Fiddle Fever by Sharon Arms Doucet

Author:Sharon Arms Doucet [Doucet, Sharon Arms]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: HarperCollins

School started up again after the long winter break, and Mademoiselle Sonnier cracked the whip on us harder than ever. I would try to concentrate on the words she wrote on the blackboard, but they kept dissolving into an image of my fiddle before my eyes. No matter how I tried to chase it away, it haunted me from the moment I woke up to the moment I closed my eyes at night.

At lunchtime Chance came up to me with a big grin. "How come you've been so scarce lately, Félix?" he asked. "Whatcha been doin'?"

"Nothin'" was all I could answer. By then I'd grown used to carrying around the secret of my fiddle inside of me, like a gold nugget tucked inside a hidden pouch. I was afraid if I exposed it to the light of day, and to Chance's judgment, it might turn out to be nothing more than fool's gold.

Besides, I didn't really want to hear any more about his accordion and his Chevrolet. Finally, he shrugged and went off to join the other boys.

It was my turn to stay after school to clean the blackboards and the erasers and sweep the floor. Forlornly, I watched Chance and Paulo and all the others file out into the afternoon sunshine. But when I emerged half an hour later, covered with chalk dust and aggravation, Chance appeared around the corner of the schoolhouse.

"It took you long enough," he said. "What'd you do, lick the blackboard clean? Come on, I'll buy you a pop rouge."

I squinted into the pale sun. "I don't need your charity," I heard myself say. Something seemed to burst inside of me, and more words came rushing out. "You think you're so great, with your Chevrolet automobile and your horse and your pop rouge and your store-bought accordion that I bet you can't even play. I'm sick to death of you showing off, just because your daddy's rich."

First a puzzled look crossed Chance's face, then his face flushed an angry red. "Sorry I asked," he said. He spun around and stalked off, leaving me with a sick feeling in my stomach.

I wanted to call out after him, but nothing would come out of my mouth. Now I had lost my best friend.

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