlotte fumed as she hurried to catch up to Avery.
    â€œWho could miss it?” Katani asked. “I bet Avery’s ready to die of embarrassment.”
    Charlotte ran on to comfort Avery, while Katani caught up to