Just Grace Goes Green Read online

  GOOD NIGHT, NOBODY

  Mimi and Gwen were not at Mimi's window, but Chip-Up and I waved anyway, just in case.

  TODAY IS THE DAY

  Mom said I couldn't have French toast for breakfast because there wasn't any bread left, because I had been eating so much French toast lately. That was kind of disappointing, but not a big enough sadness to even hurt the day.

  Mimi's dad drove us to school with all our stuff for our plastic bottle presentation. It's a good thing that Miss Lois said we could do it in the art room—that way we could use all their cool supplies and we didn't have to bring in even more stuff. Mimi's dad kind of wanted to stay and watch, but Miss Lois has a rule about parents being in the classroom. The rule is No Parents in the Classroom, so he just had to go to work like normal.

  OUR PRESENTATION

  It took a while for all the regular morning school stuff to be finished, but finally we were all allowed to line up and go to the art room. Miss Lois had let Gwen, Mimi, and me go earlier, so everything was set up and perfect. All the kids wanted to know why they were taking their lunch boxes with them. Ten o'clock in the morning is not the time to eat lunch, so it was kind of confusing.

  Miss Lois was a big help getting everyone organized. Teachers go to school for that kind of thing, so she knew exactly how to say the right thing in the right order to have it all work out. When we went to the front of the room to do our presentation, everyone was sitting in a chair looking forward with a water bottle on the desk in front of them. Only Robert Walters was looking down, and that was because he was trying to sneak-eat some raisins. Miss Lois caught him though. She has eagle eyes for catching eating in the classroom when you are not supposed to.

  I was a little bit nervous, so Mimi said she would go first. Mimi and I took turns telling everyone the facts about plastic bottles, and then Gwen told them about the art project of decorating their water bottles so they would be excited to reuse them every day. All they would have to do is rinse them out every night.

  At the end of the talking, Mimi lifted the cover off the display we had made. Miss Lois had to tell everyone to please calm down and sit down because they all thought it was so excellent and were getting out of their seats to see it better.

  The only bad part of the project that we didn't think about was the using-glue part. Glue takes a long time to dry. We all had to leave the decorated water bottles in the art room and couldn't have them back until tomorrow, when they were 100 percent dry.

  There was lots of whining and complaining, but Miss Lois said it would be helpful to the earth if we could just all use the water fountains for one day. I thought that she would maybe be mad at us about it, but she said, "Team one has done an excellent job. Who wants to go next?"

  Sammy and Max volunteered, and that was probably because Sammy wanted to be sure to do his project before Gwen had to leave and go back to her old school. Plus, they had been collecting a lot of cans in Max's garage, and Max's mom said she was getting tired of tripping over cans every time she wanted to use the car. Max said he was worried that she would throw them out if they didn't use them soon.

  SOME EXCELLENT BOTTLES THAT WERE MADE

  The whole rest of the day was a blur. That is what Mom says when her day goes by really fast and she can't think of any special one thing that stood out.

  BIRTHDAY DINNER

  I was ready to go to dinner way before it was time to leave. Mom said I had to wait at home until it was time to go. She let me watch an episode of Unlikely Heroes because she said she was tired of me pacing the floor.

  How could I not be excited? It's pretty hard to be still when your brain is thinking of flaming volcanoes, twirling knives, great presents, and making your best friend's problem disappear.

  WHAT WAS SURPRISING

  When I was finally allowed to go to Mimi's house, Sammy was already there, and he had on a shirt with buttons. I had never seen Sammy in a shirt that wasn't a T-shirt before. It almost made him not look like Sammy anymore.

  I was glad that Mimi's parents were almost ready to go. I was way too excited to be just sitting around and waiting some more. Gwen said that she was going to open all her presents when we got back from dinner. Mimi's mom has a rule about presents being opened after you eat the birthday cake.

  Both Gwen and Mimi were wearing new clothes that they got at the art fair. Mimi noticed my new purse and loved it, so I had to give her hers.

  Of course Gwen noticed Mimi's right away. I could tell that she was wishing she had one too, so when Mimi's mom wasn't looking, I gave her hers.

  Gwen went to the bathroom to open it so Mimi's mom wouldn't see. Of course Mimi's mom noticed it as soon as she came out of the bathroom. Girls always notice fashion stuff, even grown-up lady girls. I forgot about that part.

  Sammy went to get Max, and then finally we left.

  WHAT WAS GREAT ABOUT THE RESTAURANT

  EVERYTHING!

  SOME COOL TRICKS

  Making a flaming volcano out of an onion.

  Cutting up shrimp in the air and then throwing it right into your mouth.

  Twirling a knife in the air and having it cut a hard-boiled egg.

  WHAT ELSE IS FUN

  Super-great fancy drinks in cool cups that you get to keep.

  It was pretty much the most fun I had ever had at a restaurant. I didn't even really mind when Sammy's shrimp came flying over the table and landed in my water glass. Those chopsticks can be tricky ... plus it made everyone laugh.

  At the end of the dinner all the restaurant people came over and sang a special Japanese happy birthday song for Gwen. Then they took our picture and put it in a card so she could keep it.

  I am definitely going back there for my birthday.

  BIRTHDAY PRESENTS

  Mimi's mom made Gwen a purple cake, which was great because that's Gwen's favorite color, so of course she loved it. I was hoping that Gwen was going to open the present from her parents first because I really was dying to see what was inside. Gwen said she wanted to save it for the end, because it was the most special one. Plus, her parents were going to call at eight so that they could listen while she opened it. Knowing that made me want to see inside even more!

  Suddenly I was feeling nervous about her opening my second present. I was glad that she was opening other stuff first.

  Max gave her a journal and a fancy pen. Sammy gave her a cool wood and glass box that came with all sorts of craft supplies so that you could decorate it yourself. It had a little secret drawer in the back which you could only open with a special code. It was hard to imagine Sammy picking out such a great present, but he said he had done it all by himself.

  Finally it was time to open my present. "Another present from you?" asked Gwen. She was saying that because I had already given her the purse. Gwen is a careful opener, so it took her a few seconds to get the paper off.

  "It's Owly!" said Mimi.

  "I thought you sold it!" said Gwen. I could tell that she was happy to have it because she was smiling and she gave it a hug.

  Just then the phone rang. Gwen ran to get it and was so excited that she almost tripped over all her birthday stuff that was on the floor. Mimi's mom put the phone on speakerphone so we all heard Gwen talking to her mom and dad.

  It took her about two seconds to rip their birthday package open. She was not a careful opener anymore. All that was inside was a birthday card with a picture of a puppy on the front. Gwen opened the card and screamed! There was something exciting inside but none of us could figure out what it was. Mimi's mom took the phone off speakerphone so Gwen could talk to her parents in the kitchen. She was still doing lots of screaming and saying "Oh, thank you, thank you, thank you!" Finally she came back and we could tell that she had been happy crying.

  She held the birthday card out for us to see and said, "Look! Look! Isn't he cute?" "Very cute," said Mimi's mom. "What are you going to name him?"

  And then we all understood. Mimi screamed, "You got a puppy? A real p
uppy!" Now everyone was excited! I couldn't believe it! I didn't even know Gwen wanted a puppy. A puppy was the best birthday present ever. I wanted one. Mimi wanted one. Max probably wanted one. Everyone loves puppies.

  "I get to pick him up next week," said Gwen. For the whole rest of the night we could not stop talking about the puppy. We all wished he were there at that very minute. Well, probably all of us except for one, because Sammy doesn't like dogs.

  WHAT IS HARD

  It is hard when a perfect fun day has to end and you know that the next day coming up is probably not going to be as perfect or as fun. That night when I flashed my lights with Chip-Up, I was happy to see Gwen holding Owly and Mimi holding Willoughby. I let Chip-Up sleep with me, and all over again I was a little double green.

  But it was different this time because I was smiling. And I didn't know it, because my superpower is not one that lets me see through walls, but right next door Gwen was smiling.

  OWLY NOTE

  And Mimi was too.

  THE END

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  WHAT GRACE WILL BE THINKING ABOUT IN HER NEXT BOOK

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