Girls Don't Have Cooties (5 page)

Suzanne smiled and put her arm around Katie. “Come on. Let’s get the other girls,” she said. “I know we can come up with something better than that!”

By lunchtime, the all-new Girls Club had its own cheer. “Shout it big! Shout it proud! We’re the girls club. No boys allowed. Stomp your feet. Make some noise. Let everyone know.
We hate boys!”
They chanted.

Then the boys started to shout their cheer. “Girls go to Jupiter to get more stupider. Boys go to college to get more knowledge!” They made sure they cheered even louder than the girls.

Soon, both clubs were screaming their cheers. The whole cafeteria heard them. Unfortunately, so did Mrs. Derkman. She blew her whistle loudly.

Everyone stopped screaming. It was the first time Mrs. Derkman had ever blown her whistle
inside.
She must have been really angry!

“That’s enough!” the teacher shouted. “There will be no recess after lunch. I want you all to sit here and think about how you are acting.”

“That’s not fair!” George shouted. “The girls started it!”

Suzanne opened her mouth to argue. Then she saw the look on Mrs. Derkman’s face. She closed her mouth.

A few minutes later, class 3A was alone in the cafeteria. Everyone else was playing outside.

“This is so unfair,” Mandy moaned. She put her head down on the table.

“If they hadn’t started that dumb Boys Club, none of this would have happened,” Miriam agreed.

“I wish we could get them back for everything they’ve done,” Zoe added.

Suzanne grinned. “I know how we can,” she said. She whispered something to Mandy.

“Great idea!” Mandy agreed.

“What? What?” Zoe asked.

The girls all gathered around Suzanne. All the girls
except
Katie, that is. Katie didn’t want to hear Suzanne’s latest idea. She knew it would be a mean idea. There had been enough meanness in class 3A already.

For a while all the girls were quiet. They were waiting for Mrs. Derkman to leave the room. As soon as the teacher was gone, Suzanne jumped up. “They’re all around us! They’re all around us!” she cried out. She looked really scared.

Mandy leaped up.
“Aaaahhh!”
she screamed. “They’re all around us!”

George stared at the girls. “What’s going on?” he asked nervously.

“Look! They’re all around us!” Suzanne cried out again.

“Oh, no!” Kevin said as he looked under the table

“Look everywhere. They’re all around us!” Zoe added.

Manny started to cry.

Jeremy pulled his legs up onto his chair.
“What’s
all around us?” he asked nervously.

Suzanne stopped screaming. “The walls.
The walls
are all around us!” She laughed so hard she couldn’t stop.

“You big scaredy-cats,” Miriam teased. “You should have seen your faces.” Katie looked at the boys. Their faces weren’t scared anymore. They were angry.

“That was a great one, huh, Katie?” Suzanne asked her best friend.

Katie nodded. “You really got them,” she said. “But I wonder what they’re going to do to get us back.”

That afternoon, Katie walked home from school by herself. Her mom was waiting for her on the front porch.

“Where’s Jeremy?” Katie’s mom asked as Katie walked up the stairs to the house.

Katie shrugged. “I have no idea.”

Katie’s mom seemed surprised. “I thought Wednesday was your special day with Jeremy. You two
always
spend Wednesday afternoons together.”

It was true. Most of the other kids had activities on Wednesday afternoons. Suzanne took ballet classes. George and Kevin had tae kwon do. Manny had his piano lessons. But Katie and Jeremy were always free on Wednesdays. That was their playdate day.

“Jeremy doesn’t play with girls anymore,” Katie said sadly.

“Oh, I see,” Katie’s mom said.

“It really stinks!” Katie exclaimed.

“I agree,” her mother said. “Maybe he’ll change his mind.”

Katie shook her head. “I don’t think so, Mom. I don’t think any of the boys will ever talk to a girl again.”

Katie’s mom laughed. “Oh, they will. Don’t you worry.”

Katie sighed. She wished she could believe her mom.

“Do you want a snack?” Katie’s mother asked.

Katie shook her head. “I don’t feel much like eating.”

“So, what do you want to do?”

“There’s nothing to do,” Katie told her. “I am so bored!”

“Do you have any homework?” her mother asked.

Katie rolled her eyes. How could her mother think about homework at a time like this?

Just then Pepper came running outside. He licked Katie’s hand. Katie pet his head but didn’t smile. Pepper tugged at Katie’s pant leg with his teeth. Katie moved her leg away. Pepper looked up at Katie with his big, brown eyes. He let out a loud bark.

“I think he wants to go for a walk,” Katie’s mom said finally. “Why don’t you take him? It’s better than just sitting around here all afternoon.”

“I guess,” Katie agreed. “Come on, Pepper.”

Pepper leaped up and ran eagerly down the block. Katie followed behind him. When they reached the end of Katie’s street, Pepper turned right and kept walking. Before Katie realized where she was going, Pepper had led her to Jeremy’s house.

Jeremy was out on the lawn playing soccer. Well, not
playing,
actually. He was just sort of dribbling the ball back and forth. That’s all you can do when you play soccer alone.

As soon as Pepper saw Jeremy, he raced onto the lawn. Pepper loved playing ball with Jeremy. The cocker spaniel barked excitedly. He used his brown-and-white snout to steal Jeremy’s soccer ball and push it across the lawn.

“Hey, cut that out!” Jeremy shouted at the dog.

“Don’t you yell at my dog,” Katie told Jeremy.

“Then get your dog away from my ball,” Jeremy told her. “He’s ruining my practice.”

“Oh, big deal,” Katie argued back. “He’s just having fun.”

“Well, let him have fun somewhere else. Take him over to one of your
girlfriends’
houses,” Jeremy said.

“I would if I could,” Katie replied. “No one’s home.”

“What are you doing here anyway?” Jeremy asked. “Did you come to spy on me?”

Katie frowned. “You’re not that interesting.”

“Then why are you here?” Jeremy asked. “I was just following Pepper.
He
was the one who came over here. But don’t worry, we’re leaving.”

Katie turned toward her dog. But he wasn’t on the lawn. She looked around. Pepper wasn’t there.

“He must be in the backyard,” Jeremy said. “You’d better get him before he walks all over my mom’s flowers.”

“Come on, Pepper,” Katie called. But Pepper didn’t come.

“Pepper! Here boy!” Katie shouted, louder this time. But the dog still didn’t answer her call.

“Pepper!” Jeremy screamed. “Get out here!”

The kids waited a minute. When Pepper still didn’t come running, Katie’s heart began to pound.

“Oh, no!” she cried. “Pepper’s gone!”