Free Flower Power by Nancy Krulik Page A

that day.
    “Hi!” Katie replied happily. She was so glad to see Jeremy. He and Katie’s other best friend, Suzanne Lock, were in Ms. Sweet’s fourth-grade class. Katie only got to see them during lunch and recess. “Where’s everyone else?” she asked.
    “In the bathroom,” Jeremy replied as he took a huge bite of his tuna hero.
    “They all had to go at the same time?” Katie asked, amazed.
    Jeremy laughed and shook his head. “Wewere planting seeds, so Ms. Sweet made us wash our hands before lunch. I got to the boys’ room first.”
    Katie nodded. No surprise there. Jeremy was the fastest runner in the fourth grade. A moment later, most of the other kids in class 4B arrived in the cafeteria. Naturally, Suzanne sat on the other side of Katie and pretty much ignored Jeremy. That was nothing new. Katie’s two best friends weren’t really friends with each other. And Suzanne hated it when Jeremy and Katie spent time alone together.
    “Can you believe Miriam Chan?” Suzanne said, staring in Miriam’s direction. “She is so looking for attention.”
    “What are you talking about?” Katie said.
    “Did you see what she’s having for lunch?” Suzanne asked her.
    Katie looked. Miriam was drinking something from a blue container.
    “It’s a vitamin shake,” Jeremy told the girls. “I drink a lot of them during soccerseason. They’re really healthy.”
    “What’s the big deal?” Katie asked Suzanne.
    “She’s only drinking the shake so everyone will see her new braces,” Suzanne explained. “She says her mouth hurts so much, she can’t eat regular food.”
    “It probably does,” Jeremy said. “She’s got a lot of wires in there.”
    “Miriam got braces? Cool!” Katie exclaimed. “I want to see.”
    “That’s what I mean,” Suzanne harrumphed. “It’s for attention.”
    “Braces are for straightening teeth,” Jeremy told her. “There are plenty of other ways to get attention.
You
should know.”
    Katie knew exactly what Jeremy meant. Suzanne hated when anyone besides her was in the spotlight.
    And right now, Miriam was definitely the center of attention. The kids were gathered around her, staring at her teeth. Katie wentover to join them. “I heard you got braces, Miriam,” she said.

    “Yes, yesterday,” Miriam replied. She sounded kind of uncomfortable.
    “Do they hurt a lot?” Katie asked her.
    Miriam nodded. “But I put some wax on the wires. The orthodontist says they will feel better in a day or two.”
    “What color wires did you pick?” Emma W. asked Miriam.
    “Red and pink,” Miriam said, smiling so everyone could see the brightly colored wires that lined her braces. “But I can change them next month. They have lots of cool colors to choose from. Blue, green, yellow, even glow-in-the-dark.”
    “That
would be really cool for sleepovers,” Jessica Haynes suggested.
    “I think it would be gross,” Suzanne remarked from her seat a few feet away. “Braces are not cool. They’re ugly.”
    Miriam looked like she was about to cry.
    “Suzanne!” Katie scolded. “That’s not nice.”
    But Suzanne ignored Katie. “I’m glad I have such straight, white teeth,” she continued. “They’ll be perfect for when I’m in a toothpaste ad.”
    “When are you going to do that?” Jessica asked.
    “I don’t know,” Suzanne replied. “But I’m sure I will someday. My teeth are perfect.”
    “Miriam’s teeth are going to be perfect, too,” Katie told Suzanne. “As soon as her braces come off.” She smiled at Miriam, hoping she had made her feel better.
    Miriam smiled back, a little.
    “I think they make you look kind of grown-up,” Emma W. told her. “Like an almost teenager.”
    “Oh, no!” Suzanne yelped. Her juice fell to the floor, catching everyone’s attention. Katieturned around just in time to see Suzanne leaping out of the way.
    “Oops!” Suzanne exclaimed. “What a mess.”
    Katie sighed. She had a feeling Suzanne had done that on purpose,