The first practice spelling bee was held after recess one day. Hank could tell that the girls could not wait for it to begin. He could hear several of them saying, “Girls rule, girls rule” under their breath. A very, very quiet chant.
“This is the way the practice spelling bee and all of the spelling bees will work,” said Ms. Colman. “You will line up at the front of the classroom.” (Ms. Colman pointed to the chalkboard.) “I will give a word to the first person in line. That person will repeat the word, spell it, then repeat it again. If he or she has spelled the word correctly, he or she will move to the end of the line. If the person has made a mistake, he or she must sit down. The last person left standing will be the winner after he or she has spelled the missed word correctly. Okay, class, please line up.”
The kids in Ms. Colman’s room ran to the chalkboard. The girls made sure they were first in line, with the boys at the end.
“We will begin with easy words,” said Ms. Colman. She turned to Nancy, the first person in line. “Desk,” said Ms. Colman.
“Desk,” repeated Nancy. “D-E-S-K. Desk.”
“Very good,” said Ms. Colman. “You are still in the game. You may move to the end of the line.”
The next person in line was Hannie. “Take,” Ms. Colman said to her.
“Take. T-A-K-E. Take,” said Hannie.
“Very good,” said Ms. Colman again.
The spelling bee continued. For a long time, the kids spelled every word correctly. No one had to sit down. Then Ms. Colman said to Chris, “Pencil.”
“Pencil,” repeated Chris. “P-E-N-S-I-L. Pencil.”
“I am sorry. That is incorrect,” said Ms. Colman. “Chris, please take your seat. Chris’s word goes to the next person in line. Nancy?”
“Pencil,” said Nancy. “P-E-N-C-I-L. Pencil.”
“Yes!” cried Karen and a couple of other girls.
And Hank heard the twins chanting, “Girls rule, girls rule.”
The words in the spelling bee grew harder. More and more kids left the line and returned to their seats. Finally only Hank and Karen were left in the line.
“Mirror,” Ms. Colman said to Hank.
Hank paused. He pictured a mirror. He thought for a moment. At last he said, “Mirror. M-I-R-O-R. Mirror.”
“I am sorry,” said Ms. Colman. “That is incorrect. But do not sit down yet, Hank. If Karen cannot spell ‘mirror’ either, then I will give both of you another word.”
“I can spell it,” said Karen. She stood up straight. “Mirror. M-I-R-R-O-R. Mirror.”
“Excellent!” exclaimed Ms. Colman. “Karen is the winner of our first practice spelling bee. And Hank, you came in second place. Good for you.”
Nobody heard what Ms. Colman said to Hank, though. The girls drowned out her words. They were jumping up and down, shouting, “Girls rule, girls rule, girls rule!”
Two days later, Ms. Colman held the next practice spelling bee. Once again her students lined up in front of the chalkboard. Once again, the first words in the bee were easy. Then they became harder. And once again, after a long time, Karen and Hank were the only spellers left. When Karen misspelled “holiday,” Hank spelled it correctly.
The girls were quiet. So were the boys. They stared at Hank. He was the winner.
The following week, a third spelling bee was held. Hank won that one too. And before he knew it, the boys in 2A were jumping up and down, shouting, “Boys rule, boys rule!”
FRIENDS
On the playground the next day, Ricky, Omar, Bobby, Chris, and Ian crowded around Hank.
“We will show the girls!” cried Omar.
“Yeah. ‘Girls rule.’ How stupid,” said Bobby.
“Boys rule!” exclaimed Ricky.
Hank looked across the playground. Some of the girls were gathered by the swings. The rest of them stood in a group near the monkey bars. They were very quiet.
“You know what, Hank?” said Ricky.
“What,” said Hank. He was pretty sure Ricky was going to say something about the Smart Club. Or that the boys did not really rule, since Hank was, in fact, a girl.
But instead Ricky said, “I think you are going to win the big spelling bee in our class, Hank. You are going to beat Karen. And then you are going to beat the winner in two-B. You will be the winner for the whole second grade.”
“Yeah. A boy,” said Omar. “The winner will be a boy.”
“Want to play kickball with us?” Chris asked Hank.
“Oh,” said Hank. “I don’t know.”
Hank was a pretty good kickball player. But sometimes the other boys, especially Bobby and Ricky, made him nervous.
“Well … what do you want to do?” Omar asked Hank.
Hank looked at Ian. “I was … um, I was going to study spelling words.”
“I was going to help him,” said Ian.
“Oh. Maybe that is a good idea,” said Ricky.
Ricky, Bobby, Chris, and Omar walked away from Hank and Ian.
“Good luck!” Omar called over his shoulder.
That Friday, Ms. Colman said, “Class, we will have two more practice spelling bees next week, one on Monday and one on Wednesday. On Friday we will have our big spelling bee. All the other classes will hold their spelling bees on Friday too. So study your words. There is just one week until the big bee!”
Omar turned around in his seat. “The big bee that you are going to win, Hank,” he said.
On the playground that day, Hank and Ian sat together on the steps by the cafeteria. Ian was going to help Hank study again.
“You need any help?” Ricky called from the monkey bars.
“That’s okay!” Hank called back. “Thanks.”
On Saturday, Hank was sitting in front of his computer. Outside his bedroom windows snow was falling. Hank heard the doorbell ring.
“Hank!” called his father from downstairs. “Some of your friends are here!”
Some of his friends? Hank was surprised. Ian came over every now and then, but that was about it. Who could be at the door?
Hank turned off his computer. He ran downstairs. Standing in the hallway were Bobby, Omar, and Ricky.
“Hi,” said Hank. He did not know what else to say.
“Hi!” replied Bobby. He was grinning.
“I guess you are wondering why we are here,” said Omar.
“Well … yeah,” said Hank.
“We brought you some word lists,” spoke up Ricky.
The boys held out some papers to Hank.
“We found them in the library,” said Omar.
“The public library,” added Ricky.
“They are spelling lists for all different grades. They go up to fifth grade,” said Omar. “We think you can even spell fifth-grade words.”
“And we are here to help you study,” said Bobby.
Hank could not believe his luck. The boys wanted to help him. More importantly, they were not teasing him.
BOYS VERSUS GIRLS
Hank studied the word lists with Omar, Ricky, and Bobby on Saturday. He studied them with Ian on Sunday. On Monday, the next practice spelling bee was held.
And the kids in Ms. Colman’s class had a surprise. Jannie Gilbert had been studying spelling lists too. In the other spelling bees, Jannie was always one of the first kids to sit down. This time Jannie kept spelling her words correctly. Finally, Jannie, Karen, and Hank were the only kids left in line.
“Girls rule!” someone whispered loudly.
But Jannie missed the next word and had to sit down.
Then Karen missed the next word. “Bullfrogs,” she muttered.
“Hank, try Karen’s word, please,” said Ms. Colman.
“Grateful,” said Hank. “G-R-A-T-E-F-U-L. Grateful.”
“Excellent!” exclaimed Ms. Colman. “Hank is our winner again.”
“Yes!” said Bobby.
Omar shot up out of his seat. “Boys rule!” he cried.
“Okay, settle down now,” said Ms. Colman. But she was sm
iling.
The next practice bee took place on Wednesday morning, just before lunch. One by one, the kids dropped out of the line until Hank and Karen were left. And Hank won again.
When he did, the boys began to cheer. At the same time, Hank could hear cheering in Mr. Berger’s room.
At lunchtime that day, Hank said to Ian, “I wonder who has been winning the spelling bees in Mr. Berger’s room.”
Before Ian could answer, Chris, Bobby, Omar, and Ricky plopped down at their table. They opened their lunches.
“Debbie Dvorak has won some of the bees,” said Chris, “and Edwin Grant has won some of them.”
Omar unwrapped his sandwich. “All of the girls say Debbie is going to win the bee on Friday and all of the boys say Edwin is going to win.”
“And all the girls in our class still think Karen is going to win,” said Ricky. “But we boys know you are going to win, Hank.”
Hank looked around the cafeteria. Debbie and the girls from 2B were sitting at one table. Edwin and the boys were at another table. Karen and the girls from 2A were at a third table. And then there were Hank and the boys from 2A.
“Boys versus girls,” said Hank.
“And you are going to beat Karen,” said Chris.
“Boys rule!” cried Bobby.
After lunch the second-grade boys stood together in a big bunch on the playground. The second-grade girls stood together in a bigger bunch not far from the boys. The boys looked at the girls. The girls looked at the boys. For a long time nobody said anything. Then Pamela Harding stuck her tongue out. She stuck it out just a little bit — just the tip of her tongue. But Ricky saw her.
“I saw that, Pamela, you dumb girl!”
“I am not dumb!” replied Pamela.
“All girls are dumb,” said Chris. “That is why you keep losing the spelling bees.”
“Then how come Debbie wins some of our bees?” asked Mia Waters. “I guess it is because you boys are dumb.”
“Kids? What is going on?” called Ms. Colman from across the playground.
“Nothing,” replied most of the kids.
The boys and the girls drifted apart.
When the bell rang, Hank left his friends. It was time to line up for the Star Club. As he turned away, Ricky gave him a high five.
THE SPELLING BEE
“Hank! High five!”
“Hey, Hank! Boys rule!”
Hank smiled as he walked into room 2A. It was the day of the real and true spelling bee, and the boys were being VERY nice to him. So Hank smiled as he took off his coat. But inside he felt nervous. He could feel butterflies in his stomach. He felt jumpy and trembly. What if he lost the spelling bee? What would the boys think of him then? They had been so nice to Hank lately. But Hank knew that was only because the boys thought he was going to win and then they could say “Boys rule” and really mean it. What would they say if Hank lost? Hank did not like to think about it. But he could not help thinking about it. He thought about it all morning and all during lunch and all during recess. After recess Ms. Colman said, “Okay, class, it is time for our spelling bee.”
Hank’s stomach turned over. He wished he had eaten a smaller lunch.
“Go, Hank!” Omar whispered, turning around in his seat.
“Please line up by the chalkboard,” said Ms. Colman.
Once again the kids in Ms. Colman’s class formed a line.
The spelling bee began.
Tammy was the first to make a mistake and sit down. Ricky was next. Soon Hank and Karen were the only kids standing at the front of the room.
Ms. Colman smiled at them. “Okay, you two. You know the rules,” she said. “To win, one of you must spell a word correctly that the other has missed. If you both miss a word, the game continues. Okay, Hank, you are next. Your word is ‘believe.’ ”
“Believe,” said Hank. “B-E-L-I-E-V-E. Believe.”
“Very good,” said Ms. Colman. “Karen? Calendar.”
“Calendar,” said Karen. “C-A-L-E-N-D-A-R. Calendar.”
“Excellent.”
For five more minutes Ms. Colman gave Hank and Karen words to spell. They did not make a mistake. Not until Ms. Colman said, “Okay, Hank. Gallery.”
“Gallery. G-A-L-E-R-Y. Gallery.”
“I am sorry, that is incorrect,” said Ms. Colman.
“Oh,” groaned the boys in 2A. Hank looked at his feet.
“Karen? Can you spell ‘gallery’?”
“Gallery. G-A-L-L-E-R-Y. Gallery.”
“That is incorrect too,” said Ms. Colman.
This time the girls groaned.
“The spelling bee will continue,” said Ms. Colman.
Bobby let out a cheer.
Hank and Karen spelled several more words each. Then Ms. Colman said, “Karen, your next word is ‘trailer.’ ”
“Trailer. T-R-A-I-L-O-R. Trailer.”
“I am afraid that is incorrect. Hank? Can you spell ‘trailer’?”
“Trailer. T-R-A-I-L-O-R. Trailer.”
“Yes,” said Ms. Colman. “Excellent, Hank. You are the winner of our spelling bee.”
Bobby, Chris, Omar, Ian, and Ricky cheered. They gave each other high fives. They cried, “Boys rule!”
“Karen,” Ms. Colman continued, “you did a wonderful job. Both of you spelled some very difficult words. Hank, next week you will play against the winner in room two-B.”
I wonder who that is, thought Hank. And just then he heard cheering coming from Mr. Berger’s room. Ms. Colman opened the door. She and Mr. Berger spoke for a few seconds. Then Ms. Colman closed the door. “The winner in two-B,” she said, “is Debbie Dvorak.”
“Yes!” cried Audrey.
“Girls rule!” shouted Leslie.
“You boys just wait until next week,” added Hannie.
SATURDAY
Hank was glad the spelling bee was over. He was glad he had won, of course. But mostly he was glad it was over. His stomach felt much better. He was looking forward to Saturday.
On Saturday, Hank’s father took Hank and his sisters to Burger Town for lunch. When they came home, Hank turned on his computer. He wanted to play a new mystery game. Hank was in the middle of solving a crime when he heard the doorbell ring. The next thing he heard was footsteps running up the stairs, then voices calling, “Hi, Hank!”
Hank turned around. He saw Omar, Ricky, and Bobby run into his room. Each was carrying a small paper bag.
“Hi,” Hank replied, surprised.
“We brought you some stuff,” said Omar.
“More word lists?” asked Hank.
“No! Good stuff.”
“Yeah,” said Bobby. “We were just at the store.” Bobby dumped out the bag he had been carrying. Out tumbled two candy bars, some fireballs, a baseball card, and several packages of bubble gum.
Ricky sat on the floor next to Bobby. He turned his bag upside down. Out fell a sheet of tattoos, a racing car, an eraser that looked like a monster, and a small rubber ball.
In Omar’s bag were six pieces of candy, a package of crackle gum, a puzzle on a key chain, and another racing car.
Bobby gave Hank one of his candy bars and two fireballs. Ricky gave him the eraser and several tattoos. Omar gave him a piece of candy and the racing car.
“Well … thanks!” said Hank. “Why are you —” He had started to say, “Why are you giving me this stuff?” But that would have sounded rude. So instead he said, “You bought all this stuff? With your own money?” And then he thanked the boys again. Hank was impressed. He was not good about saving his allowance, so he never had much money.
“What are you doing today?” Bobby asked Hank.
“Playing computer games,” Hank replied. “Want to see?”
The boys stayed for an hour, eating candy and solving mysteries.
Hank felt happy. He belonged.
TRAITORS
The next days passed quickly. On Sunday, Hank played computer games. On Monday, Omar and Chris shared some more ca
ndy with Hank. On Tuesday, Ricky helped Hank study some new words. And on Wednesday, Bobby asked Hank to play basketball with the other boys at recess.
The second-grade spelling bee was just two days away. Hank Reubens versus Debbie Dvorak. All the boys, even the boys in 2B, were rooting for Hank to win. And all the girls, even the girls in 2A, were rooting for Debbie to win.
“Boys rule!” the boys would shout at recess.
“No, girls rule!” the girls would shout back.
Thursday was the day before the big spelling bee.
“You can beat Debbie,” Ricky said to Hank at recess. “You could beat her on the first word. If she goes first and she spells her word wrong and you spell it right, then you have won. You could beat her in one little minute. The world’s shortest spelling bee.”
“Yeah,” said Hank. “Maybe.” He grinned. The boys were sure he was going to win. And they were proud of him for winning the practice bees and the first spelling bee. That was a nice feeling.
When school was over, Hank hurried out of 2A. Halfway down the hall, he remembered he had left his scarf behind. It was probably in his cubby. Hank went back to his classroom. It was already empty. (Ms. Colman was talking to Mr. Berger next door.) Hank headed for the coatroom. Then he stopped. He could hear voices coming from the coatroom. Bobby and Ricky were in there.
“He has to win tomorrow,” Hank heard Ricky say.
“Did you collect all the money?” Bobby asked.
“Almost. Some of the kids in Mr. Berger’s room have not paid yet.”
“How much money will we make if he wins this time?”
“I think about —” Ricky started to say as he walked out of the coatroom. Then he saw Hank.
Hank narrowed his eyes. “What were you talking about?” he asked.
Ricky’s face grew pink. “Well …”
“You bet on me, didn’t you? … Didn’t you?”
“Well …” Ricky said again.
“Oh, we might as well tell him the truth. He will probably find out anyway,” said Bobby. “Yes, we bet on you, Hank. I mean, all the boys in our class bet that you would win. The girls bet that Karen would win.”