3 Chapter 3

Chapter 3 It got worse.… "What's your favorite color, Marvin?" asked Judy. Marvin thought about red, because he had red hair and his name was Marvin Redpost. But really, he liked green better—the color of grass and trees. The color of springtime. "Green," he said. "The color of boogers!" said Melanie. "You're disgusting, Marvin!" said Judy as she wrote down his answer on her sheet of paper. Marvin felt terrible. In fifty years they'll dig up the time capsule. And they'll find out a boy named Marvin Redpost picked his nose. And everyone will laugh at him. Maybe in fifty years he'd be president! But then they'd dig up the time capsule and say, "You can't be president anymore. You picked your nose."

It wasn't fair. The ball was over the line. They didn't let him play wall-ball at recess. "You'll get boogers on the ball," said Justin. Everyone laughed. But it was more than just a joke. They believed it too. As he walked away, he almost bumped into Heather. Heather was playing hopscotch with Gina. "Yuck, don't let him touch you," said Gina. After school he caught up with Nick and Stuart.

"So what do you want to do today?" he asked. Stuart and Nick looked at each other. "We can go to my house," Marvin suggested. "Uh …" said Stuart. Gina and Heather came toward them. Heather made a face at Marvin. "Who's your best friend?" asked Gina. "It's for the survey." "Nick," said Stuart. "Stuart," said Nick. Marvin couldn't believe it. Stuart and Nick would be fighting all the time if it wasn't for him. How could they be best friends? "Who's your best friend, Marvin?" asked Gina. Marvin looked at Nick and Stuart. "I don't have a best friend," he said. He waited for Gina and Heather to leave. "I don't pick my nose," he said. "We know that," said Stuart. "But if I said you were my best friend," explained Nick, "everyone would think I picked my nose too." "You were supposed to tell the truth for the survey,"

said Marvin. "I did," said Nick. "You're still our friend," said Stuart. jmkfho. "Just not our best

friend." "That's right," said Nick. "You can't have more than one best friend," said Stuart. Marvin walked home alone. He lived in a two-story gray house. There was a white fence around the house. Next to the gate was one red post. Marvin tapped the red post as he walked through the gate. He had an older brother, Jacob, who was eleven, and a younger sister, Linzy, who was four. They were both in the kitchen. "Marvin!" exclaimed Linzy. "Do you want to play Mommy-Daddy?" "No," muttered Marvin. Linzy always wanted to play Mommy-Daddy. The worst part was that Linzy always insisted on being the Daddy. That meant Marvin had to be the Mommy. "Hiya, Mar," said Jacob. Marvin grunted. "What's wrong?" asked Jacob.

Marvin shrugged. He couldn't tell his big brother that the other kids said he picked his nose. It was so childish. Jacob was cool. "You want to do something?" Marvin asked him. "Can't," said Jacob. "Nate and I are going to ride our bikes down Suicide Hill." "Cool," said Marvin. He opened the refrigerator. "Do you want to play Doggie?" asked Linzy.