Free EllRay Jakes and the Beanstalk by Sally Warner Page A

of the class can be very scary for some kids, but it’s only medium-scary for me. I worry that I’ll get an embarrassing word to read aloud, like
abreast
, which really means side by side, or
ass
, meaning donkey. I also worry that I’ll get a word I don’t know how to pronounce.
    But when I’m reading something
I
wrote, I know all the words. So I’m good.
    I missed school yesterday, by the way, because Mom said I had to get my scrapes and bruises checked out by the doctor. Then I was supposed to “take it easy,” which is not as much fun as it sounds when you’re not allowed to watch TV or DVDs or play video games, much less practice your skateboard skills—because that skateboard is GONE . Dad didn’t say for how long. Until I’m thirty, I’m guessing. And the thought of a thirty-year-old man riding a skateboard is just
sad
, especially if he’s wearing a suit and a tie
.
    It wasn’t that my dad was mad at the
skateboard
, or even all that angry about the fight, strange as it seems. He kind of understood about the fight, once Henry and Alfie explained it to him.
    Instead, Dad was mad at me for two other reasons. Big ones, he said.
I disobeyed him about going over to Henry’s when Fly was there.
I brought Alfie with me without asking official, in-person permission first.
    Everything bad that happened to Alfie and me was because of those two things, he explained on Wednesday night after Mom patched me up the best that she could. I went to bed that night with gauze wrapped around my arms and legs like I was a mummy, and parts of my legs were stuck to the sheet in the morning. It was
gross
.
    I couldn’t wait to tell Corey about it!
    I guess that’s what I get for sliding across a driveway like a human Zamboni.
    Yesterday, Thursday, the doctor did a better bandaging job than Mom, but the “flesh-colored” bandages are not
my
flesh color, so they look patchy and weird. Also, the stuff he splashed onto my scrapes hurt. I got a tetanus shot, too. OUCH .
    I was kind of surprised the doctor didn’t give me rabies shots while he was at it, considering that it was mad dog Fly Reilly at the other end of the fight. But I didn’t make that suggestion to the doctor, believe me.
    So now it’s Friday, and here I am, waiting for Ms. Sanchez to call on me to read aloud about “Jack and the Beanstalk.” When she does, everyone can stare at me as much as they want—for a few minutes, at least.
    There are two rumors that have been bouncing around Oak Glen Primary School all day, ever since the kids saw my banged-up, bandaged self. The boring one, the truth I told Corey, is that I got hurt saving my little sister, then I got into a fight with the guy who tried to hurt her—even though it was more rolling in the mud than fighting. The girls like that rumor. The other rumor, the one
I
like best, is that these are skating injuries—that I had to bail in the middle of either an airwalk grab or a 50-50 grind, and I paid the price.
    Yeah,
that’s
what happened!
    And that’s why I can’t take part in the skating contest after school today, even though I’ll make a special guest appearance. Maybe they’ll make me the judge, since I’m supposedly such a pro.
    Watch out, Tony Hawk!
    â€œKevin McKinley,” Ms. Sanchez says, announcing the next person to read. A few kids wriggle in their seats, maybe because of his gory drawing—and because he chose a story none of us knows. Except Jared, probably. Kevin’s new best friend.
    If Kevin and I had been better friends lately, I could have asked him about the story. But
no-o-o
.
    â€œAll right,” Kevin says, striding to the front of the class. His brown skin looks sharp next to the yellow shirt he’s wearing. New, I think.
    He clears his throat before starting to talk, of course.
    â€œMy story is called ‘The Boy Who Left Home to Find Out About the