Free The Candy Corn Contest by Patricia Reilly Giff Page B

said.
    Richard looked at Timothy. Timothy was smart. And he was lucky.
    Richard wished he was like Timothy. He was sick of being dumb. And unlucky.

Chapter 3

    “Can anyone tell us about the first Thanksgiv-ing?” Ms. Rooney asked.
    “I can,” Timothy Barbiero said.
    44Me too,” Dawn Bosco said.
    Richard hid behind Matthew. He didn't know one thing about the first Thanksgiving.
    Six boys would be at his sleep-over. He wrote a big six on the pa-per. Underneath he wrote a
T
for Timothy. Then he wrote a
W
for Wayne.
    4'Many years ago,” said Ms. Rooney, “some people sailed across the ocean.”
    Emily Arrow raised her hand. “They came on a boat called the
Mayflower.”
    “Right, Emily,” said Ms. Rooney. “And the people were called Pilgrims.”
    Richard wrote an
X
on the paper.
X
for Alex.
    He looked around. Who else was coming?

    “It was cold,” said Ms. Rooney. “The Pilgrims had very little food. Many of them were sick.”
    Matthew. He had forgotten Matthew.
    He wrote an
M
on the pa-per.
    Then he wrote
Beast
for him-self. His nickname.
    “Timothy,” he whispered. “Wayne. Alex. Matthew. And me.”
    He counted. “One. Two. Three. Four. Five.” Someone was missing.
    “The Pilgrims' first winter was terri-ble,” Ms. Rooney said.
    Noah raised his hand. “Then the Indians came to help them.”
    “Very good, Noah,” Ms. Rooney said.
    Richard wrote an
N
for Noah. That was six.
    He looked around again. He'd sit next to Timothy when they ate.
    Alex would sit on his other side.
    He'd put a big pile of spaghetti on his plate.
    He'd save some room for ice cream.
    “Are you listening, Richard?” Ms. Rooney asked.
    Richard jumped. “Yes.”
    “In the spring,” said Ms. Rooney, “the Indians showed the Pilgrims how to plant corn. They told them to put dead fish in the earth with the seed. It would make the corn grow better.”
    “Yucks,” said Emily Arrow.
    “Don't be silly, Emily,” said Ms. Rooney. “The Indians were right. The corn grew strong.”
    Richard thought about his sleep-over again.
    Everyone would sleep in the den.
    He'd sleep next to Timothy and Alex.
    Matthew would have to sleep next to the wall. Just in case.
    And Wayne would sleep on Matthew's other side.
    “The Pilgrims learned to hunt,” said Ms. Rooney. “Then they had more food.”
    Richard wished he had something to eat. Some of that spaghetti. Some leftover turkey.
    “Yes,” said Ms. Rooney. “The Pilgrims worked hard. Very hard. They did the right thing.”
    “Then they had a Thanksgiving party,” said Timothy.
    “Yes,” said Ms. Rooney. “They invited everyone.”
    “Hey,” Wayne whispered. “I have to talk to you.”
    “What's the matter?” Richard asked,
    “I'll tell you later,” Wayne said. He was frowning.
    Richard felt a worried feeling. He hoped Wayne was coming to his party.
    It would be nice for Matthew to have someone to sleep near.
    Besides, if Wayne didn't come, there would be only five boys.

Chapter 4

    But there was no time to talk to Wayne.
    They had to pack their books. And Richard had to find his sister, Holly.
    For a while Richard waited in the hall.
    He looked at the picture of the man on the wall.
    James K. Polk, it said underneath.
    Poor James K. Polk, Richard thought. His collar was so big, it was flapping around his cheeks.
    Richard went to the boys' room.
    Holly still didn't come.
    He went back to his classroom. Ms. Rooney was gone.
    Jim, the custodian, was beginning to sweep.
    Richard saw that Matthew had forgotten his sweater. It was on the floor.
    He picked it up. It smelled like Matthew.
    He put it on Matthew's chair.

    “Thanks,” Jim said. He finished sweep-ing. He pushed the broom out to the hall.
    Richard walked over to Ms. Rooney's desk.
    He looked at the jar of Candy Corn.
    His mouth was watering again.
    He tried to guess how many pieces of Candy Corn there were.
    Maybe he should do some counting.
    He could count all the Candy Corn on one side of the jar to-day.
    Tomorrow