Chapter 11

CHAPTER 11 The whole next week seemed like it took forever to happen. I had actual dreams about standing in front of the bulletin board, watching my picture get put up. In my dreams, I was six feet tall and sitting on a white horse. The horse and I both took a bow as the entire school cheered my name. One of the best parts of the dream was when Ms. Adolf presented me with a bouquet of flowers. On the actual day, I'm sorry to say there was no white horse involved, and no flowers, either. But I did wear the brand-new red sneakers that my grandpa, Papa Pete, bought me just for my special day.

Principal Love arranged for us all to meet after school. Ashley came with her mom and dad, Dr. and Dr. Wong. Frankie came with his mother and father and his big brother, Otis. They were all wearing T-shirts that said GO, FRANKIE. My mom and dad were wearing the green buttons that say I'M A PROUD PS 87 PARENT. Usually they wear those for Emily's events, but this time, the buttons were for me. That was pretty cool. Our group included the whole Zipzer family: Mom, Dad, Papa Pete, and Emily, who came with her iguana, Katherine. As always, Katherine was wrapped around Emily's neck like a short green scarf.

"Who invited the lizard?" I asked when I spotted Katherine. "Katherine's feelings would be hurt if I left her home," Emily said. "Katherine is very sensitive." "How do you think Cheerio feels," I asked, "being in the apartment all by himself? Poor guy. I wish he was here." Papa Pete cleared his throat a couple of times to get my attention. "Look at this, Hankie," he whispered. He slowly unzipped his red sweatshirt just enough for me to see a cute little wet nose poking out from his chest.

"You brought Cheerio?" I whispered. "He wouldn't miss this for anything," Papa Pete said. "Don't tell. It's our secret." Then he winked at me, and I winked back, except I'm not good at winking so both eyes closed instead of just one. We heard Principal Love coming down the hall before we saw him. His sneakers were especially loud as they squeaked toward us. I wondered if his sneakers have a special button that lets him turn up the squeak.

"Well, hello, everyone," he said, taking a brown manila envelope from his jacket. "We're here to celebrate a special moment for these three young people. And as I always say, childhood is a time to climb the mountain of moments until you reach the moment of adulthood. And what a moment that is." I wish he would get to the moment of putting up our picture! I looked around at all our families. They seemed just as confused as we were. They weren't used to hearing Principal Love's speeches, which are even longer than a spider monkey's tail. And he still wasn't finished. "You children have represented PS 87 in the best possible light," he went on. "You showed Paula Hart what a warm welcome is all about. Ashley and Frankie, you were your usual outstanding selves. And Hank, you certainly added your own personal touch to the event." I was standing there, thinking that I couldn't listen to one more word. But when I realized he

was talking about me, suddenly his speech wasn't so bad. In fact, I was really liking it. Then came the best part. Principal Love opened the brown envelope and took out the picture. It showed Frankie, Ashley, and me, standing next to Paula Hart. It was the one where we were all smiling, not making goofy faces. You could tell that we were having a great time. Principal Love took down the picture of Emily and handed it to my dad. I looked over at Emily. I was pretty sure that this was going to upset her. But Emily is full of surprises. She gave me a big smile.