his high chair and laughed.
CHAPTER TWO
THE PINK PRINCESS
â S it up and finish your lunch,â her mom said patiently.
Posey got back on her chair.
âWhy arenât you leaving Danny?â she asked.
âI told you,â her mom said. âMy new job has day care.â
âYou should leave him.â Posey wrinkled her nose. âHe smells.â
âI think he smells sweet.â Her mom buried her nose in Dannyâs neck. He grabbed her hair.
Posey felt the ends of her mouth turn down. âYou love Danny more than me,â she said.
âOh, Posey.â
Her mom came around the table. She put her arm around Poseyâs stiff shoulders. âItâs going to be fine, sweetie. Youâll see. Weâll buy you something new to wear.â
âWhy canât I wear this?â
Posey pointed to her pink tutu. It had a hole above her belly button. The skirt had a tear on one side.
Posey loved to wear it more than anything. She wore it every day, all summer long.
It made her feel special.
Posey never told anyone, but when she wore her pink tutu, she was Princess Posey, the Pink Princess.
Princess Posey could go anywhere. Do anything.
Even walk into first grade by herself.
âYou can wear it when you get home from school,â said her mom.
Posey didnât want to wear it after school. She wanted to wear it to school.
Her mom untied Dannyâs bib. âYou wait with Danny while I get some towels,â she said. âWeâll go for a swim.â
âItâs all your fault,â Posey said to Danny with a big frown. âI was the baby till you got here.â
Danny smiled and grabbed his toes.
âMom thinks youâre great because youâre a baby,â Posey said. âBut you wait.â
She leaned forward until their noses were almost touching. âOne day she will leave you the way sheâs leaving me.â
Danny blew a bubble and laughed.
CHAPTER THREE
MONSTER OF THE BLUE HALL
A fter Posey went swimming, she ran to the playground. Tyler and Nick were on the slide.
They lived next door to Posey. They were brothers.
âHey, Posey!â they called.
Posey went over to them.
âTyler and me want to make sure youâre ready for first grade,â Nick said.
âIâm getting new shoes,â said Posey.
âYou know you have to walk into the school by yourself, right?â said Tyler.
âI can do that,â Posey said bravely.
âWhat about the hall?â asked Nick.
âWhat hall?â said Posey.
âThe hall is long and dark,â Tyler said in a spooky voice. He banged his foot on the slide.
Boom.
âYouâre all by yourself.â
Another boom.
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Posey looked up at him from the bottom of the slide and shivered.
âIf the monster grabs you, thereâs no one around to help,â said Nick.
âMonster?â said Posey. She looked from one boy to the other. âThereâs no monster at Middle Pond School.â
âOh, yes, there is,â said Tyler. âIsnât there, Nick?â
He jabbed his younger brother in the side.
Nick nodded. âThe Monster of the Blue Hall,â he said.
The blue hall was for the first grade. Tyler was in the fourth grade. He was on the green hall.
Nick was on the red hall with the other second-graders.
âMost first-graders donât make it to their classrooms,â Tyler said.
âThe monster gets them first,â said
Nick. âIt sucks out their blood. The rest get eaten by snakes.â
âSnakes?â said Posey.
Nick and Tyler loved to tease her. They teased her all the time.
Posey knew they were teasing her now.
Still, she tightened her grip on her stuffed giraffe.
CHAPTER FOUR
ONE WAY TO FIND OUT
âI never saw any snakes,â said Posey.
âThey donât come out for kindergarteners,â said Nick. âThey only come out for
Dean Wesley Smith, Kristine Kathryn Rusch
Martin A. Lee, Bruce Shlain