Part 2 (1/2)

I thought it over a second.

Then I shook my head no.

”Nope, sorry. I think a mouse play is still the way to go here,” I said.

Mr. Scary said thank you thank you for my opinion and for my opinion and please sit down please sit down.

I tapped my foot kind of annoyed. Then I gazed my eyes around the room.

”Okay. Who would rather do a mouse play? Please raise your hands,” I said.

Mr. Scary snapped his fingers at me.

Snapping means the conversation is over, I believe.

I sat down.

That day when I got home from school, Mother was already back from work.

I like it when that happens.

She was in the kitchen with my dog named Tickle.

I gave her a paper Mr. Scary sent home about the play.

Her face smiled when she read it.

”Oh boy! Your cla.s.s is going to do a play for Parents' Night, huh?” she said. ”How fun!”

I shrugged my shoulders.

”Yeah, only it would be funner if it was a mouse play,” I said. ”But Mr. Scary says it has to be about dumb old Columbus Day.”

Mother kept on reading.

”Oh, and look at this this,” she said. ”It says that over the weekend you're supposed to look up facts about Columbus and his s.h.i.+ps. And whoever has the most facts will get to choose their part first.”

I rolled my eyes.

”Fact number one,” I said. ”Columbus is not a mouse. And so I don't even care about being in this dumb play.”

After that, I turned around. And I clomped out of the kitchen kind of grumpy.

Tickle clomped with me.

We were almost to my room when my mother called after me.

”I just don't get get it, Junie B.,” she hollered. ”I thought you always wanted to be a it, Junie B.,” she hollered. ”I thought you always wanted to be a star star!”

I stopped clomping.

Tickle stopped clomping, too.

”A star star?” I said. ”Whoa. I never even thought about that that situation situation.”

I quick turned around and zoomed back to the kitchen.

”A star star?” I asked. ”I could really be a star, do you think? Like the one and only star of the whole entire production, you mean?”

Mother grinned.

”Well ... maybe not the one and only only star,” she said. ”But still, if you bring in the most facts about Columbus, you'll be able to choose any part you want.” star,” she said. ”But still, if you bring in the most facts about Columbus, you'll be able to choose any part you want.”

Just then, my legs jumped all around very excited.

”The star star part, Mother!” I said. ”I am going to choose the part, Mother!” I said. ”I am going to choose the star star part!” part!”

I quick grabbed her hand.

”Let's go! Hurry! Hurry! We have to go to the library to get my facts straight!”

Mother undid my hand.

”Sorry, honey. But we can't go now,” she said. ”Ollie's right in the middle of his nap. And I don't have a babysitter.”

I slumped my shoulders very glum.

”Darn it,” I said. ”Darn it, darn it, darn it. That dumb old baby ruins everything.”

Mother wrinkled her eyebrows at me.

”Ollie's not dumb, Junie B.,” she said. ”And besides, you and I can go to the library tomorrow. Tomorrow will be plenty of time for you to collect your facts.”

She stood there for a minute.

”Or,” she said, ”if you want to do it right now ... we can look up some Columbus facts on the computer. How does that sound?” she said, ”if you want to do it right now ... we can look up some Columbus facts on the computer. How does that sound?”

I grabbed her hand again and pulled her to her desk.

”Perfect!” I said real squealy. ”That sounds perfect!”

And so me and Mother sat down at her desk. And she typed the name of Christopher Columbus Christopher Columbus on her computer. on her computer.

And wowie wow wow!

A jillion pages came up about that guy! 'Cause he was famouser than I thought!

There were easy pages. And hard pages. And shortie pages. And longie pages. And picture pages. And poem pages. And there were even song pages!