I sat on the front step, pinching firecracker poppers from their sawdust packing and tossing them at anybody who walked by. I should have been hard at work at the park, but I was enjoying my lazy day. Mom actually let me sleep in then eat cereal at lunch time. And besides, my business would do better when the picnics were in full swing. That wouldn’t happen for another couple of hours.
Or maybe I was putting off my job because I was scared.
I didn’t want to lose the bet. I couldn’t lose the bet. Just thinking about the possibility made the Grape-Nuts in my stomach feel as heavy as Dad’s dumbbells. My favorite hobby was now about as fun as P.E. when Chance got to pick his team and he didn’t pick me.
I looked up from my shoes in time to see Isabelle skip by. I threw a popper at her.
It landed on the sidewalk and didn’t even pop.
Isabelle stomped on it. Crack. She walked over and sat next to me.
I scooted a couple of inches away.
She held out her hand as if I were going to give her some of my poppers.
“Get your own,” I muttered without even looking at her.
“You’re no fun.”
What? I was the definition of fun. I opened my mouth to argue, but she pointed past me.
“Look.”
I didn’t see anything unusual—just a mail jeep zipping down a side street. “Did Parker knock over another mailbox?”
Isabelle stared at me as if I were an idiot. “It’s the Fourth of July. Mailmen aren’t supposed to work on holidays.”
I laughed. “Have you met Parker?”
“Hey, guys,” Christine walked around from the side of the house, pulling a wagon. She wore a headband with two boingy blue stars on top for the holiday. Her face looked patriotic as well, as if she’d just eaten one of those red, white, and blue Popsicles. In her wagon were a bunch of leftover birthday party supplies.
Isabelle smiled. “Are you having a tea party?”
“No …” Christine bent down to pick up a bag of pink paper cups with princesses printed on them and a bag of pink balloons. “I’m a professional water fighter today.”
I groaned. “No, Christine. I am not using pink cups and balloons for my business.”
Christine bent down again to pick up a thick piece of cardboard with letters on it. “You’re not. I am.” Her sign read “Super Water Fight Professional.”
I laughed. “Nobody is going to hire you. You throw like a girl.”
“Maybe.” Christine’s lips curled up. “But I’m offering free lemonade to every customer.”
I shook my head. “Whatever. You won’t sell more than I will.”
Christine’s wagon squeaked as she started toward the park again. “I don’t have to sell more than you. I just have to keep you from winning the bet.”
I jumped to my feet. “What?” That was so not the deal. “Then I won’t win any ice cream to share with you.”
“Chance is going to share with me,” she called back. She looked both ways and crossed the street.
I couldn’t believe it. My best friend and my very own sister were ganging up against me. “Go … go … lick a slug.”
Christine smiled over her shoulder. “I licked a slug on a field trip in kindergarten. You’re the only one who’s never licked a slug.”
“Ah!” I screamed like a girl. Obviously, I wasn’t a girl, but I sure was a sissy. Everybody, including my little sister, had licked a slug. Everybody except me. I wanted to pull my hair out. My hands flew to the top of my head and, because I was still holding the open box of poppers, they all spilled out behind me and crackled on the cement.
Isabelle wiped the extra sawdust off my shoulder.
I whirled on her. “This is your fault. You told Christine my secret. I should have known I couldn’t trust a girl.” I stomped onto the front step and grabbed the doorknob. What was I going to do?
Isabelle stood up as well. She didn’t sound angry when she spoke to me, just snobby. “Maybe if you treated girls nicer, we wouldn’t hate you so much.”
Her words were a slap in the face. Christine hated me. Isabelle hated me. It shouldn’t bother me so much. They were girls after all. But lately all the boys I knew had been too busy playing sports to hang out.
I stormed upstairs to my room and grabbed my green grenade water balloons and everything that went with them. The pink princess water fighter would be no match for me.