Big Mouth Elizabeth Read online

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  To my friend Meg, with love and prizes —R.V.

  For Aunt Betty —P. K.

  Chapter

  1

  In Class 2B, we are all friends.

  We are friends with everybody in the whole class.

  It is not easy.

  My challenge is Anna.

  Also Smelly Dan.

  And Babyish Cali.

  But mostly Anna.

  Chapter

  2

  This morning, Anna brought a huge, fat book from home for morning reading time.

  Anna is a show-off.

  Then she whispered to my best friend, Bucky, during lineup to go out to recess.

  I made angry eyes at Anna’s back the whole way outside.

  She got on the good swing, because she always does.

  I am a fast runner, too, so I got to the second-best swing.

  I pretended I was flying.

  I was being Super Elizabeth, who can fly higher than Ordinary Anna.

  I smiled at her, to be nice.

  Superheroes who can fly highest are also polite.

  She smiled back.

  It was a scary smile.

  “WHY IS YOUR MOUTH BLEEDING?” I asked Anna.

  We both dragged our feet to slow down.

  Chapter

  3

  We got off the swings.

  I looked in Anna’s open mouth.

  Her fingers reached in and came out holding a popcorn, I thought.

  “Ooooh! Elizabeth punched Anna!” Smelly Dan yelled, jumping off the slide. “Oooh!”

  “No, she didn’t!” Bucky said.

  “Ewww,” Babyish Cali shrieked. “She’s bleeding!”

  “Why did you punch Anna?” Zora asked me.

  “I didn’t!” I yelled.

  “What happened?” Mallory asked, all calm like a teacher.

  Smelly Dan shouted, “Oooooh! I’m telling! Elizabeth punched Anna in the mouth!”

  “I did not,” I told him. “Pipe down, you.”

  This is what I mean about Smelly Dan.

  He is always trying to make trouble.

  Chapter

  4

  Anna held up the little popcorn-looking thing. “It’s my tooth,” she said.

  “Ewww!” Babyish Cali screamed.

  This is what I mean about Babyish Cali.

  She is always being babyish.

  “It’s not your first lost tooth, is it, Anna?” Mallory asked.

  “No,” Anna said. “My second. Ugh.”

  She spat.

  A glob of blood landed on the mat.

  “EWWWW!” Babyish Cali screeched. “I’m scared of blood!”

  She turned around and sat down.

  Chapter

  5

  Mr. Cortez, the teacher of 2A, was walking toward us to see what was going on.

  Before he got to us, Mallory took charge.

  “You can choose who you want to walk you to the nurse,” Mallory told Anna.

  Anna looked at each face.

  I smiled very nicely.

  Anna is annoying.

  But it is always a good feeling to be chosen.

  Chapter

  6

  Anna chose Mallory.

  Well, I don’t like the nurse’s office anyway.

  Or blood.

  I’m not scared of it.

  I just don’t love it.

  Mallory put her arm around Anna’s shoulders as they walked in.

  If I get chosen to walk someone with a lost tooth and bleeding mouth to the nurse someday, I will do that.

  If I lose a tooth someday, maybe I will choose Mallory.

  Mallory is good at walking a person to the nurse.

  Chapter

  7

  Anna is not Mallory’s best friend. Rose is.

  Rose watched Mallory go into the school with her arm around Anna.

  Rose is in 2A this year.

  She’s not in 2B like me and Anna and Mallory.

  You probably can’t be best friends with someone in the other class.

  So maybe Mallory has an opening.

  Chapter

  8

  Anna got a special little box with gold squiggles from the nurse.

  Inside the box, the slightly disgusting tiny tooth rested on a fluffy cotton cloud.

  Everybody got to look, but just for three seconds: 3-2-1.

  No touching.

  Anna was the star of class 2B.

  As usual.

  “How many teeth have you lost, Elizabeth?” Mallory asked me after I passed Anna’s tooth box to her.

  “Zero,” I said.

  “Really?” Mallory asked. “Zero? You have all your baby teeth?”

  “And you’re in second grade?” Anna asked.

  “Yes,” I said. “See? Here I am.”

  “Weird,” Mallory said.

  Bucky smiled at me from his seat next to Anna. He has no front teeth at all.

  I kept my lips closed over my baby teeth. And sank low in my seat.

  Bucky is my best friend, but sometimes he does not help.

  Chapter

  9

  I had a scary dream.

  I don’t remember most of it, but I do remember one thing.

  It was: My teeth were all falling out.

  It was scary.

  When I woke up, I ran right to the bathroom and checked in the mirror.

  All the baby teeth were still in.

  I was happy.

  Then I was sad.

  Then I had an idea!

  I loaded up lots of toothpaste and brushed sooooo much.

  I was hoping to loosen some of those baby teeth up.

  Sometimes Dad says, “Do a good job brushing your teeth, Elizabeth!”

  Not today.

  This morning he yelled, “Elizabeth, enough!”

  I don’t know how you tell when it’s enough.

  Chapter

  10

  When I got onto the bus going to school, Bucky moved over.

  I sit with him every day.

  We are all friends in Class 2B.

  We don’t have best friends.

  But Bucky is mine.

  I sat down next to him.

  He smiled at me.

  I did not smile back.

  He was showing off his lack of teeth.

  Showing off is not nice.

  “You are a grump,” Bucky said.

  “You are a show-off,” I said.

  “Want some pretzels?” Bucky asked.

  We shared his pretzels.

  At snack, I will share my apple slices so he won’t have just the empty pretzel bag.

  He is a show-off of lost teeth, but he is still my best friend.

  Chapter

  11

  Ms. Patel said good morning to each of us as we walked into class.

 
She smiled at me when she was saying “Good morning, Elizabeth.”

  She has nice teeth.

  All big ones.

  Why are my teeth so little? I was thinking, slumped in my chair.

  Mallory was whispering to Anna.

  Anna smiled her big lost-tooth smile the whole morning.

  I sit behind her, but I could tell she was show-off smiling from the back of her head.

  Chapter

  12

  At recess, there was a meeting of a new club.

  The name of the club is THE BIG MOUTH CLUB.

  It is a club of girls who have lost baby teeth and started getting big teeth.

  “Sorry,” Mallory said to me. She tipped her head to the side, like she was being nice.

  Mallory’s best friend, Rose, put her hands on her hips and looked at my mouth. “Why do you still have all your baby teeth, anyway?” Rose asked me.

  I didn’t answer because:

  1.  I don’t know why I still have all my baby teeth, anyway.

  2.  If you have nothing nice to say, you can stay quiet, Mom says.

  3.  I had only mean things to say to Rose about that question.

  Mallory said, “Maybe you and Cali could make a Baby Mouth Club together.”

  I didn’t say anything to that either because:

  1.  I didn’t want to be in a Baby Mouth Club.

  2.  I didn’t want to be in a club with Babyish Cali.

  3.  I didn’t want to cry and seem like even more of a baby.

  Chapter

  13

  My grandparents Gingy and Poopsie were babysitting me after school.

  Grandparents are old, so they should have good ideas by now.

  “I’m trying to lose some of my teeth,” I explained to Gingy and Poopsie.

  “I’m trying to keep all mine,” Poopsie said.

  “You don’t have baby teeth,” I said.

  “Your teeth are perfect,” Gingy said.

  “They are BABY teeth and I’m not a BABY,” I yelled. “In fact, you should be KID-sitting me!”

  “She has a point,” Poopsie said.

  “Have a snack,” Gingy said. “To go with that point.”

  I slumped at the table between Poopsie and my dog, Qwerty.

  “Anything loose?” Poopsie whispered.

  I checked. One bottom tooth seemed like a possibility.

  Poopsie checked, too. “Not quite ripe,” he said. “Keep wiggling it.”

  “Really?” I asked. “Mom said that doesn’t work.”

  “What does she know?” Poopsie asked. “I’m her dad. To me, she’s a baby.”

  I laughed.

  “I know how to get a loose tooth out,” Poopsie whispered.

  “Really?” Qwerty and I weren’t sure.

  “It’s easy! You get it loose, I’ll get it out. Here comes Gingy. Shhh.”

  Chapter

  14

  When Mom and Dad came home, I asked Mom if Poopsie really knows how to make baby teeth fall out.

  “When I was a kid and had a loose tooth, Poopsie tied a string around it,” Mom said.

  “Why?” I asked.

  “He tied the other end of the string to a doorknob and then slammed the door shut!”

  “He did not,” Gingy said.

  “He did so!” Mom said. “That’s how I lost that tooth!”

  “He said he would, but he didn’t,” Gingy said. She winked at me. “He never did.”

  I closed my mouth over my baby teeth and looked at Poopsie.

  He shrugged. “Maybe I did, maybe I didn’t. Pass the Jell-O!”

  Gingy shook her head but passed him the Jell-O she’d made.

  Sometimes in my family it is hard to know who’s telling the truth.

  Chapter

  15

  “It’s past bedtime, Elizabeth!” Mom said. “Why are you jumping around like a monkey?”

  “I’m trying to shake some of my baby teeth loose,” I explained.

  “What’s the rush to lose your teeth?” Mom asked, sitting down on my bed.

  I had to tell her the truth. “I’m one of the only kids in second grade with none lost yet.”

  “Everybody does things at a different pace,” Mom said.

  “I hate having a different pace from all my friends,” I said.

  “That is hard,” Mom said. “Hang in there, pal.”

  “Yeah, well I’m trying to hang in there, pal,” I said. “That’s hard, too!”

  “I know,” Mom said.

  “I don’t like things that are hard.” I flopped down next to her.

  “Nobody does,” Mom said, cuddling me up, “which is rough because not everything in life is easy.”

  “Like baby teeth that won’t fall out.”

  “Yeah. That is hard,” Mom said. “Sometimes I wish I could just wave a wand and make everything easy for you.”

  “Me too,” I said. “Please do that.”

  “But even if I could, maybe I wouldn’t,” Mom said.

  “WHAT,” I said. “You should, Mom! You totally should. Do you have that wand?”

  “No, nobody has one,” Mom said. “But sometimes it’s the hard stuff that makes life interesting.”

  “Not to me,” I said.

  “You make yourself stronger and braver when you face challenges,” Mom said. “It’s how you find out what you’re made of!”

  “I’m made of blood and skin and baby teeth,” I said, very sad.

  “I mean, you find out who you really are.”

  “I’m really Elizabeth,” I reminded her.

  “Oh, good,” Mom said, kissing my forehead. “Because Elizabeth is a very brave kid, who is up way past bedtime. I love you. Good night, Elizabeth.”

  “Bad night, Mom,” I said.

  She patted my hair and left, turning out my light on her way.

  Chapter

  16

  Even in the dark, I had all baby teeth and no magic wands.

  Qwerty has big teeth, but he only speaks dog.

  My dog-rabbit, Dolores, has no teeth at all, so she had no advice.

  She just cuddled me quietly.

  Chapter

  17

  Today we got put into reading groups.

  At least I’m not in the Yellow Group with Babyish Cali.

  I’m in the Blue Reading Group.

  Mallory is in Blue also.

  That is the good news.

  Smelly Dan is also in Blue.

  That is the second-to-worst news.

  Here is the worst news:

  My best friend, Bucky, is with Anna and Zora and Silent Fiona in the Purple Group.

  We don’t have a top group in 2B, but everybody gets it anyway, what the rankings are.

  Chapter

  18

  I was a grump the whole afternoon.

  I was still a grump when I got home from school.

  Even though Mom was home and there were cookies.

  Anna was in the top group in 1A, also, I explained to Mom.

  Anna could read before kindergarten.

  She didn’t get in trouble for that. She got compliments.

  Knowing how to read before kindergarten is against the rules, I think.

  Mom said, “Well, no, I don’t think that’s actually a rule.”

  Bucky learned to read during kindergarten.

  Last year in 1A, he was in the top group, too.

  He sat next to Anna in first-grade reading circles.

  Near the door.

  Far away from me and my group of “can’t read” babies.

  Having a different pace from your best friend is very not easy.

  It makes a person’s heart hurt.

  Chapter

  19

  I thought that was all the bad news for today, but no.

  Babyish Cali called me on the phone tonight.

  “It’s for you,” Mom said. “It’s your friend Cali.”

  I shook my head no.

&nbs
p; “Come to the phone, Elizabeth.” Mom smiled at me like I mean it.

  I shook my head like a tornado of NO.

  Mom stopped smiling and held the phone at me. “Now, please.”

  I didn’t want to but I had to.

  “Hi,” I said into the phone.

  Babyish Cali asked, “Do you want to come over on Saturday?”

  I am not allowed to be rude or to lie.

  I had to think of an answer that wouldn’t be rude or a lie.

  “I’ll ask my mom,” I said.

  My mom was making a question face at me.

  “Great,” Cali said. “Go ahead.”

  I took a big breath and looked at Mom.

  “Can I go to Cali’s house Saturday?” I asked Mom, while shaking my head NO for DON’T LET ME.

  But Mom nodded and shrugged like sure, why not.

  So I didn’t answer anything to Cali.

  “I thought you might be free because of not being in the Big Mouth Club,” Cali was saying.

  “Why would that make me free on Saturday?” I asked.

  “Because they’re all going to Playland Saturday.”

  “Playland?”

  I love Playland.

  “It’s a Big-Mouth-Club-only trip,” Babyish Cali said.

  “Oh,” I said.

  “You could come over to my house,” Cali said.

  “Okay,” I said.

  “Great!” said Babyish Cali.

  “Great,” I said, too.

  But my great was a lie.

  Chapter