9. Sleeping on It

9 Sleeping on It That night, me and Philip Johnny Bob didn't sleep that good. We tossed and turned a real lot. Also, Philip Johnny Bob talked in his sleep a little bit. 'Cause I heard him say the word cheater pants. I woke him up when I heard that. Then both of us got a drink of water. And we talked about what was the trouble. The next morning, our eyes were poopish and droopy. And guess what? We were not the only ones who looked like that, either. 'Cause

when my friend Herb got on the bus, his eyes were poopish and droopy, too. He plopped down next to me. And he did a big yawn. "I didn't sleep good last night," he said real

tired. I nodded. "Me too, Herb. I didn't sleep good, too," I said. Herb sat there a minute. Then he did a sigh. "Yeah, only I don't even want to tell you why I didn't sleep," he said. "Or maybe you might get mad at me." I raised my eyebrows at him. "Oh?" Herb squirmed in his seat kind of uncomfortable. Then he quieted his voice. "It's kind of about the spelling test," he whispered. I thought about that. "Oh," I said. "Oh, yeah. I guess I didn't thank you for helping me, did I?" I patted his arm. "Thank you, Herb," I said. "Because of you, I will always remember how to spell the

word would." Herb's shoulders slumped way down. "Yeah, see… but that's the problem, Junie B.," he said. "That's why I didn't sleep last night. Because I'm sorry, but I don't feel that good about helping you." He squirmed some more. "I mean, at the time, I thought it would be nice. But as soon as I showed you my test, it didn't feel nice at all. Instead, it felt like… well, you know, it felt like I was a—" I quick sat up and interrupted him. "A cheater pants!" I said. "It felt like you were a cheater pants. Right, Herb? Right? That's how come you couldn't sleep last night, correct? 'Cause at first you thought it would be nice to share with me. Only as soon as you did it, it felt kind of wrong inside."

Herb looked surprised at me. "Yeah, it did. But how did you even know that?" "Because, Herb. Because," I said. "Have you forgotten who you are talking to here? I am a cheater pants myself, remember? So I know exactly what it feels like!" I shook my head. "I can't believe it, Herb. I can't believe I did it two days in a row," I said. "'Cause on Monday I copied May's homework. And yesterday I copied your spelling word. Only at first, I tried to pretend that you and me were just sharing." Herb nodded kind of sad. "Yeah. But we weren't, were we?" he said. "No," I said back. "We really weren't, Herbert. On account of sharing on a spelling test is called cheating." Herbert did a wince at that word.

I patted him. "I know just how you feel, pally," I said. "The word cheater makes you feel like a nasty, rotten ratty pants who can't even be trusted." Herb nodded. Then he smiled a little bit. "You have a nice way with words," he said. I did a shrug. "Actually, Philip Johnny Bob came up with that one." After that, me and Herb rode the rest of the way to school without talking. We both felt better, I think. We told on ourselves at recess. Me and Herbert. Both of us. Together. We went to Room One after lunch. And we told Mr. Scary that we cheated on the spelling test.