9 Ch9-Give Peas a Chance

Chapter 9 Give Peas a Chance "I'm not going." "You have to go." Just my luck. My mother and Andrea's mother are friends. They met when me and Andrea were in preschool together. They even play tennis with each other. So I would have to go to Andrea's stupid birthday party.

I looked at the invitation again. YOU ARE INVITED TO ANDREA'S BIRTHDAY PARTY! IT'S A TEA PARTY! A tea party? What kind of a dumb birthday party is that? Kids are supposed to have bowling parties or skating parties or movie parties. Who wants to go to a party and drink tea? I hate tea. The first thing I did when I got to school the next day was to find Andrea. She was at her cubby putting her back- pack away. "I thought you said you weren't going to invite me to your birthday party," I whispered to her.

"I didn't want to invite you," she said. "My mother made me." "Well, I'm not going," I said. "Good." Ryan and Michael were goofing around by the water fountain. "Hey, are you guys going to Andrea's tea party?" I asked. "What tea party?" asked Ryan. "I'd rather die," Michael said. "Why are you invited?" "Uh, no," I lied. "I was just wondering." I didn't want Michael and Ryan to know Andrea invited me to her party. "So how did you know Andrea was having a tea party?" Michael asked.

"I don't know," I said. If you're ever stuck for an answer and you don't know what to say, just say "I don't know." It works every time. Well, almost every time. "A.J. you were invited to Andrea's party, weren't you?" asked Ryan. "No." "I saw you whispering to Andrea," Michael said. "Hey, everybody, A.J.'s going to a tea party!" "I am not!" "Oooh!" Ryan said. "A.J. and Andrea are in love!" "When are you gonna get married?" asked Michael.

If those guys weren't my best friends, I would hate them. Fortunately Miss Daisy clapped her hands to shut everybody up. We pledged the allegiance, and then we learned some more about ancient Egypt. Miss Daisy asked if anybody figured out how they picked up those big rocks to build the pyramids. Nobody raised their hand. Then we worked on our "Welcome, Ella Mentry" banner until lunchtime. When I got to the front of the lunch line, Ms. LaGrange winked at me. "You look cold, Mister A.J.," she said. "Like you've been in a freezer. How about some nice hot French peas and

carrots to warm you up?" "No, thanks." "Oh, come on," she said, grabbing for her squirt bottle. "Give peas a chance." Ms. LaGrange didn't squirt me with her squirt bottle. She did something even weirder. She started singing! "All we are saying, is give peas a chance." And then she sang it again, really loud. "AII we are saying, is give peas a chance." It was a really annoying song, but the next thing I knew, all the teachers joined in. "All we are saying, is give peas a chance."