6. Puppy Dog Faces

6 Puppy Dog Faces Everybody turned around to see who was watching us from the trees. "Who was that, A.J.?" asked Ryan. "I don't know," I replied. "All I saw was a face, with binoculars in front of it." "I bet it was Morgan Brocklebank!"

Andrea said. "She was spying on us!" "Why would she do that?" asked Emily. "She was trying to steal our signs," said Mr. Ott. "It happens all the time." "Those Dirk dorks will do anything to win," said Michael. "Now I really want to beat them." We were all angry. We were even more angry the next day when Mr. Klutz came into our classroom and told us that Dirk School had raised over two hundred dollars to find a cure for freckles.* "Wait, tell me again why we're raising money to fight freckles?" asked Alexia. "There's nothing wrong with having freckles," said Ryan. "That's a dumb charity," said Neil.

"I like my freckles." "Me too, but we can't let Dirk win," said Andrea. "We have to raise more money than they do." Mr. Klutz got permission for us to set up a table outside the Piggly Wiggly supermarket. He also got donations of food from Porky's Pork Sausages and Jiggly Gelatin so we could sell their products and raise money. The whole team went to Piggly Wiggly after practice. Lots of customers were going in and out with their shopping carts. "Okay, let's work on our puppy dog faces," said Andrea. "Why?" asked Emily. "Because if anybody says they don't want to buy food from us, we can put

on our puppy dog faces." Andrea was right about that. Grown-ups can't resist a puppy dog face. A lady came out of the Piggly Wiggly pushing her shopping cart. We jumped in front of her. "We're raising money to fight freckles," Alexia said. "Would you like to buy some Jiggly Gelatin?" "I'm sorry," the lady replied. "I don't like Jiggly Gelatin." "But it's for charity!" Ryan told her. "No, thank you." "It's only a dollar," said Emily. We all put on our best puppy dog faces. "Please, please, please?" "Okay," the lady said. "I'll take a box."

"Yay!" "Thank you!" Alexia said when the lady took a dollar out of her purse. A man came out of the Piggly Wiggly carrying two shopping bags. "We're raising money to fight freckles," Neil said to him. "Will you buy some Porky's Pork Sausages?" "I'm allergic to pork," the man said as he walked by. "But it's for charity!" Ryan told him. "No, thanks." "It's just two dollars," said Emily. We all put on puppy dog faces. "Please, please, please?" "Oh, all right," the man said as he took the bills out of his wallet. "Gimme one." "Yay!"

A husband and wife came out of the Piggly Wiggly. They were pushing a shopping cart with a baby sitting in the front. "We're selling Porky's Pork Sausages and Jiggly Gelatin," Andrea said. "Will you buy some?" "We're in a hurry," the lady told us. "It's nap time." "May I show you a short video?"