6 The Marshmallow Group

CHAPTER SIX THE MARSHMALLOW GROUP MR. WILLOW STARED at Simon's paper. "It's my plate," Simon answered simply. "With all my foods." "I know what it is, Simon. I'm just trying to make sense of it," Mr. Willow said and pointed at the paper. "For instance, what are the white things in this section?" "That's the marshmallow group," Simon answered. "There are big ones and little ones." "And marshmallows are a big part of your diet?" "Not a huge part," Simon said. "I only eat them

maybe once or twice a day." "Okay, umm," Mr. Willow said and pointed at a different section of Simon's food plate. "And what about these? Is this the fruit section?"

"Sort of." "What do you mean, sort of?" "They're not quite fruit," Simon said. "But they're fruit-ish." "Aren't these cherries and grapes and lemons?" "No." "What are they?" "They're Skittles," Simon said. "That's the Skittles group." I think Mr. Willow decided he was done talking with Simon. He turned away from our table and headed back to the front of class. On his way, Mr. Willow called, "Okay, everybody. Time's up!"

Simon turned to Rosie and me. He had a disappointed look on his face. He pointed at another section of his plate and said, "Mr. Willow didn't even ask me about this group." "What is it?" Rosie asked. "It's the Twinkies group." Rosie slapped her right hand across her mouth to keep from laughing. Simon's crazy food plate had made me forget all about having to move—but not for

long.

"Time to get started," Mr. Willow said loudly. He was at the whiteboard with a bunch of colored markers. "Let's compare your personal eating habits with a plate that reflects a healthy diet. So we're looking at what you eat at home with your family versus a well-balanced diet." At home with your family. Mr. Willow's words got stuck in my head. At home with your family. "I don't want to move," I whispered to Rosie and Simon. "Lunchtime," Rosie whispered. "We'll figure it out at lunchtime." After science, we handed in our book reports for English and then had music. After that, it was lunch.