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  3. She has great ideas and is a good problem solver. She can make an idea go straight from her head into your head so easily that your brain might even forget that she thought of it first.

  4. She is funny and likes to make jokes.

  5. She is my best grown-up friend who is not related to me.

  I screamed. "AAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH-HHHHHH!" It was a long, happy scream, so Augustine Dupre was mostly surprised and not mostly scared. That was good. I couldn't help the scream. Sometimes you can't help but be crazy if your head is suddenly feeling combustible. The extra energy has to get out of there somehow.

  My brain went through a superfast list of everything to do with a wedding: wedding dress, flowers, flower girl ... and then it stopped. I looked up at Augustine Dupre and said, "I will be the best flower girl ever! I promise! I promise! I promise!" And then I threw my hands into the air and said it one more time, extra big for special meaning: "I PROMISE!"

  Just because you really, really, really want be a flower girl and you know you'd be perfect at it, and even if it's probably the only time in your entire life that you'll have the chance to be one, this does not mean that your wish of being the flower girl is going to come true. This I did not know.

  I opened my arms to give Augustine Dupre a big I'm-so-happy-I-get-to-be-the-flower-girl hug, but instead of letting me hug her she held my hands and looked down at me with a sad face. "Oh, Grace! I'm so sorry," she said. "You can't be the flower girl. Luke has promised being the flower girl to his little cousin. We'll find something else for you to do. I promise! Something special." Augustine Dupre was saying lots of words, but the only ones that I was hearing over and over again were "You can't be the flower girl. You can't be the flower girl. You can't be the flower girl."

  It was surprising, because even though I had only been thinking I was going to be the flower girl for about two minutes, it was still super disappointing and sad to find out it wasn’t going to happen.

  "What’s her name? The girl who gets to be the flower girl?" I don’t know why it was important, but suddenly I wanted to know everything about her. It was 100 percent easy for me to imagine that I was not going to like her even one teeny tiny bit.

  Augustine Dupre looked worried. Probably because I was wearing my unhappy face—sometimes I’m not very good at hiding it. She made a little sigh and said, "Her name is Delphine. She’s five years old and she is Luke’s only niece. I’m sure you will like her, and I know she will love you!" Augustine Dupre put her hands on my shoulders and studied my eyes like she was trying to see into my brain to know what I was thinking. It was a good thing she didn’t have those kind of powers. Sometimes the things that go on inside your head are better kept private.

  I don't know why it happened, but suddenly my whole mood was different. Augustine Dupre's words had changed me. She had changed my mad to sad.

  Mad is easier than sad.

  Sadness is not easy.

  "Maybe you can help Delphine practice," said Augustine Dupre. "She will need some help. What do you think?"

  I looked up at Augustine Dupre and smiled. I gave her my best fake smile—the one I had practiced tons of times. It worked great for the school photo, and I wanted it to work on Augustine Dupre too. I didn't want her to be sad. Being a bride is super special. It's the only time a grown-up girl gets to be like a princess. Lucky for me, I'm really good at the smile—it worked. So far Mom's the only one who can tell it's not for real.

  THE SMILES

  It’s not easy to think of the exact right thing to say when someone is looking at you and expecting you to say the exact right thing. And what I didn’t want to do was to say something wrong and ruin Augustine Dupre’s bride-happiness.

  I took a deep breath, looked up at Augustine Dupre, and said, "I might have a lot of homework. I don’t know yet, but I’ll really try, you know, to be helpful."

  Augustine Dupre smiled and opened her arms for the hug from before. "Of course, Grace," she said. "I know you'll do your best. It's going to be fun. You'll see." I hugged her back real tight. Sometimes a hug can say things that a mouth just can't.

  WHAT MY HUG WAS SAYING EVEN

  THOUGH I WAS NOT TALKING

  I had a few more questions for Augustine Dupre before I ran upstairs to tell Mom the wedding news. She was going to be crazy surprised.

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  About the Author

  Charise Mericle Harper is the author and illustrator of many books for children, including the Just Grace series. In a starred review, Booklist called Just Grace “Hilarious,” and said, “The kids come alive in the story, and Harper enhances the comical goings-on with sparkling cartoon sketches. Give this to . . . anyone looking for a funny book.” Charise lives in Westchester County, New York. Visit her website at www.chariseharper.com and visit Just Grace's website at www.justgracebooks.com, where you'll find all sorts of fun things, including videos, quizzes, and information about all the Just Grace books.