Just Grace and the Double Surprise (15 page)

WHAT I AM NOW CURIOUS AND SCARED OF

 

FACTS

1. Sammy made a Map of Me.
   
2. Sammy likes weird, gross things.
   
3. Yellow rubber gloves are made to keep your hand skin safe from touching weird, gross things.
   
4. Sometimes dogs like to eat weird, gross things. It would be bad if Mr. Scruffers ate Sammy's map.
   
5. Explaining yellow rubber gloves and Sammy's map to Mom would take a long time.
   

All these are the reasons why I decided to open Sammy's map in the bathroom. It was the one place where I could be alone and no one was going to ask me anything about what I was doing. All I had to do was sneak in the yellow gloves.

SAMMY'S MAP OF ME

Mostly I was happy that there was nothing yucky attached to the map. I didn't need the gloves after all. Sammy's map was made with words and pictures, just like mine, only it was completely different.

SOMETIMES WHEN YOUR BRAIN IS OVERLOADED WITH INFORMATION OR FEELINGS THERE IS ONLY ONE THING YOU CAN SAY

After reading Sammy's map I just stood there and thought,
Wow.

THE ONE THING I WAS KNOWING RIGHT AWAY

Sammy's Map of Me was not going to help Mimi love Robert more. In fact, it might even scare her. It was too much boy information, or maybe it was just too much Sammy-kind-of-boy information. It was like my picture book project for Robert—it was going to be better to leave most of it out. The facts that I could tell her were...

1. Boys like to collect things.
   
2. Boys can be silly and funny.
   
3. Boys can be thoughtful. (Sammy letting me look at his map was proof of this.)
   
4. Boys have lots of imagination.
   

This was not an amazing list, and Mimi probably knew all this already.

WHAT WAS SURPRISING

It was harder to sneak the gloves and the map out of the bathroom than it was to sneak them into it. Both Mr. Scruffers and Dad were right there when I came out. "Oh, good," said Dad. "Your mom sent me to look for you. It's time for breakfast." Unfortunately Mr. Scruffers immediately started jumping all over me like she hadn't seen me in a million years and I dropped the rubber gloves.

"What are those for?" asked Dad. It's a good thing I'm a fast thinker. "It's an experiment ... for school," I said. "Okay, well, come eat your breakfast first," he said. And then suddenly on the way to the table I thought of a new fact for the list.

5. Boys do not ask a lot of questions.

WHAT WOULD HAVE HAPPENED IF MOM SAW ME COME OUT OF THE BATHROOM

I was super glad it had been Dad instead.

WHAT WAS UNUSUAL

Usually I go to Mimi's house to get her for our walk to school, but today she came over before I was even ready. I put Sammy's map inside my map so she wouldn't see it. I didn't want to show it to her if I didn't have to.

Today was a big day for Mr. Scruffers. It was the first day I was going to be gone. Mom and Dad promised to give her lots of attention so she wouldn't be sad. It was hard to say goodbye. I could tell she wanted to come with me. Mimi had a new goodbye too, but she was not as sad about hers as I was about mine.

On the way to school Mimi had lots to say about her shopping adventure. I was glad about that—it made me not think about Mr. Scruffers as much. Mimi said that Robert was loving the new bed she picked for him. "It looks like a rocket ship," she said. "It's a perfect boy bed!" I think it was a good sign that she was doing empathy thinking for Robert.

WHAT WAS A SURPRISE AT SCHOOL

Mr. Frank was back. Miss Lois said that he was going to stay until Friday because he wanted to see our finished maps and he had a special project to tell us about. I was getting the feeling that Mr. Frank was in love with thinking up project ideas. With everyone excited and talking about Mr. Frank, I was able to give Sammy his map back without almost anyone noticing—anyone except for Robert Walters.

"Hey! What's that?" asked Robert. "Is it a giant love note?" I glared at him. I wished my eyes had zapping powers to make him disappear, or do something he'd be sorry about.

Even though I tried really hard, nothing happened. He was still there bugging me. "Love note, love note, love note." Robert moved his mouth like he was singing the words.

"Robert, please turn around. One more strike and you'll be out." Miss Lois's words worked like magic. She was for sure loving her new plan.

WHAT HAPPENED TO ME NEXT

WHY THIS WAS TOO BAD

I didn't want to be in a bad mood, but I couldn't help it. Sometimes it's like that. Even though you don't want to be there in the bad mood, you can't change it—you're there, and you're stuck! Maybe that is why when Mr. Frank said that we were all going to be doing a project involving comics I felt worse instead of better. My bad mood had changed even one of my most favorite things.

IF I WERE IN A GOOD MOOD