9. Freaky Fund-Raiser

FREAKY FUND-RAISER 9 It was Tuesday morning. Sam and Antonio sat against their lockers. They rolled the empty glass jar back and forth. Seconds later, Lucy arrived carrying a poster board. And she was wearing a big hat with flowers on it. "Um, nice hat...," Sam said. "I think? Actually, what's with the hat, Lucy?"

Lucy smiled and turned the poster board around. Sam and Antonio didn't understand. Lucy groaned. "It's simple! We need one hundred dollars. So we're going to have our own fund-raiser to raise the money!" "But what are we selling?" Sam asked. "We're selling our outfits!" Lucy said. "No way!" Antonio exclaimed. "I like these pants!" "Not the outfits we're wearing," Lucy said, laughing. "Listen. Every student or teacher who puts one dollar in the jar gets to write down a silly costume idea. They drop their entry into this hat. Once we reach our goal of one hundred dollars, Mr. Nekobi will pick one silly costume entry from the hat. That's what we wear on Friday!"

Suddenly, Ms. Winter walked by. She spotted the sign and said, "What a clever idea! So creative!" Sam instantly stopped thinking about Lucy's fund-raising plan. He saw that Ms. Winter was carrying something large, wrapped in brown paper. Sam realized what it was. A corner of the paper had come undone... It was Orson Eerie's painting. And Orson Eerie was staring at Sam! He seemed to be watching Sam's every move.

Ms. Winter turned the corner, and the hall monitors set up their fund-raising table. They had their jar, their sign, and Lucy's wacky hat. And they only had three days to raise one hundred dollars— Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. Their classmates and other students loved their fund-raiser! They tried to outdo one another with ridiculous costume ideas. Even Principal Winik paid a dollar to join in on the fun. He wanted the hall monitors to dress up as clowns! Sam really hoped Mr. Winik's entry wouldn't be picked.

At the end of the day on Wednesday, Lucy counted the money from the jar. There were stacks of coins in front of her. "We've almost hit our goal," she said. "We have eighty-two dollars." Just then, Ms. Winter's voice came over the loudspeaker. "Students, a reminder! Tomorrow is your last day to finish your art projects. All students must have a finished piece for the art show! Oh no! I've been so busy raising money for Orson's painting, I totally forgot about my project, Sam thought. I have to get to work!