Chapter 5

CHAPTER 5 Michael bolted to the door to greet his mom when she arrived home from a day at the science museum with Jane. "Mom! So great to see you! Did you have a good day? Can I help you carry anything from the car? Jane, you look nice today," he babbled. Mrs. Gomez glanced suspiciously at her son. She knew Michael well enough to know that this kind of nice usually meant he wanted something.

"What do you want?" Jane asked, beating her mom to the punch. "Nothing," Michael replied sharply. An awkward silence followed as Mrs. Gomez continued to look sideways at Michael. Finally, he confessed, "Okay. Maybe I do want a little something. Super Squish Squids 3 came out today, and I really, really, really want it. It's the best

game ever. I'm amazing at Super Squish Squids 1 and 2, and 3 has like 20 more caves and a giant unsquishable squid and an evil octopus. Sadie's getting it tonight, and if I don't get it too, she'll get way ahead of me, and I will totally freak out!" In Michael's mind, this was an airtight argument. However, Mrs. Gomez was not convinced. "How much does it cost?" she asked. "It's only $40!" Michael gushed. "Only $40? Since when do only and $40 appear in the same sentence of a ten-year-old?" Mrs. Gomez inquired. "I have $15, and you can make it an early birthday and Christmas present," Michael pleaded. Under the word persistence in some dictionaries, you will find the picture of a ten-year-old who wants a video game. The same picture can also be located under the words badger, irritate, annoy, and discommode. After a number of failed refusal attempts, Mrs. Gomez finally gave in.

"All right," she conceded. "After you do your homework and after you clean up the toilet paper and after you eat your dinner, we can download Squishy... what?" "Super Squish Squids 3." Michael smiled as he gave his mom a super hug.