Drat! You Copycat! (5 page)

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Authors: Nancy Krulik

BOOK: Drat! You Copycat!
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“Ouch!” Katie shouted, as she grabbed her nose.
“I’m sorry,” George mumbled. He looked embarrassed.
“It’s okay,” Katie told him. “I’m alright.”
But Katie
wasn’t
alright. Her nose was bleeding.
“Oooh! Yuck!” Kevin shouted when he saw the red blood running from Katie’s nose. He moved his chair far from Katie.
Mrs. Derkman walked over and handed Katie a wad of tissues. “It’s just a little blood, Kevin,” she said. “Katie, go to the nurse and get an ice pack. George, finish your report without any more demonstrations, alright?”
“Okay,” George said. He sounded disappointed.
Katie held the tissues tightly against her nose as she headed out of the room and down the long, empty hallway to the nurse’s office. She was determined not to get any blood on her shirt.
Suddenly, Katie felt a cool wind blowing on the back of her neck. She quickly looked around. There were no windows in the hallway, and the doors were all shut tight.
Katie gulped. This was no ordinary wind. This was the magic wind!
The magic wind began spinning faster and faster all around Katie. Her red hair whipped wildly around her head.
Katie shut her eyes tightly, and tried not to cry. As the fierce tornado swirled, she grabbed onto a locker.
And then it stopped. Just like that. No warning. But Katie wasn’t surprised. The magic wind never gave her any warning. In fact, it never felt the same way twice. The magic wind was always different—as different as the people it turned Katie into.
Which brought up the big question: Just who had the magic wind turned Katie into this time?
Chapter 8
Katie was afraid to open her eyes. She had no idea where she was. All she knew was that she was sitting, and she used to be standing.
Suddenly, Katie heard loud applause. Where was she? A theater? A ball game?
Slowly, Katie let her eyes flutter open.
“Oh my goodness,” she muttered to herself. “How did I wind up here?”
Somehow, Katie had come back to class 3A. Everyone was sitting happily in their seats. George was standing in the front of the room, taking a bow.
“That was very good, George,” Mrs. Derkman said, as she walked to the front of the room. “We have all learned a lot about skateboarding.”
“And about skate
falling,
” Manny teased.
George blushed.
“Okay, please take your seat, George,” Mrs. Derkman said. “Now we will hear all about Cleopatra. It’s your turn, Becky.”
Suddenly, all eyes turned to look at Katie. Katie stared back at her classmates.
“Becky?” Mrs. Derkman said. She walked over to where Katie was sitting.
Slowly, Katie looked down. Instead of her own faded jeans and blue shirt, Katie was wearing a white blouse, black stretch jeans, and big red beads.
Katie gulped as she wiped a strand of blond hair from her eyes. Oh, no! Katie had turned into Becky. Mrs. Derkman expected her to give a report, but Katie didn’t know anything about Cleopatra.
“Becky, it’s your turn,” Mrs. Derkman coaxed sternly.
Katie didn’t know what to do. If she didn’t go up in front of the classroom right now, Becky would get an
F
on her report.
Katie couldn’t let
that
happen.
But she couldn’t teach the class anything about Cleopatra, either.
Then Katie remembered the black bag Becky had dragged to school that day. It was sitting right at her feet. Maybe there was something in the bag that could help her give the report.
“Okay, Mrs. Derkman,” Katie said as she unzipped the bag. Her voice sounded so strange. It had the same soft, singsongy Southern accent as the real Becky’s.
Slowly, Katie peered into the bag. The first thing she spotted was a package of note cards.
Phew.
Becky had written out her speech on the cards.
Then Katie pulled out a black wig and a huge hat with some sort of snake on the top. Under that was a long, clingy, white dress. There was a stuffed cat in the bag as well.
Quickly, Katie threw the costume on over Becky’s everyday clothes. She picked up the cat and the cards, and walked to the front of the room.
Immediately Suzanne started laughing. “Her crown’s on backward,” She giggled. “The snake’s supposed to go in the front!”
“Suzanne!” Mrs. Derkman warned.
Suzanne stopped her giggling right away.
Katie blushed and turned the crown around. Then she looked at the notecards in her hand. They were very hard to read. Becky did not have neat handwriting.
“Cleopatra was born in Egypt in 69 B.C.,” Katie began slowly, as she struggled to understand Becky’s notes. “She was famous for her beauty.”
Katie looked out at the kids in her class. They seemed interested. Well, at least everyone other than Suzanne seemed interested. Things weren’t going too badly. She turned to the next card.
“Cleopatra was the daughter of King ...”
But before Katie could finish her sentence, she lost her grip on the notecards. The the whole pile slipped from her hands.
“Oops!” Katie exclaimed. Quickly, she bent down to scoop up Becky’s cards. As she looked down at the cards, the Cleopatra crown fell from Katie’s head. The black wig slipped down over her eyes. Katie could barely see past the long dark hair. And as if that weren’t bad enough ...
Rrrip.
Becky’s long white dress ripped right up the back. Everyone heard the dress tear.
“Boy, Cleopatra must have been a klutz!” George joked.
“This is too funny!” Suzanne began to giggle. So did a lot of other kids.
Katie could feel her face turning red with embarrassment.
“Class!” Mrs. Derkman scolded. “Show Becky the same respect you would like to be shown during your report.”
Mrs. Derkman sounded really angry. Instantly, the class got quiet. They waited for Becky to speak.
But the note cards were all out of order now. Katie had no idea what she was supposed to say next. This report was turning into a disaster!
Katie looked out at her classmates. They were all sitting silently, waiting for her to say something.
Quickly, Katie read whatever was written on the card at the top of her pile. “Cleopatra was absolutely crazy about Caesar,” she told the class.
“About who?” Manny asked.
“Caesar,” Katie repeated.
“Caesar who?” Manny asked.
Katie had no idea. “Um ... Caesar ... Caesar ... uh ... Caesar salad.” she blurted out finally.
Everyone began laughing again.
Katie thought she was going to cry.
“I think you mean
Julius
Caesar,” Suzanne told her. “He was a famous Roman general. Everyone knows that.”
Not everyone
, Katie thought miserably.
Suzanne started to giggle again. Soon everyone else was laughing, too.
Katie couldn’t take it anymore. She ran out of the classroom in tears.
As she raced down the empty hallway, Katie could hear the kids in room 3A making fun of Becky’s speech. She could also hear Mrs. Derkman ordering her to come back.
But Katie wasn’t going back into that room.
At least not as long as she was Becky Stern.
Chapter 9
Katie ran into the bathroom to wash her face. She couldn’t let anyone see her with blotchy skin and red eyes. It was bad enough that she’d ruined Becky’s report. She couldn’t let everyone think she was a big crybaby, too.
Katie turned on the cold water and put her hands under the faucet. Right away, she felt a draft blowing on her neck.
Katie looked over at the bathroom windows. They were locked tightly. And the door hadn’t opened since Katie had walked into the room. Quickly Katie bent down and peered under the two bathroom stalls. There was no one in either one.
Katie was all alone in the girls bathroom.
The magic wind only came when Katie was alone.
Katie grabbed on to the and held on tightly. She knew what was coming next. That breeze was about to become a tornado!
Sure enough, within seconds, wild winds began to swirl all around Katie. This time, the wind was bitter and cold. Katie could feel goosebumps popping up all over her body as the gusts churned around her.
And then it was all over. Just like that. The air was still, and the bathroom was warm again.
Nervously, Katie looked into the bathroom mirror. Her own face stared back at her. She could see her own red hair and the freckles across her nose. Katie Kazoo was back!
And so was Becky. In fact, she was standing right next to Katie, wearing a crooked wig and a ripped white dress, looking confused.
“How did I get in here?” she asked Katie.
“Don’t you remember?” Katie replied.
“Well, sort of. I think I was giving my report, but I’m not sure. It’s all kind of fuzzy.”
Katie gulped. How was she going to explain this? She couldn’t just come out and say that she had turned into Becky and given her report for her. Becky would never believe her. Katie wouldn’t have believed it, either—if it hadn’t happened to her.

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