Bee in Your Ear (2 page)

She slammed her bedroom door and threw herself on her bed.

“I'm sorry, Jake,” Kate heard her mom say. “I don't know what's got into Kate tonight.”

“Stupid spelling has got into me!” said Kate to herself.

Kate stared at the picture of an ice skater above her bed. The skater looked like she'd just won first prize at a competition. She was smiling as if it had been so easy. But it wasn't easy to win. No matter how hard you tried, sometimes you couldn't win.

Kate listened for voices from downstairs, but it was quiet. Where was Jake? Kate hopped off her bed and ran downstairs.

“Where's Jake?” she asked her mom.

“He went home, Kate. He said you were mad at him. He called his mom and they left,” her mom said.

“Well, I was mad at him,” said Kate. “He kept patting me on the back like I'm a dog. He kept telling me to calm down like I'm a baby. He wants to win that contest just as much as I do.”

“Jake's your best friend, Kate,” said her mom.

“Then why doesn't he understand how I feel? I can't remember those dumb homonyms no matter how hard I try.”

Kate's mom sighed.

“I'm going back to my room to study, but I don't know if it will do any good!” said Kate.

And with that Kate raced up the stairs and slammed her door shut again.

“Kate, are you still in bed?” said her mom the next morning.

“I'm not going to school,” said Kate, turning over in bed.

“Are you sick?” asked her mom.

“No,” Kate mumbled, sliding under her quilt.

“If you're not sick, you have to go to school,” said her mother.

“I can't,” said Kate.

“Why not?” asked her mom.

“Because Jake hates me after yesterday.”

“Jake doesn't hate you, although you did act strangely. Maybe you shouldn't take part in the
contest if it's going to upset you so much,” said Kate's mom.

Kate popped out from under her quilt and sat up.

“Mom! How can you say that? I have to be in the contest.”

“Well...” her mom began, but before she could finish her sentence, Kate had jumped out of bed and was pulling on her blue pants and red shirt.

“I'll see you downstairs,” said her mom.

Kate pulled her brown hair into two pigtails. Little bits of hair stuck out on each side of her head. She ran down to the kitchen.

Kate's mom handed her a piece of bread spread with peanut butter and jam.

“I'm not hungry,” said Kate.

“You'll have no energy for spelling if you don't eat.”

“I'll eat at recess,” said Kate.

“Oh, Kate,” said her mother. “What am I going to do with you?”

“Walk me to school,” said Kate. “If we don't hurry, I'll be late.”

The bell rang as Kate slipped into her seat. She glanced to her right. Jake's seat was empty.

“Good morning, class,” said Mr. Bolin. “Let's begin...” Before he could finish his sentence, Jake slid into his seat beside Kate. His red hair looked more tangled than usual, as if he hadn't combed it in days.

“You're late again, Jake,” said Mr. Bolin.

“I was studying spelling so hard that I didn't realize it was time to go to school,” said Jake.

“I see,” said Mr. Bolin. “You know, if you continue to be late, Jake, I'll have to disqualify you from the contest. Chronic lateness shows a lack of responsibility, and only responsible people can take part in the contest.”

“I won't be late again unless it's a super-duper emergency,” promised Jake.

“Losing your socks is not a super-duper emergency, right?” said Mr. Bolin.

That was Jake's excuse yesterday.

“Right,” said Jake.

“Your baby sister spitting up on your shirt is not a super-duper emergency, right?” said Mr. Bolin.

Jake had used that excuse two times already.

“Right,” said Jake.

“Your dog swallowing your eraser is not a super, duper emergency, right?” said Mr. Bolin.

Jake had used that excuse two weeks ago.

“Right,” said Jake. “But it was almost an emergency. Luckily the eraser came out in the...”

The class roared with laughter.

“Spare me the details,” said Mr. Bolin.

“Jake!” called Kate when the recess bell rang.

But Jake raced out the door without answering.

Kate grabbed her jacket and her spelling list and ran to the playground. She passed a few girls tossing a ball. She passed a few boys on the slide.

She passed the swings. Jake and Donald were high in the air, laughing.

“Did you hear the joke about the elephant and the gym teacher?” asked Donald.

“No,” said Jake.

They were up so high that Kate couldn't hear the rest of the joke. All she could hear was Jake and Donald laughing.

Kate walked past the see-saw and past the sandbox to a bench at the back of the playground.

She sat on the bench and looked at her spelling list. She said the first homonyms out loud. “B-e. B-e-e.” Then she pulled out her peanut butter snack from her pocket. The bread was smushed and the peanut butter had turned into a gooey paste.

Kate stared at the mashed mess. There was no way she could put any of that into her mouth.

As she stuffed the food back into her pocket, she heard Violet behind her.

“Where's your friend Jake?” asked Violet.

“I thought you two were such good friends,” said Lila, “but we saw Jake playing with Donald.”

Kate didn't answer. She stood up and began to walk.

Violet and Lila followed her.

“Lila and I are helping each other get ready for the spelling contest. Who's helping you?” asked Violet.

Kate didn't answer.

“Poor Kate,” said Lila. “No one wants to help you.”

“That's ‘cause no one likes you,” said Violet.

Kate wanted to stuff the smushed bread into Violet's mouth, but she just kept walking.

“You're going to lose by so many points everyone will laugh,” said Violet.

“They will laugh and laugh and laugh,” said Lila.

“They will laugh so hard they will roll on the floor, and tears will run down their faces and wet their pants,” said Violet.

Kate spun around. “Look out! There's a b-e-e on your ear, Violet, and one on your nose, Lila, and you are both about to b-e stung!”

Lila and Violet screamed and jumped into the air. “Go away! Go away!” they screeched, flailing their arms.

As they leaped around, Kate dashed back to the school building.

She usually didn't make up stories, but she had to do something to get those two away from her.

“What's the matter, Kate?” asked her mom after school.

“Jake hates me. He wouldn't speak to me all day at school.”

“Why don't you call him and explain?” her mom said.

“He'll hang up on me,” said Kate.

“It's worth a try,” said her mom.

“I guess so,” said Kate.

Kate dialed Jake's number.

“Hello,” said Jake.

Kate hung up the phone.

“What happened?” asked her mom.

“Jake answered and I hung up,” said Kate.

“Why?” asked her mom.

“I just couldn't talk to him.”

“Oh, Kate,” said her mom. “He's still your friend. Friends get mad at each other, but they make up. Call Jake again.”

“Okay,” said Kate.

Kate dialed Jake's number again. Then she hung up.

“What now?” asked her mom.

“His line is busy. He's probably talking to Donald. Donald is probably telling him elephant jokes. Donald knows every elephant joke ever invented.”

Kate tried Jake's number three more times. “It's useless,” she told her mom. “He's on the phone all the time. I can't wait. I have to study spelling. Tomorrow's the pre-contest. Will you help me?”

Kate's mom tested her on the whole 150-word spelling list.

“You got 130 out of 150 words right,” said her mom. “You even spelled some of those tricky homonyms right, like be and bee.”

“Be and bee are easy,” said Kate, smiling at the memory of spelling the words at Violet and Lila, “but 130 out of 150 is not good enough to win. I have to study more. Maybe I'll write each word I missed in a different color. I can use my new Scrumptious Color markers. Maybe then I'll remember.”

So Kate wrote the words she missed in lime green. Then she wrote them in pumpkin orange. Then she wrote them in raspberry red. The words not only looked good, they smelled good too. Each marker smelled like its color.

“Could you test me again, Mom?” Kate asked.

This time Kate scored 145 out of 150.

“Yahoo!” she sang as she danced around the kitchen. “Now all I have to do is remember the words for tomorrow.”

“I can't eat,” said Kate at breakfast the next morning. “My stomach is full of spelling butterflies.”

“You knew the words yesterday,” said her mom. “And you'll know them today.”

“But my mind feels as empty as a blank chalkboard,” said Kate. “I can't even remember how to spell my own name.”

“Come on,” said her mom. “Aren't you exaggerating a little?”

“A little,” said Kate. “I know how to spell my own name, but that's all.”

“Trust me. You'll be fine,” said Kate's mom as they walked to school.

In class, everyone was seated except for Jake.

The bell was about to ring. If Jake was late again, Mr. Bolin would not let him be in the contest.

Don't be late, Jake, thought Kate. Hurry up and get here.

An instant before the bell rang, Jake skidded into his seat.

“Phew!” he said. “That was close.”

“Hi, Jake,” said Kate.

“Hi,” Jake answered, but not in his usual friendly voice. His voice was as cold as a Popsicle.