December Secrets (4 page)

Beast and Matthew started to laugh. They made believe they were boxers fighting each other.

“That will do,” Mrs. Avery told them.

Emily sang a little softer. She didn't have to look at her book.

Dawn had to look at her book.

Emily was glad she knew all the words by heart.

She turned the page to see what came next.

Someone had put a piece of paper inside her book. It was a picture of three girls. They were all wearing mittens.

Underneath someone had written in blue crayon:

Good Frineds

Emily looked around. She wondered who had put the picture in her book.

She turned the picture over. On the back someone had writ-ten:

Good frineds let peple ahead of them in line.

Emily crumpled the paper up. That Dawn Bosco.

What kind of a present was that to give to a good friend?

Emily marched up to the wastebas-ket.

She threw the crumpled up picture inside.

Mrs. Avery tapped on her desk. “Emily Arrow,” she said. “Why did you get up in the middle of our song? You know better than that.”

Emily didn't say anything.

She wanted to say that Dawn was the one who should know bet-ter.

Mrs. Avery frowned at her. “I think you'd better go back to your classroom. Tell Ms. Rooney that you are not interested in Christmas mu-sic.”

Emily hurried out of the music room. She didn't want eve-rybody to see that she had tears in her eyes.

She didn't want everyone to think she was a crybaby like Jill Simon.

Before she went back to her classroom, she stopped in the girls' room.

She could hear her class singing.

They were singing “It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas.”

Emily looked in the mirror. Her face was red.

It was beginning to look as if she were going to have a terrible De-cember.

Slowly she walked back to her classroom.

She hated to tell Ms. Rooney that Mrs. Avery had said she wasn't interested in Christmas music.

She was very interested in Christmas music.

She was practically the only one who knew all the words by heart.

Ms. Rooney was sitting at her desk. “What's the matter, Emily?” she asked.

Emily started to cry. “Dawn tried to get me in trou-ble.”

“Really?” Ms. Rooney said.

“Yes,” said Emily. She sniffed a little. She needed a tissue. “Dawn tried to sing louder than me.”

Ms. Rooney passed her the hankie box.

Emily rubbed her nose. “Dawn doesn't want me for her secret December person either.”

Ms. Rooney looked surprised. “Why do you think you're Dawn's secret per-son?”

“I guessed,” Emily said.

Just then Matthew raced in.

He stopped when he saw Emily and Ms. Rooney. He put his hand over his mouth. “I didn't know anyone was here,” he said.

“T'm here,” said Ms. Rooney. “Why aren't you in music? Did you sing too loud too?”

“No.” Matthew smiled. “I asked to go to the bathroom.”

He reached into his pocket. He pulled out a box of Good and Plen-tys.

“I wanted to put this box of candy in Beast's desk.”

“That's nice,” said Ms. Rooney.

“Beast loves Good and Plentys,” Matthew said. “Yesterday I bought him a box too.” He put his shoulders up in the air. “I ate some before I got to school. I ate a lot.”

It was hard to think of things to give Jill Simon.

Last night Emily had looked through her closet.

She had pulled out a pile of stuff. Shells from the beach last summer. Her old first-grade notebook.

At last she had found some-thing.

A pencil.

It was a special pencil. Green. Her Aunt Helen had brought it back from California. It had a big, fat almost-new erase.

It was long and very skinny.

Maybe it would make Jill think about being skinny. Maybe it would make Jill think about a diet.

When Emily got to the classroom, she looked at the pencil again. Jill would love it.

But she might not think about being skinny when she looked at it.

Ms. Rooney clapped her hands. 'Today we're going to talk about Christmas.”

Emily loved to talk about Christmas. She closed her eyes for a min-ute. She could see the Christmas tree in her living room. She could see presents.

She looked at the pencil again.

Maybe she should write a little note with it. A note to remind Jill about a diet.

44Who would like to tell us about Christmas?” Ms. Rooney asked.

Quickly Emily raised her hand.

Dawn Bosco's hand shot up in the air too.

Ms. Rooney called on Emily.

“Christmas,” said Emily slowly. “It's surprises. And a tree. It's getting lots of pre-sents.”

Dawn waved her hand around. 44It's not just getting pre-sents,” she said. 44It's giving presents. That's the important thing.”

'That's what my mother said,” Matthew told the class.

Emily made a face at Dawn. She wanted to
say “I was going to tell about the giving part next.”

She wished she had thought of it.

But Ms. Rooney was talking now. “Who can tell us more?” she asked.

Beast stood up. “It's a birthday. A special birth-day. It's the day Jesus Christ was born.”

“Exactly right,” said Ms. Rooney.

Exactly right, thought Emily. She felt cross with herself. Too bad she hadn't thought about saying that.

She sighed. She looked at the pencil for Jill again.

Maybe she would write a poem to go with Jill Simon's se-cret December present.

What went with skinny? Minny. Jinny. Linny.

You won't look tinny when you're skinny.

No.

How about something with diet? Fi-et. Ly-et.

She thought for a minute.

How about:

A skinny dress your mother will buy it.
If you go on a diet.

That was a little better.

But not perfect.

She looked out the window. The snow had stopped.

How about:

Try a diet

Yes. That sounded good.

She said it in her head a couple of times. Try a diet. Try a diet.

Sherri Dent turned around. “Are you talking to your-self?” she whispered.

Emily shook her head. Then she took out her notebook. She tore out a piece of paper.

Ms. Rooney stopped talking about Christmas.

“Who is making that ripping noise?” she asked.

Emily ducked down.

“Yes,” said Ms. Rooney after a minute. “We are very lucky. Mr. Mancina, the principal, is giving us a present. Our own class Christmas tree.”

Everybody clapped.

Emily clapped too. Then she frowned.

Try a diet
was no good.

It would hurt Jill's feelings. She might cry for an hour.

No. She peeked at Jill to be sure she wasn't looking at her.

Then she wrote
Surprise
on the piece of paper.

She wrote it with the long, skinny green pencil.

“We're going to make Christmas ornaments this week,” said Ms. Rooney. “For the tree.”

Everyone smiled. Beast was smiling the hardest.

Emily looked over at him. Beast loved to draw. He'd make a great ornament.

She reached into her desk for Uni, her rubber unicorn. Maybe she'd give him a run.

She pulled him out. He was wrapped up in paper.

Emily pulled the paper off.

Underneath he had a piece of red shiny material covering him.

A little card said:

A blanket for Uni

Next to her Dawn Bosco was playing with a piece of gum.

She saw Emily looking at her.

She pulled the gum into a long string.

Emily smiled.

Dawn blinked. Then she smiled back.

Emily gave Uni a pat. She could feel his new red cover. It felt smooth, beautiful.

She was sorry she hadn't let Dawn ahead of her on the fire-truck line.

She'd have to make it up to Dawn.

She waited until everyone lined up for lunch. Quickly she put the pencil on Jill's desk.

Then she marched out the door.

Emily reached into her desk. She felt the package.

Her mouth watered.

Inside the package were two cookies. Two big fat ones. Two sugar cookies with nuts and raisins and rainbow sprinkles on top.

She and her mother had made them last night.

These cookies were not for her secret December person. They were for Dawn Tiffanie Bosco.

As soon as Dawn got up to sharpen her pencil, Emily put the cookies inside her desk.

Then she sat back and waited.

Now Dawn would know she was sorry about the fire-truck line.

“I need some people to go on a message,” Ms. Rooney said.

Emily raised her hand as hard as she could.

“All right, Emily,” said Ms. Rooney. “You may go. And also …”

Beast knelt up on his seat.

He had a magnifying glass in his hand.

“Please, Ms. Rooney …”he be-gan.

“Jill,” said Ms. Rooney.

Beast slid down in his seat. He held his thumb up to the magnifying glass.

Emily smiled.

Beast had Matthew's old magnifying glass. It must be a secret December person present.

Emily went quickly to Ms. Rooney's desk.

“Go to the custodian's room,” Ms. Rooney said. “Ask Jim to bring up the Christmas tree.”

“Ooh,” everyone said.

Emily hurried out of the room.

She was lucky. This was a terrific message.

She waited for Jill outside the door.

Today Jill was wearing green bows on her braids.

She looked like a fat green lollipop, Emily thought.

Emily remembered Jill was her secret December person. “Your bows look pretty,” she said.

She crossed her fingers behind her back.

“Do you think so?” Jill asked. She took a little hop down the first step. “I think I look like a frog. A fat green frog.” She hopped down the next step.
“Glunk, glunk.”

Emily's mouth opened.

Jill reached the bottom step.
“Glunk, glunk,”
she said again. She started to laugh a little.

Emily laughed a little too. Jill really looked funny with her braids jumping up and down.