A Frog in My Throat Page 2

  “Right,” said Jake.

  “I think he can find his classroom by himself,” said Mr. Bolin. “And I hope you’ll start to find your way to your classroom on time, Jake. Otherwise, you may not be able to join us at the chocolate factory next week.”

  Jake’s face fell.

  “But... But...,” he sputtered.

  “No buts, Jake. And no more excuses.”

  Jake sank down in his seat. “He really did get lost,” he said under his breath.

  It was “read aloud” morning. Mr. Bolin read the class a funny story. Everyone laughed, including Jake and Kate. By the time Mr. Bolin had finished and they’d talked about the story, it was recess.

  Kate stood up. Jake stood up. He smiled at Kate.

  Kate smiled back.

  They walked out of the classroom together. Jake didn’t seem to be in a hurry to rush out and meet Lionel. He seemed happy to talk to Kate.

  Maybe Mom was right. Maybe Lionel was playing with the kids in grade four.

  Kate told Jake she liked the beginning of Mystery on Planet Zebra.

  “Great,” said Jake. “I have all ten Mystery Planet books now. You can borrow them.”

  “Where did you get them?” asked Kate.

  “They used to be Lionel’s,” said Jake. “He gave them to me when I helped him organize his room. Hey, there he is,” said Jake. “See you.”

  And with that, Jake took off.

  Kate stood in the middle of the yard. All around her, kids were talking and running. They were sliding, playing catch, jumping rope and chasing each other.

  Kate didn’t know where to go. She didn’t know what to do. She didn’t know who to be with or talk to. The whole playground was full of friends playing together.

  But she didn’t have any friends to play with. Not anymore.

  Chapter Six

  GRUMPY

  It was the longest, loneliest recess ever.

  Kate was happy to hear the bell. She was happy to be back in class. She was happy to do math, even though math was her worst subject.

  “Lionel is so funny,” said Jake as he sat down beside her. “He knows more jokes than a comedian.”

  Kate didn’t say anything. She just opened her math book and began to do question one.

  “Why are you so grumpy?” asked Jake.

  “I’m not grumpy,” said Kate. “I have to concentrate on math.”

  “Oh, math,” said Jake. Jake didn’t like math either.

  “My mother has been telling me I’d better concentrate more on it too.”

  Kate nodded and kept her eyes on her paper. She tried to concentrate on math. But all she could think about was that she had no one to play with at recess. And what about going home? She and Jake usually walked home together. Would Jake walk home with her or would he take off with Lionel?

  As soon as the home bell rang, Jake popped out of his seat. “See you tomorrow, Kate. I have to meet Lionel in front of the school. I promised I’d help him put his baseball cards in an album. He must have a thousand!”

  Jake flew out the door. Kate swallowed the lump in her throat. She put her books away and walked out of the classroom. Her mother was waiting for her.

  “Hi, Kate,” said her mother. “How was school?”

  “Terrible,” said Kate. “Jake follows Lionel around like a puppy. He doesn’t want to be with me at all. It’s just Lionel, Lionel, Lionel!”

  “What are you going to do?” asked her mom.

  “I don’t know. All I know is Jake’s not the only person in the world,” said Kate. “There are other people I can be friends with.”

  “That’s the spirit, Kate,” said her mom. “It’s good to have lots of friends.”

  “Tomorrow I’m going to play with Sarah and Marlee,” said Kate. “They always ask me if I want cookies. And I went to both their birthday parties this year.”

  Kate smiled. “I feel much better now. Jake can play with Lionel all he wants.”

  The next day, right before the bell rang, Kate marched over to Sarah’s and Marlee’s desks.

  “Want to play together at recess?” she asked.

  “Sure,” Sarah said. “Do you have any dolls?”

  “Dolls?” said Kate. “No, not with me.”

  “That’s okay,” said Marlee. “You can use ours today.”

  “Thanks,” said Kate.

  Kate walked back to her desk. Dolls? She never played with dolls. Well, today she was going to start. How hard could it be?

  Chapter Seven

  DOLLS

  “Here, Kate, this is your doll,” said Marlee. “Her name is Roberta.”

  Kate looked at Roberta. She had long black hair, a short red dress and skinny legs.

  “She looks more like a Cindy to me,” said Kate.

  “Her name is Roberta,” said Marlee.

  “Oh,” said Kate.

  “Now,” said Sarah, “Roberta is best friends with my doll, Linda, and they are going shopping.”

  “And this doll is Lara,” said Marlee, holding a blond doll in a short yellow dress with skinny legs. All Marlee’s and Sarah’s dolls had short dresses and skinny legs.

  “What’s Lara doing?” asked Kate.

  “Lara is going shopping too, and she will bump into Roberta and Linda at the store. She doesn’t know that Roberta and Linda are buying her a birthday present.”

  “Oh,” said Kate. “Are they doing anything else except shopping?”

  “After shopping they are going to have lunch,” said Marlee.

  “And then maybe they could go roller-skating?” suggested Kate.

  “No,” said Sarah, “they don’t like to roller-skate.”

  These dolls don’t like to do anything except shop and eat, thought Kate.

  Roberta, Linda and Lara bought five pairs of shoes, two purses and six pairs of pants and had cream cheese-and-tuna sandwiches for lunch.

  Kate tried to look interested, but it was hard. Kate hated shopping for shoes, purses or pants. She liked eating lunch, but she didn’t like playing lunch.

  “Want to go down the slide?” she asked Marlee and Sarah after the dolls had finished lunch.

  “Not now,” said Sarah. “We haven’t ordered dessert.”

  “How about after dessert?” said Kate.

  “Maybe,” said Marlee, “but the dolls may be too stuffed to go down the slide.”

  “I don’t mean the dolls,” said Kate. “I mean us.”

  “I really don’t like the slide,” said Sarah. “I once bumped my knee at the bottom.”

  “Me neither,” said Marlee. “I once got a splinter in my finger from the wood.”

  Kate sighed.

  The bell rang. Recess was over.

  “Tomorrow, let’s play fashion show,” said Sarah.

  “Yes!” said Marlee.

  Yuck, thought Kate.

  Chapter Eight

  A NEW FRIEND

  “Did you bring your dolls today?” Sarah asked Kate the next morning before class.

  “No, I only have one doll and her arm fell off,” said Kate.

  “Well, you can still play dolls with us, but having your own doll is better.”

  “I guess so,” said Kate. “See you at recess.”

  Kate walked back to her seat. She didn’t want to play dolls again. But if she didn’t play with Sarah and Marlee, who could she play with?

  Kate was so busy worrying, she didn’t see the foot sticking into the aisle. She stepped on it.

  Kate looked up. It was Patty’s foot.

  “Sorry,” said Kate.

  “It’s okay,” said Patty, looking up at Kate with her big green eyes. “I was reading and I forgot my foot was sticking out.”

  “Hey, you’re reading Mystery on Planet Zebra. I love that book.”

  “Me too,” said Patty, smiling shyly. “I want to read all the Mystery Planet books.”

  Kate was surprised. Patty didn’t usually say much. She’d just moved to their school, and she was usually so
quiet that you didn’t know she was there.

  “What chapter are you on?” asked Kate.

  “Six. But I’ll probably finish the book by tonight. I can’t stop reading it. It’s so good.”

  “Hey, Patty,” said Kate. “Do you want to play at recess?”

  “Yes,” said Patty. “I have some sidewalk chalk. Do you want to draw?”

  “I love making sidewalk pictures,” said Kate. “Let’s meet at the back of the school at recess.”

  Patty’s round face glowed.

  The bell rang. Kate slid into her seat. To her surprise, Jake was in his seat on time. He’d been on time for the last two days.

  Jake was doodling. He was drawing a picture of two boys playing computer games. One boy looked tall and the other was short. Kate knew who the boys were: Jake and Lionel. But today, Kate didn’t feel bad about Jake and Lionel.

  Mr. Bolin walked into the classroom and told the class to write a page on “What I Want To Learn at the Chocolate Factory.” As Kate wrote, she worried about what she’d say to Marlee and Sarah. How could she tell them she didn’t want to play dolls?

  As soon as the bell rang, Kate ran over to them. “I don’t think I’m good at playing dolls,” she said.

  “That’s okay,” said Marlee, combing her short brown hair. She and Sarah gave each other relieved looks. Kate knew they were happy to play by themselves again.

  “See ya,” Kate said, and she raced out to the back of the school. Patty was waiting with a box of sidewalk chalk. For the rest of recess, Kate and Patty drew rockets, monsters and cats in green, blue, violet and red.

  Patty was great at drawing cats. She showed Kate how to make fat cats, skinny cats and fluffy cats.

  “Let’s draw again tomorrow,” suggested Kate.

  Patty’s big smile told Kate she couldn’t wait.

  Chapter Nine

  TOO MANY PROMISES

  By recess the next day, it was official.

  Patty and Kate were going to be partners on the bus to the chocolate factory.

  Kate and Patty bounded into class after recess.

  “If I get a milk-chocolate sample,” said Patty, “you can have it.”

  “If I get a dark-chocolate sample, you can have it,” said Kate.

  Kate slid into her seat beside Jake. He didn’t look up from his book.

  Mr. Bolin told them that their art assignment was to draw a rain forest. “Chocolate is made from cocoa beans,” he explained. “And cocoa beans grow in the rain forest.”

  Kate drew cocoa trees in the rain forest. She drew parrots flying between the trees. She drew a parrot perched on a girl’s hand. But Jake wasn’t drawing. He was just staring at his paper.

  “Hey, Jake,” Kate asked. “Why aren’t you drawing? You love to draw.”

  “I don’t feel like it,” muttered Jake. He looked sad.

  “What’s the matter?” Kate asked.

  “Lionel,” muttered Jake. “He won’t play with me anymore. He says I’m a little kid, and he wants to play with big kids.”

  “Oh,” said Kate. Jake looked so miserable that Kate almost forgot how he’d dumped her for Lionel.

  “I don’t care,” said Jake. “Lionel’s not that funny anyway. And he didn’t even like Revenge of the Ghost—the best movie ever.”

  “I know,” said Kate.

  “I only said I didn’t like it before because...well... just because,” said Jake.

  Kate nodded. She knew Jake had been showing off to Lionel.

  “Can we play together again?” asked Jake. “I know I’ve been hanging around with Lionel a lot and... well... You’re still my best friend, Kate. And... I’m sorry.”

  “Sure we can play,” said Kate. It was hard to stay mad at Jake. Especially when he said he was sorry.

  “Hey, that’s great. And we could play pirate ship in your closet this weekend. That is, if you want to.”

  “Sure,” said Kate.

  “I’d better start drawing,” said Jake, smiling his old goofy smile. Jake picked up a blue marker.

  Kate smiled. Jake was happy to be friends again. And she was too.

  “Are you sitting with anyone on the bus to the chocolate factory?” Jake asked as he drew a giant cocoa pod.

  Oh no, thought Kate. What should she do? She had promised to sit with Patty, but then Jake wouldn’t have anyone to sit with. And if she didn’t sit with Patty, Patty would be all alone on the bus.

  “I...I...,” stammered Kate.

  “Aye, aye, Kate m’mate!” said Jake, beaming.

  Oh no, thought Kate. Jake thought she said “yes” in pirate talk. Now she was in real trouble.

  Chapter Ten

  OLD TIMES

  “I can’t wait to go to the chocolate factory,” said Jake on the way home from school. Jake talked about how much fun they’d have on the bus ride. He talked about how much fun it would be sharing free samples.

  It felt like old times, but it wasn’t like old times. Now there was Patty.

  What was Kate going to do?

  Kate couldn’t stop thinking about Jake and Patty. Everyone in the class had a partner, even spitball Leo and drippy-nose Brad. They were partners with each other. There had to be a way for Kate, Jake and Patty to be partners. But how?

  On the way to school the next morning, Kate still didn’t know what to do.

  She slipped into her seat just before the bell rang. Jake slid into his seat a minute later.

  “Let’s finish those rain forest pictures,” Mr. Bolin told the class. “I want to display them in the hall.”

  Kate drew two parrots on a tree in the rain forest. One more parrot on the branch and I’m finished, she thought. But there was no room on the branch for another parrot.

  Where can I put him? she wondered.

  Maybe... Yes! Suddenly Kate knew what to do about the third parrot—and what to do about her friends.

  “Mr. Bolin,” she said, raising her hand, “could I talk to you—privately?”

  “Come on up to my desk.”

  Kate hurried up to Mr. Bolin’s desk. She told Mr. Bolin about wanting to be partners with Patty and Jake. “If I’m partners with one person, the other person won’t have anyone to sit next to,” she explained. “So I have an idea.”

  Kate told Mr. Bolin her plan.

  “I like your plan,” he said. “Let’s talk more at recess.”

  Kate zoomed back to her seat.

  “What’s up?” asked Jake.

  “Tell you at recess.”

  “Okey-dokey,” said Jake, finishing his rain forest picture.

  As soon as the recess bell rang, Mr. Bolin asked Kate, Jake and Patty to come to his desk.

  “Kate has a problem. She wants to be partners on the chocolate factory trip with both of you,” Mr. Bolin told them, “but you know the two-person-per-seat rule.”

  Kate glanced at Jake and Patty. They didn’t look happy.

  “But Kate came up with a great plan,” said Mr. Bolin. “Do you want to tell them about it, Kate?”

  “It’s a way we can all be partners,” said Kate, “and Mr. Bolin can have a partner too. On the bus to the factory, Mr. Bolin and Jake can be partners, and I’ll be partners with Patty. On the way back, we’ll switch. Mr. Bolin and Patty can be partners, and I’ll be partners with Jake. But we’ll all sit in the same row so we’ll all be together. And Mr. Bolin promised to tell us jokes on the bus.”

  “What about at the chocolate factory?” asked Jake.

  “There’s no two-person rule there, so the three of us can all be partners together!” said Kate.

  “Is that okay with you?” asked Mr. Bolin.

  “Well...,” said Jake. “Do you really know a lot of jokes?”

  “Lots,” said Mr. Bolin.

  “Great. I know some too. I’ll tell you on the bus.”

  “How about you, Patty?” asked Mr. Bolin.

  “Do you want the window seat?” she asked.

  “No, I like aisle seats better,” said Mr. Bo
lin. “That way I can stretch out my legs.”

  Mr. Bolin had long legs.

  “Good!” said Patty. “I love the window seat. I’ll be your partner.”

  “Hurrah!” sang Kate. “This is going to be the best and most delicious trip ever!”

  She felt so happy that they’d all be partners and friends, she wanted to jump up and dance.

  So she did.

  Louise-Andrée Laliberté has built a career as an artist, illustrator and graphic designer in both English and French. She was awarded CAPIC’s Gold Prize for book illustration for L’Homme Étoile. She is also the illustrator of Susin Nielsen-Fernlund’s Hank and Fergus (a Mr. Christie Silver Seal Award winner, Orca 2003) and Mormor Moves In (Orca 2004). She lives in Quebec with her family.

  Frieda Wishinsky is an international award-winning author of many popular books for children, including Dimples Delight, A Noodle up Your Nose and A Bee in Your Ear, all Orca Echoes. She lives in Toronto, Ontario, with her family.

  For more titles in the Orca Young Readers series, please click here.