“Lovely,” Destiny said in a Ms. Katz voice.
Ms. Katz was standing next to her desk.
Ms. Vivian Katz with her plain brown hair and no-nail-polish fingers.
Poor Ms. Katz.
Destiny tried to give her a hint. “My mother works at Cut and Curl,” she said.
Ms. Katz smiled.
“You’d look great with blue hair,” Destiny said. “To match your eyes.”
She didn’t have time to say anything else.
Gina was listening.
Destiny slid into her half-seat.
She spread out her paper. It was a little on Gina’s space.
It was a big piece of paper, after all.
What could she draw?
A flower?
Everyone drew flowers.
A picture of the Zelda A. Zigzag School?
Too hard.
Habib juggling an apple?
Habib would be thrilled.
She drew a nice long body and a skinny head.
It actually didn’t look like Habib.
It looked more like an old man.
All right. She’d make a wizard.
Did wizards have beards? Yes. She gave him a nice black beard.
Gina’s elbow was sticking out over the wizard’s foot.
Destiny didn’t bang her own elbow into Gina’s. That was not the way they did things at the Zelda A. Zigzag Afternoon Center.
She took a peek at Gina’s side of Ms. Katz’s desk. Gina had cut up bits of shiny paper. She was pasting them to a black piece of paper.
It was better than anything Destiny could ever do.
She thought about what Mrs. Farelli had said.
“That’s nice artwork,” she made herself say.
“I know.” Gina frowned. She pointed at the wizard. “What’s that?”
Destiny looked down at her picture.
It was a humpf drawing.
Her wizard’s feet looked like horses’ hooves. The legs looked like pipe cleaners.
He didn’t look one bit like a wizard.
What did he look like?
She had to think fast. “It’s a president.”
“It doesn’t look like any president I know,” Gina said.
Destiny’s mouth flew open. The words came out before she could stop them. “Do you remember my last name?”
Gina raised her shoulders in the air. “Destiny Washington, everyone knows that. Just like I’m Gina Maria Arlia.”
“Yes, Destiny Washington.” She said the Washington part loud. “That’s because my great-great-greatest-grandfather was President Washington. The Father of Our Country.”
Now Gina’s mouth flew open.
Destiny wrote on top of her paper:
ABREHEM WASHINGTON
FATHER OF OUR KUNTRY
MY GREATEST
GREAT GRENDFATHER
Gina didn’t look. She bent over her gorgeous cutout drawing. She didn’t say another word.
Good, Destiny thought. Then she swallowed. Telling fibs was not the way they did things at the Zelda A. Zigzag Afternoon Center.
CHAPTER 5
WEDNESDAY
Yesterday, Tuesday, was Mrs. Washington’s day off.
She was there when Destiny got off the bus. “What’s the matter, cookie?” she asked.
Destiny couldn’t tell her.
What would Mom think of her Abraham Washington picture?
What would she think of Destiny’s fib?
Destiny’s grandfathers certainly weren’t presidents.
One was a taxi driver.
The other one stayed home and read the newspapers.
“I’ll do your hair,” Destiny’s mother said. “Want me to trim your bangs?”
Destiny thought of her picture on the purple paper.
Purple wasn’t her favorite color anymore.
It was the worst color in the world.
Today she had hated going to school.
All day long something had rolled around in her head.
What was it?
At the end of the day she had remembered.
Oh, no!
Abraham Washington was still on the desk in the art room.
Destiny had told Mitchell all about it on the way to Afternoon Center.
“Wow,” Mitchell said. “You told a whopper!” He bit his nail. He looked at the ceiling.
That was what he did when he was figuring things out.
“Are you sure Abraham Washington wasn’t your greatest-grandfather?” he asked.
“I don’t think so,” Destiny said. “My grandfather would have told me. He talks a lot when he’s not reading the newspapers.”
Mitchell bobbed his head up and down.
“Maybe we should try to get the picture back,” he said. “Tear it into a thousand pieces. Put it in the lunchroom basket with the noodles and gravy.”
Destiny nodded.
Mitchell was a good friend. But more than that. He was a thinker.
“We have to be first in the art room,” he said.
They began to run. They skidded down the stairs. They raced along the hall. They passed the not-so-white discovery paper.
No one was in the art room except Terrible Thomas. He was curled up on the teacher’s desk.
And there was the picture underneath Thomas.
“I can breathe again,” Destiny said.
“Watch out for Thomas,” Mitchell said. “He’s a scratcher.”
Destiny reached out carefully. She gave Thomas a tiny pat. “You’re not supposed to be here,” she said.
Thomas closed his eyes.
Slowly, Destiny pulled the drawing out from under Thomas. Very slowly.
Mitchell looked at it. He began to laugh. “Didn’t President Washington have white hair? Kind of curly?”
“You’re right!” Destiny put her hand up to her mouth. “Wait a minute. Wasn’t his name George?”
Mitchell opened his eyes wide. “Abraham was someone else. Abraham Lincoln.”
“He was the one with the black beard,” Destiny said.
This was getting worse and worse.
It was a whole mixed-up picture.
One huge whopper.
Destiny was ready to rip it to shreds.
But the door opened.
It was Mrs. Farelli.
“What are you doing in here?” she asked.
“I just came to get my drawing,” Destiny said.
“Humpf,” said Mrs. Farelli. “Wait until Ms. Katz gets here for that.”
Destiny’s mouth went dry. “I just—”
“It’s snack time,” said Mrs. Farelli. “You’d better hurry. There might not be anything left.”
Destiny could hear the noise in the hall. Everyone was running back and forth.
She put her drawing back on the desk.
Mrs. Farelli shooed Terrible Thomas out the door. Then she waited until Destiny and Mitchell went into the hall.
They walked slowly.
Lots of people were writing discoveries.
“Look at mine,” Habib said.
I’m a juggler.
I drop an apple.
I drop a ball at the same time.
The apple is heavier.
They still get to the ground together.
This is really my dad’s discovery.
“Neat,” Mitchell said.
Destiny nodded. “That’s really good, Habib.”
“You look sad,” Habib told her.
He was right. She was thinking about Ms. Katz.
Ms. Katz with her plain brown hair and no-polish nails.
Ms. Katz, who said lovely every two minutes.
Ms. Katz, who would see her Abraham Washington drawing.
She’d know Destiny had told a whopper.
How disappointed she’d be.
CHAPTER 6
STILL WEDNESDAY
“Let’s stop in the lunchroom for snack,” Mitchell said. “Then I have to go to Homework Help.”
>
Destiny nodded. But she was never going to eat again.
The lunch lady was standing up in front. Destiny wished she could tell her what had gone wrong. But she couldn’t do that, either.
Bags of dried pineapple were stacked up on the lunch tables.
No one wanted to try dried pineapple. No one but Destiny.
“Eeew,” Gina said. “Disgusting.”
Destiny looked at the lunch lady.
The lunch lady looked a little sad.
Did grown-ups feel sad, too?
Destiny shook her head at Gina. “The lunch lady tries to give us healthy snacks,” she said.
Gina put her nose up close to Destiny. “Then why don’t you take one?”
Destiny made herself take a bag of dried pineapple. She tried to find a teensy piece inside.
She put it in her mouth.
She was too sad to swallow.
She chewed a little. A surprise! The pineapple tasted sweet.
“It’s good,” she said.
“That’s my girl,” said the lunchroom lady.
Destiny took another piece. She closed her eyes.
It made her feel better.
Then Sumiko and Mitchell took a bag.
“Ii,” Sumiko said. “That’s ‘nice’ in Japanese.”
“We have to try things at the Afternoon Center,” Destiny said. She didn’t exactly say it to Gina. She said it to the air.
She wanted to be a good Afternoon Center person … even if they put her out for telling whoppers.
Everyone was leaving the lunchroom now.
Maybe she could still be first in the art room.
“Hurry,” Mitchell whispered.
Destiny knew he was thinking the same thing. She began to slide out of the lunchroom.
But the lunchroom lady clapped her hands. “Destiny. Destiny Washington.”
Destiny walked back slowly. “Did you call me?”
Everyone else was gone now.
The lunchroom lady patted a seat at a table. “Sit a minute,” she said.
Destiny sat down. She thought about taking another bag of pineapple.
She didn’t, though.
She was ready to cry. She’d never get Abraham Washington back before Ms. Katz saw it.
“I like your bangs,” the lunch lady said.
“Thank you,” Destiny said.
“It was very nice of you to try the pineapple,” the lunch lady said.
“Thank you,” Destiny whispered.
“So what’s wrong? You can tell me.”
Destiny looked toward the doorway. Mitchell was waiting for her.
So was Sumiko. She was doing a handstand.
“Nothing’s wrong.” Destiny’s eyes burned.
The lunch lady was smiling a little. “When something is wrong, I cook up some turnips.”
“Do you like turnips?” Destiny asked.
“Of course not,” the lunch lady said. “I make myself take a bite. I tell myself, ‘Violet, things could be worse. You could have to eat turnips every day.’”
Destiny had to smile. She’d just learned the lunch lady’s name. Violet. Neat.
“Good,” said the lunch lady. “Now tell me what’s the matter.”
Destiny couldn’t tell about the picture.
What else was wrong?
“I haven’t discovered anything,” she said.
That was true.
“I’ll be the only one with a blank space on the wall.”
That was true, too.
Now she felt even worse.
“That’s not so terrible,” the lunch lady said. “You discovered you like dried pineapple.”
“That’s not a great discovery,” Destiny said.
The lunch lady laughed. “Come over to the windowsill.”
They looked at the row of pots together.
“Do you see that?” the lunch lady said.
All Destiny saw was brown dirt.
The lunch lady pointed.
A tiny green shoot was poking up its head.
“See,” said the lunch lady. “You’ve discovered a new plant.”
“I guess,” said Destiny.
“Just keep your eyes open,” the lunchroom lady said. “You’ll make a ton of discoveries.”
Destiny nodded. If only she could believe her!
She ran to catch up with Mitchell and Sumiko.
CHAPTER 7
STILL WEDNESDAY
They reached the art room out of breath.
Three seats were left.
“That was koun,” Sumiko said. “That means ‘good luck’ in Japanese.”
But Ms. Katz was wearing a jacket. “Let’s go outside,” she said. “Bring paper. Bring colored pencils. We’ll draw in the schoolyard.”
Everyone raced for the door. They didn’t even need jackets. It was warm out.
Great for sitting on the benches.
Over their heads were a million trees.
Well, maybe not a million.
But they were all different colors. Red, and yellow, and orange.
It was fall, after all.
Destiny put her backpack on the bench next to her.
She wanted to save space for Mitchell.
Terrible Thomas jumped up onto the table.
Destiny rubbed his ear.
She listened. Maybe he’d purr.
He didn’t.
Thomas was an irritable cat.
Now Gina walked around. She twirled her pearl necklace.
She was looking for a seat. All the benches were taken.
Humpf! Gina was a pain.
But still—
Destiny scrunched over. She saved a teensy bit less of the bench for Mitchell, too.
“You can sit here,” she told Gina.
Gina plopped herself down.
She took up a lot of room.
Mitchell dashed outside. He squeezed onto the one inch of bench.
He grinned at Destiny. “I have news. It’s about something that belongs to you.”
“What’s that?” Gina asked.
Mitchell wiggled his nose at her.
Destiny knew what he meant. He was telling Gina not to be nosey.
He leaned closer to Destiny. “I dumped your drawing,” he whispered. “It’s in with the noodles and gravy.”
Destiny sat back. Whew!
She didn’t sit back for long.
Gina was staring at her. “Can you put two discoveries up on the board?” she asked.
Destiny thought about it.
But while she was thinking, Ms. Katz came along. “These trees are lovely.” She waved her no-nail-polish hands around.
“Yes,” Destiny said. The whole world was lovely now that she didn’t have to worry about Abraham Washington.
She looked at the school windows.
Some kids were swinging on the gym ropes.
In the auditorium, some kids were working on a play.
A book club was meeting in the library.
Destiny loved the Afternoon Center.
She loved everyone.
Gina was still looking at her.
What was that all about?
Destiny picked up a pencil.
She began to draw a tree. She made a nice round ball of leaves on top.
She thought about the plant that had discovered how to grow.
She picked up a green pencil.
She drew a small plant next to the tree.
Gina poked her elbow into Destiny’s side.
“Hey,” Destiny said.
“Sorry,” Gina said.
Did she really sound sorry? Destiny wasn’t sure.
“I wanted to ask you,” Gina said again. “Can you write two discoveries on the board?”
Two discoveries!
“I guess so,” Destiny said.
Gina began to sing. “La-da-dee-da.” She stopped. “The discovery is about you.”
Destiny took a breath.
It must be about the Abraham Washingto
n picture!
Gina was going to tell everyone in the Zelda A. Zigzag School about her whopper.
It would be on the discovery wall for everyone to see!
CHAPTER 8
THURSDAY
It was trip day at last.
Destiny’s hair was piled up on her head. It was in a puff with a pink ribbon.
She stopped at the not-so-white paper wall.
A sixth grader named Peter Petway had written a discovery.
It had something to do with numbers. They were squeezed in all over the place.
Destiny passed her own blank space.
It was the only clean spot on the whole wall.
Mitchell and Habib were standing there. “We did one together,” Mitchell said. “It’s discovering how to make a parachute.”
Tie string on 4 corners of a paper.
Knot the strings together.
Stick a robot on the end.
Throw it out the window.
“Does that work?” Destiny asked.
“Why not?” said Habib. “We’re going to try it tomorrow. You can watch.”
“Cool.” If only she could think up something.
It was time to go to the bus.
No one pushed.
No one stomped.
Everyone handed in their permission slips quietly. That was because strict Mrs. Farelli was going with them.
Ms. Katz was there, too. She was at the back of the bus. She was singing with the fifth graders.
Destiny slid into a seat next to Sumiko.
“That’s koun for me,” Destiny said.
Sumiko smiled. “You remembered it means ‘good luck.’”
Mitchell sat in front with Habib.
Mitchell’s sister, Angel, was squished in with Mrs. Farelli.
“Lucky we’re together,” Destiny whispered to Sumiko.
“Hai,” Sumiko said. “Yes.”
The trip was fast. In two minutes the bus pulled into the parking lot.
Mrs. Farelli marched to the front. “Remember,” she said. “Afternoon Center people don’t run around like coyotes.”
“Ruff ruff,” Habib whispered.
Outside the bus, Mrs. Farelli counted everyone. “Two by two,” she said. “Like Noah’s Ark.”
Destiny and Sumiko smiled at each other. They were going to be partners.
But wait a minute! Something wasn’t working out right.
Charlie was ahead of them. He was walking by himself.