Chapter 9

Chapter nine After lunch, we went back to class. Ms. Flowers had moved all the desks into a wide semicircle, so we had the entire center of the room to rehearse our play. "Let's have all people playing books stand on the left," she said, "and everyone else on the right." I followed her directions. "No, Hank," Ms. Flowers said. "You're supposed to be on the right." "I know," I answered. "That's where I am." "Hank, you are on the left side," she explained. "Do you know which way is left and which is right?" "I always guess, and every now and then

I'm right." "Well, not this time, Zipperfang," McKelty said with a snort. "Only a birdbrain doesn't know right from left." "You better not ruffle the feathers of this bird, McKelty!" I shot back. Everyone laughed, and I felt pretty good about that. The score: Hank Zipzer, one. Nick McKelty, zero. Ms. Flowers led me to my place. Then Frankie sat down at a table she had put in the center of the circle. "You may begin reading your lines," she said to him. "Remember that you are alone in the library, and it's late at night." Frankie yawned and stretched. "'The library is so dark and quiet when everyone is gone,'" he read. "'It feels like a magical place where anything could happen.'" He put his head down on the table and pretended to fall asleep. "'I wonder if I'll dream about books,'" he muttered, just before he closed his eyes.

"Excellent," Ms. Flowers said. "Remember to say your lines loud enough so everyone can hear you. And now, all the children who are playing books start to come alive. Think about the title of your book, and then come up with the way you would move." Instantly, Ashley went into her zombie walk. McKelty flapped his arms and started to buzz like Aqua Fly. Luke threw his arms over his head and pretended he was an erupting volcano. I was standing next to Luke, and let me tell you, this volcano never showered. When his arms went over his head, his armpits smelled like rotten bananas.

My nose started to twitch. The hairs inside felt like they were curling up into little hair balls. Without even thinking, I moved away from him and found myself in the middle of the circle. "Hank," Ms. Flowers said. "You're playing a bookmark. You're supposed to be in the books, not in front of them."

"But I'm a bookmark with a lot of personality," I said. Everyone laughed again, so I started to think about what a bookmark with a lot of personality would do. He wouldn't just sit between the pages of a book. Maybe he would wiggle his way to another page. You know, like a worm crawling around on the ground. As soon as that thought popped into my brain, I dropped to the floor. My body was off and wiggling across the stage area.

"What are you doing, Hank?" Ms. Flowers said with a smile. I guess she had never seen a bookmark flopping across her classroom before. "I am looking for my place in the best book," I said. "Well then, wiggle on over to me," Ashley said. "Zombies are always fun to read about." I twisted and squirmed and rolled all the way over to Ashley. Everybody in class was cracking up. Even Ms. Flowers couldn't stop herself from laughing. "You're not going to put that stupid wiggling junk in the play, are you?" McKelty grumbled. His face was as red as a radish. "Are you kidding?" Frankie said to him. "Hank is being really funny." "But he's not supposed to be funny," McKelty answered. "Besides, the parents are here to see me in the play. I'm the star."