Free Always, Abigail by Nancy J. Cavanaugh

or my grade’s going down the drain.”
    I didn’t say it loud enough for Gabby to hear me.
    The problem was, even though Gabby didn’t hear me, I knew what I’d said, and the surge of guilt made my ears ring so loud they hurt.

Three Things That Happened the Next Week during School
    1. Gabby kept trying to make me laugh during class by looking at me with the Green-Eggs-and-Ham face.
    2. At first I held back the giggles, but finally I couldn’t hold it in anymore. The hot lava inside me was turning into laughter. It felt good to let it seep out.
    3. Jackson-the-Troll Dawber said to Brent in the hallway, “Gabby must’ve put a bizarro spell on Abigail because she’s acting like a real reject lately.”
    It made me wish I had some real green eggs and ham so that I could shove them down Jackson’s throat, but I counted to ten instead.

Something Gabby and I Did at Lunch
    Came up with our own secret sign. When we walked by each other in the classroom or hallway, we held up our fist toward the other person and whispered, “That Gab-I-Am, that Gab-I-Am. I do not like that Gab-I-Am,” Or, “That Ab-I-Am, that Ab-I-Am. I do not like that Ab-I-Am.”
    It wasn’t a secret pom-pom girl wave, but it was still fun.

Something I Was Starting to Be Thankful For
    That AlliCam weren’t in my homeroom.

A Note I Got from Gabby
    Abigail,
    Can’t practice today. I have to get to the post office after school and then babysit for the Welches. The kids are kind of a nightmare, but they pay really well, so I didn’t want to say no. Need the extra money.
    Sorry,
    Gabby
    P.S. Maybe we can practice before school.

One Thing That Surprised Me about Gabby’s Note
    It really bummed me out that we couldn’t practice after school.

Two Things I Wondered after Reading Gabby’s Note
    1. Gabby was ALWAYS babysitting. What did she spend her money on? Not clothes, that’s for sure.
    2. The post office? What did she have to go there for? I wondered if it had anything to do with the card table full of books, boxes, and packing tape I had seen in her living room.

Two Things I Was Happy About
    1. That morning, Old Hawk put new books in each of our reading baskets.
    2. She put Island of the Blue Dolphins in mine, so I added it to my list of things to take home so I’d have something to do after school.

Five Things That Happened during Our First Story Time with the Kindergartners
    1. I was SOOOO nervous. I went to the bathroom six times before we started. Gabby was ready to kill me. She thought I was going to chicken out on her.

    2. Mrs. Carwell, the kindergarten teacher, introduced us like we were somebody important.
    â€œBoys and girls, we are so lucky to have two wonderful guest readers with us today.”
    The kids clapped like we were celebrities. To get them to stop clapping, Mrs. Carwell had to flick the lights on and off three times.
    Then she went on. “Let’s be good listeners and keep our hands and feet to ourselves.”
    It was amazing how she could smile the entire time she was talking as if her cheerfulness could will the kindergartners to behave.
    3. When I announced the title of our story, one skinny kid in the back yelled, “I have that book!”
    Then the girl sitting next to him said, “You do not!”
    Then the boy punched her in the arm.
    â€œStanford, we do not hit. Especially girls,” the teacher said, separating them.
    I looked at Gabby, wondering if we’d made a big mistake volunteering to do this.
    4. Finally, the teacher calmed everyone down again, and we started the story.
    5. The kids gasped and laughed in all the right places. And when we said, “The end,” they clapped and cheered and yelled, “Tell it again! Tell it again!”

Four Things That Happened in the Hallway outside the Kindergarten Room after Our First Story Time
    1. Gabby and I hugged each other and jumped up and down. I never knew