Free Katie Sprinkles and Surprises by Coco Simon

the test and put it on the table with a flourish.
    â€œCheck it out,” I said. “I got an A on my math test!”
    My friends all cheered for me.
    â€œI should have gone for extra help too,” Mia said. “I studied, but I only got a B.”
    â€œYou definitely need to go,” I said. “Mr. Green is great. He really explains things well.”
    â€œSo that’s how you got an A!”
    I turned around to see Olivia standing there with her hands on her hips. She must have been listening the whole time.
    â€œYou cheated!” she bellowed, loud enough for half the cafeteria to hear her. “Just because your mom is dating Mr. Green, he helps you get good math grades. I should have known!”
    Olivia stormed back to the BFC table. I saw some girls at the next table whispering and then pointing over to me, thanks to Olivia and her loud mouth.
    â€œI didn’t cheat!” I fumed, and I didn’t care who heard it. “Mr. Green just helped me study. He helps lots of kids.”
    â€œOf course you didn’t cheat,” Mia said soothingly.
    â€œThat is ridiculous!” Emma added.
    Alexis looked angry. “She’s just jealous. Don’t listen to her.”
    â€œIt doesn’t matter if I listen to her or not,” I said. “What if other kids listen to her?”
    â€œEveryone knows Olivia is a big gossip,” Alexis said, “and half the stuff she says isn’t true. Nobody listens to her.”
    My friends made me feel better, like they always do. But I no longer felt like doing a happy dance, not even on this blue-skied, fluffy-clouded A day.
    Why did Olivia have to spoil everything?

CHAPTER 14
Mom Did What?
    A fter lunch I had social studies with Mrs. Kratzer. She has short hair and glasses and is just one of those people who looks like they love history, you know? She’s pretty mellow, but when she tells us stories about stuff that happened in the past, she gets excited, doing voices and everything.
    â€œOkay, class,” she said in her regular mellow voice. “I’d like you to team up with your partner for the project.”
    George carried his chair over to my desk.
    â€œThanks for being my partner,” George said.
    â€œThanks for asking me,” I said, and then I cringed a little inside. That sounded really corny.
    â€œEveryone, please get out your project sheets,” instructed Mrs. Kratzer. “By Monday, I’d like eachgroup to submit a description of your project.”
    The project sheet had a lot of suggestions on it. We were studying western expansion—you know, the explorers and pioneers who went out West in the 1800s. We had to pick a subject for our project plus the type of project we were supposed to do.
    â€œIt’s Friday,” I said. “How are we supposed to finish this by Monday?”
    â€œMom said you could come over tomorrow to work on it if you want,” George said quickly, as if he had known this would come up.
    I was a little surprised. I hadn’t been to George’s house since he invited his whole class to his dinosaur-themed birthday party in second grade.
    â€œUm, okay. We don’t have any cupcake jobs tomorrow,” I said. “I should be able to come.”
    â€œI’m in your phone, right?” George asked quickly. He looked a little worried. I smiled and nodded. “Then text me when you talk to your mom.”
    â€œOkay,” I agreed. “So, anyway, we should check out this list.”
    We were quiet for a while as we both looked at the list together. Then we both spoke up at the same time.
    â€œI like Calamity Jane,” I said.
    â€œCalamity Jane sounds interesting,” said George.
    We burst out laughing, because it was so weird that we had the exact thought at the exact same time.
    Thanks to George, I was on my way to being in a better mood again. Then as soon as class was over, Sophie and Lucy came up to me.
    â€œIs it