Wedding Drama Read Online Free Page B

monitor to take the attendance and lunch count to the office.” Deja looks up to see Nikki with the special folder. Maybe she’ll see Ms. Shelby’s fiancé again. Nikki has all the luck.

4
The Wedding Planners Club
Nikki

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    Rosario has started a club. It’s called the Wedding Planners Club. At recess she explains that there is really such a thing as a wedding planner. It’s a real job. In fact, she’s probably going to be a wedding planner when she grows up.
    â€œMe, too,” Ayanna says. “That’s what I’m going to be when I grow up.”
    â€œMe, too,” ChiChi says, and soon nearly everyone has decided that they are going to be wedding planners as well. Rosario decides that those who want to be in the club have to plan Ms. Shelby’s wedding—
everything
about it. She looks around to see if this discourages anyone. But Ayanna seconds the idea, and everyone’s attention is completely focused on Rosario as she spells out what they’ll be doing: designing the dresses for Ms. Shelby and her bridesmaids, planning the menu, choosing the decorations (flower arrangements and silverware settings and stuff that goes on the tables), writing the invitations, and more.
    â€œThis way,” Rosario explains, “it’ll be like we get to go to the wedding, too.”
    â€œI’m doing another cake,” Keisha says. “A better one.”
    There’s a chorus of “Me, too.”
    â€œWe should have a wedding planner contest,” Rosario says. “We should break into teams and plan Ms. Shelby’s wedding with pictures and stuff. Then we can get some girls from the other third grades to vote for the best one. On Friday. That gives us two days.” Rosario looks around as all the girls enthusiastically nod their heads.
    For the rest of the day—during math, during social studies, during language arts, and even during P.E.—Nikki hears the words
flowers, menu,
and
color scheme
whispered. She even hears the word
registry.
Nikki has told the girls all about the registry, launching fresh excitement. Nikki thinks that’s the part about weddings and wedding planning they all must like the best: picking out the stuff they would want people to give them. Several times when the class is supposed to be studying multiplication facts for the quiz on Friday, Ms. Shelby has to remind them that this quiet time is study time. She shouldn’t hear any talking.
    During SSR, Nikki passes a note to Deja just as Ms. Shelby turns from the board to look over the class. Deja quickly stuffs the note in her desk. As Ms. Shelby flips through her giant teacher’s edition for more problems to write on the board, Deja carefully brings out the note and reads it quickly. Nikki has written:
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When I get home I’m going to look in my mother’s catalogs for some really good presents.
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    When Deja looks over at her, she seems miserable. Nikki instantly feels guilty. She’d forgotten all about Deja’s very bad news. She hopes Deja doesn’t think that she doesn’t care. Because she does—when she remembers to.
    Ms. Shelby gives those who have finished all their work—and those whose cards are still green (the good color on the behavior chart)—ten minutes of free time at the end of the day. They can spend it on a class project or at the jigsaw puzzle table or reading. Rosario must have met all the criteria because at 2:50 exactly, she says, “Ms. Shelby, ChiChi, Keisha, and me have all our work done and our cards are still green. Can we work on this special project we have?”
    Ms. Shelby is sitting at the kidney-shaped table with some kids who are having a hard time with two-place multipliers. She looks up. “Okay, but make sure you use your indoor voices,” she says, sounding distracted.
    ChiChi, Keisha, and Rosario hurry to the class conference table, which is long and rectangular and is located