Never Throw Boloney by EJ Patterson (red queen ebook .TXT) 📕

threw another liver chunk at her.
I was the only one sitting there like an idiot.
Another chunk hit my face.
I was glad my cast was off.
“Hey guys, what’s up?” Melissa Vitterman had walked over to see what was going on.
A chocolate milk spurt hit her in the eye.
“Hey!” She said. She groped inside her lunch bag and came out with a banana. She
smushed it in Johnny’s hair. Dawn started laughing, because we all looked just sort of ridiculous. So did Johnny, Melissa, and the table next to us. One of the guys at the table next to us, John Smokes, decided to join in by throwing a slice of pizza at Johnny. Dawn just spurt Chocolate milk everywhere.
I still hadn’t joined in.
John’s girlfriend, Adeen, swat him with her potato chips. Then she threw them at Johnny.
Everybody had it out for Johnny.
“What’s going on?” someone said. It was Penelope.
She burst out laughing at the sight of all of us.
Then everybody threw something at her, including me.
When the food-dust cleared, we saw she was drenched with liver chunks, chocolate milk, pizza, banana, greasy potato chips, and…
Bologna.
She pushed the boundaries of ridiculous, and ran away cursing us for being alive.
That was the best lunch ever, everybody agreed.
CHAPTER 10
“Okay, pencils down. Place your test papers on the corners of your desk to be collected.”
I sighed, made some last minute changes, swiped away some eraser shavings, and placed my test upside down on the corner of my desk. I heard a sigh echo around the examination room. Our last exam, Social Studies, was finally over. I glanced over at Dawn and saw her nervously gnawing at the end of her pencil. She was a straight A student, and hated failing-or anything under a B. She smiled a weak smile and nodded to show she wasn’t going to have a seizure. I suppressed a giggle and searched a few desks up for the person I was really looking for.
Charlotte was leaning in her chair, raising her hand up high. Mr. Hubble, our Social Studies teacher, nudged Miss Kleinberg, the other Social Studies teacher. She walked over to Charlotte and said, “What seems to be the problem, Miss Butant?”
“I’m expecting a call from my millionaire aunt in two minutes,” she said loudly. “Can I please get my phone out if my bag?”
“You’ll have to wait until the examination has been collected,” Miss Kleinberg said sternly.
“It has been collected,” she said, motioning to her now empty desk. Miss Kleinberg’s eyebrow twitched, but only slightly.
“You will have to wait until I make the announcement to leave,” She said.
Everybody was on the edge of their seats; even those who disliked Charlotte wanted her to win the argument. The silent cheering acted as a stimulant to Charlotte, who started to count. “Ten…Nine…Eight…” We all started to join in. “Seven…Six…Five….Four…”
“Stop that this instant!” She screeched.
“Three…Two…One….!”
BRRRRIIINNGGG!!!!!!!
The bell rang for the last time that school year, cheers rang throughout the halls, drowning out the bell, and desks scraped the floor as all us kids ran from the room with a sudden burst of excitement, waiting to smell the summer air. My smile stretched from ear to ear, and I scanned the room for Dawn and Johnny. Dawn squealed when she saw me, and we hugged and jumped and laughed for freedom. “Finally!” We yelled. We ran from the classroom, listening to all the snippets of conversation and yells. I heard Charlotte on her phone, saying, “Yeah, they actually believed it!” a group of gaggling girls signing last minute yearbooks, and a girl talking to her boyfriend saying, “We’ll go swimming, get ice cream, have pizza nights…”
I also saw Penelope, sitting on a bench near the doors. I found myself walking over to her.
“Hi,” I said. She looked up, but didn’t say anything. I gulped, but continued. “I’m having an end-of-the-year party this Saturday,” I said. “Charlotte’s coming, so if you want to come, you can.” She finally looked me in the eye and said, “I’ll keep that in mind.” Her mother pulled up in a cherry-red convertible. “I have to go,” She said, and walked away.
“You do know that she probably won’t come,” Dawn said. “Yeah,” I said. But, despite that, I felt a warmth flutter through me.
“Hey!”
I spun around. Johnny was coming toward us.
“Hi!” Dawn and I said. “So are we just gonna stand here, or are we gonna go to the ice cream?” He said.
We cheered, and opened the doors to the Middle School for the last time. Things were going to change, I knew. In two months I would be walking up the concrete steps to the High School, surrounded by gorillas and ostriches.
But for now, for today, I didn’t have to worry about gorillas or ostriches or tests or mean girls or lunch food. All I had to worry about, I thought as a stepped out into the sticky Boston air, was which ice cream flavor I was going to choose….

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Publication Date: 04-17-2011

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