Never Wear Red Lipstick on Picture Day: (And Other Lessons I've Learned) by Allison Gutknecht

Author:Allison Gutknecht
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Aladdin

On Monday, I wear my scarf around my neck all the way to school, and everyone on the bus oohs and aahs over it, which I like a lot. When I get off the bus, I skip over with excited feet to my class’s line in the gym, and I search the crowd for Anya’s wispy blond curls.

“Anya!” I yell when I spot her. “ANYA!” Anya turns around.

“I LOVE YOUR SCARF,” she yells back instantly.

“Me too,” I say. “Do you think this is an outdoor accessory?”

“Hmm.” Anya considers. “No, I think you can probably wear it in the classroom. Mrs. Spangle sometimes wears scarves inside.”

“Good.” I nod with satisfaction. “That’s what I thought too.”

“Ugly scarf, Polka Dot.” Dennis appears behind me. “It matches your face.”

“Quiet, Dennis,” Anya says, defending me. “No one’s talking to you.”

“Yeah, quiet, Freckle Face,” I agree. “My scarf is beautiful.”

“Nah,” Dennis says, and he reaches out to touch it, even though I never gave him permission to touch my things. “Eww, and it’s scratchy, too.”

“QUIET, Dennis,” I yell louder, and I unwind the scarf from around my neck. “I hope it scratches your nose.” I grab my scarf by the end and whip it toward Dennis’s face, then I pull it back real fast so he cannot try to grab it.

“Excuse me,” I hear from over my shoulder, and Anya gasps. And Anya gasping is never a good sign, I’ve learned.

I turn slowly and see my scarf—my beautiful, glittery, wonderful scarf—covering someone’s face. And not just anyone’s face: a grown-up’s face.

The grown-up reaches his hand up to pull the scarf off of him, and that’s when I see the person I have hit in the head: Principal Jacks.

Oh no.

“Mandy, right?” Principal Jacks asks me, but I am only able to stare back at him, my eyes so wide that they cannot even blink. I pull my scarf back into my own hands quickly.

“Yep, that’s her name!” Dennis calls out when I do not answer. “Mandy Berr.”

Without another word, Principal Jacks reaches out his right hand toward me, and for a second I think that he wants to shake hands, so I reach my own right hand out to do so. But Principal Jacks does not crack one smile.

“The scarf, please,” he says. “This is going to live in my office for a while, until you learn not to use it like a weapon.” I feel myself letting Principal Jacks take my scarf away, and even though I want to shout about it, or cry about it, or scream about it, my mouth is dry like cotton balls, and I say nothing.

And then I hear Dennis snort with laughter.

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