Anna, Banana, and the Big-Mouth Bet

by Anica Mrose Rissi

  Before I slid into my seat, I looked straight at Justin. I expected him to be mad or maybe even try to say that it somehow didn’t count. But to my surprise, Justin was smiling too. “That was awesome!” he whispered. He held out his hand for a high five. “I can’t believe you did it!”

  As my palm hit his, I smiled back.

  Maybe Justin wasn’t always so bad after all.

  Chapter Seventeen

  Nothing Left to Lose

  When I got home from school, Banana was waiting by the door. She was eager to hear the State of the Teeth and ready for our walk. “I lost the bet,” I told her, and she stared up at me with big, worried eyes. “But I also won,” I said. She blinked in surprise and lifted her ears.

  I shrugged off my backpack and clipped on her leash. “Come on,” I said. “I’ll tell you all about it.” We bounded out the door.

  I told her the whole story as we started down the sidewalk, stopping a few times so I could act out the good parts. Banana jumped and danced at my feet while I showed her how I’d flapped and squawked through the Funky Chicken. When I got to the part about Justin’s high five, she barked and held up her paw. I was laughing and high-pawing her back when I suddenly felt something there on my tongue.

  I’d finally lost the tooth!

  I stuck my tongue out so Banana could see. Her tail shot straight up.

  I inspected the tooth and closed my fingers around it, remembering everything that Isabel had said. Tooth Fairy, Tooth Fairy, I thought, letting the hope bubble up inside me. I couldn’t help it—I wanted to believe.

  “Let’s go tell Dad,” I said. But when I tugged Banana’s leash, she didn’t budge.

  “What?” I asked. She looked at me. “Ohhh,” I said, slowly catching on. “Good point.”

  Banana was right. If I showed Dad the tooth, then he and Mom would step in for the Tooth Fairy tonight. But if I didn’t tell them—if I kept it quiet and put the tooth under my pillow and hoped and wished and believed—then maybe, just maybe, the Tooth Fairy would come herself. I had to try it.

  Banana wagged her tail as I dropped the tooth into my polka-dot pocket. “Okay,” I said. “It’s our secret.”

  Chapter Eighteen

  These Lips Are Sealed

  Keeping the tooth a secret sounded easy at first, but Banana and I soon realized it was going to be tricky. It wasn’t just a matter of not showing anyone the tooth. I also had to make sure they didn’t see the gap in my mouth where the tooth was missing. That meant I’d need to be pretty sneaky.

  All through dinner I kept my lips sealed as much as I could. I answered “mm-hmm” for yes or “mm-mmm” for no, and made extra sure to chew with my mouth closed. The one time I really had to speak, when Mom asked about my day, I thought fast and held my napkin up to my face, pretending to wipe my mouth while I talked. I kept the answer as short as possible, and no one seemed to notice.

  Banana stayed by my chair, standing guard just in case, but I didn’t even need her for backup. We were getting away with it! I snuck her a small piece of tofu from my stir-fry, and she looked up at me happily.

  After dinner Chuck and I cleared the table, and I hummed the tune of one of Isabel’s silly songs so no one would think I was being too quiet. Chuck started humming too, a different tune on top of mine, trying to mess me up. I hummed a little louder, so he hummed louder too, and soon we were both buzzing at top volume in a Great Hum-Off. The giggles were building and building in my throat, but I kept up the humming and Chuck broke first. We both burst out laughing, and I covered my mouth with my hand. He didn’t suspect a thing.

  When the dishes were done, we all went into the living room to watch a funny show. I curled up on the couch next to Dad, and Banana jumped up too. She put her head on my lap so I could tug her silky ears. It was easier to keep my tooth secret then, since the lights were off. You’re not supposed to talk during a show anyway, though of course Chuck still did.

  Dad clicked off the television at the end of the night. “All right, kiddos, time for bed. Go brush those teeth and get in your pajamas, and Mom will be up to tuck you in soon.”

  “One more show,” Chuck begged. “Pleeeeeeease?”

  But Banana and I jumped off the couch and ran upstairs.

  “We did it!” I said, squeezing her in a hug. There was only one challenge left.

  When we heard Mom’s footsteps in the hallway a few minutes later, we were ready. Banana was in her basket and I was already in bed with the lights off. I rolled over onto my side, facing the wall, so the part of my mouth with the gap in it was buried in the pillow. I’d taken the secret tooth out of my polka-dot pocket and was holding it in my right hand, hidden safely under the covers, along with a note that I’d written. The note said, Dear Tooth Fairy: I believe.

  As Mom came in, I crossed the fingers on my left hand for luck.

  Mom sat on the bed and put her hand on my back, rubbing it gently like she does during tuck-ins. “You were pretty quiet at dinner tonight, Annabear. Everything okay?”

  I nodded into the pillow. “Yup,” I said. “Just tired.”

  “Are you nervous about your loose tooth?” she asked.

  “No,” I said honestly. Well, sort of honestly. I was nervous about the tooth—about hiding it, and about whether the Tooth Fairy would come. But I wasn’t nervous about a loose tooth. I was worried about a tooth that had already fallen out. But I couldn’t tell Mom any of that until tomorrow.

  “Good. I’m sure it will come out soon,” she said.

  “And then I’ll be more like Banana,” I said.

  “You will?” Mom asked.

  “Yup,” I said. “Dad said that kind of tooth is called a canine tooth, and ‘canine’ means ‘dog.’ So when the little canine tooth falls out, and an even bigger one grows in, that means I’ll be that much more doggy, like Banana.”

  Mom laughed. “I hadn’t thought of it that way, but it’s a good theory,” she said. “Sleep tight, my little doggies.”

  She kissed me first and then Banana, and shut the door firmly behind her.

  I pulled my hand out from under the blanket and gave the tooth one last squeeze for luck. Then I slipped it and the note under my pillow so the Tooth Fairy could find it.

  “Good night,” I whispered to Banana.

  I heard her tail go thump, thump, thump.

  Chapter Nineteen

  Fairy Certain

  I thought I’d be too excited to sleep, wondering if the Tooth Fairy would come. But the next thing I knew, the morning sunlight was sneaking in through the window blinds and making stripes across my bed. I blinked a few times, still slowly waking up. Until suddenly I remembered, and my heart raced in double time.

  I held my breath and slid a hand under the pillow, almost afraid of what I’d find. My finger hit something hard. Something hard that was not my tooth.

  “It worked!” I cried, startling Banana awake. “The magic worked!”

  Banana wriggled out of her basket, fast. She put her front paws up on the mattress so she could see too.

  I lifted up my pillow. There, underneath it, were two silver dollars, a unicorn-shaped eraser, and a dog treat for Banana.

  Sadie wouldn’t believe it. But Isabel definitely would. I couldn’t wait to tell them both.

  I kissed Banana’s snout and whispered, “Do you think it’s really real?”

  Banana licked the tip of my nose. I giggled and wiped it off with my arm. She jumped down off the bed and went to stand by the door.

  I’d bet anything that what Banana really thought was, I believe it’s time for breakfast.

  Acknowledgments

  A toothy grin of thanks to the whole team at S&S, especially editor Kristin Ostby, for her sharp eye, smart brain, and chicken dance know-how; and designer Laurent Linn, who, together with Meg Park, makes these books look adorable.

  A tail wag and a grateful lick to my agent, Meredith Kaffel Simonoff, who works more magic than the Tooth Fairy.

  Thank you Robin W
asserman, chief strategist, who helped give this plot bite, and Terra Elan McVoy, who kept me from pulling out my teeth through the process.

  I wrote this book while in a lot of pretty places: Brooklyn, Princeton, Nassau, Greenstone, Miami, Delray Beach, Waterford, and Deer Isle. Thanks to the friends and family who were in those places with me.

  Hey, Jeff: wiggle wiggle.

  Arugula Badidea, you are the funkiest chicken of all.

  Here’s a sneak peek at

  ANNA, BANANA, AND THE PUPPY PARADE

  Would You Rather

  “Okay, I’ve got one,” my best friend Sadie said. “Would you rather have your own magic unicorn, but you have to keep it a secret, or have a regular horse that isn’t magic but everyone can know about it?”

  “The unicorn,” my other best friend, Isabel, said immediately. “Who wouldn’t choose the unicorn?”

  Sadie swallowed a mouthful of her peanut-butter banana sandwich. “I wouldn’t. I’d choose the horse so I could ride him to school and show him off to people and stuff. Horses aren’t magic but they’re still beautiful.” She looked at me. “What about you, Anna?”

  I chewed a slice of apple while I thought. This was a hard one. Sadie was really good at this game. “I’m not sure,” I said. “I’d love to have a unicorn, but I can’t keep secrets from Banana.” Banana always seems to know what I’m thinking. That’s part of what makes her the best dog ever.

  Sadie grinned. “Telling Banana wouldn’t count.”

  “Okay, but I’d also want to tell you guys,” I said. “So I choose the horse.” I pictured the three of us riding through a field on a chestnut mare. We’d braid her mane and brush her coat until it shone, and I’d always keep sugar cubes in my pockets for her. The best part of having a horse would be sharing her with my friends.

  “My turn,” Isabel said. “Would you rather be a famous actress or a famous singer?”

  “Actress!” Sadie said.

  “Singer,” I said.

  “Me too. We can sing duets,” Isabel said to me.

  “Hey, then I want to be a singer too!” Sadie said. “No, wait. I’ll still be a famous actress and you guys can sing the soundtracks for all my movies.”

  “Deal,” Isabel said.

  It was my turn to ask a question next. I looked around the lunchroom for inspiration. “Hmm. Would you rather look like a troll but smell like roses, or be super pretty but always smell like the school cafeteria on hot dog day?”

  “Ew!” Sadie said. We all burst into giggles.

  Banana loves hot dogs, which is funny because she’s also shaped like one, all long and skinny in the middle. The hot dogs we eat at home are tasty, but today’s hot lunch smelled like ketchup and skunk stew.

  At least the ketchup came in packets instead of squeeze bottles, so we didn’t have to listen to ketchup farts while we ate. My brother gets those bottles to make the grossest sounds possible. He’s disgustingly good at it.

  “I’d be a nice-smelling troll, definitely,” Isabel said when she’d caught her breath.

  Sadie scrunched up her nose and shook her head. Her curls bounced. “I can’t answer this one,” she said.

  “We’d still love you if you smelled like school lunch,” I promised her.

  “We’d just love you from a little farther away,” Isabel teased.

  Sadie stuck out her tongue. She folded up her sandwich wrapper and wiped her lips with a paper napkin. As usual, Sadie’s side of the table was much neater than Isabel’s and mine. Though most of the mess on our side was Isabel’s.

  Isabel stuffed her own trash into her lunchbox. “Oh! I almost forgot,” she said, pulling out a piece of paper. “I brought you a surprise.” She smoothed out the wrinkles and thrust the paper at me. “Ta-da!”

  Paws on Parade

  I took the light-blue paper from Isabel’s hand and saw the word PUPPY on it, upside-down, in all capital letters. Before I could even turn the page right-side up, Sadie was leaning across the table to look. “What is it?” she asked.

  I read it out loud. “ ‘Calling all pups for the Puppy Parade! Paws, prizes, treats, tail-wagging, music, and more.’ ”

  Isabel shimmied in her seat. “It’s perfect, right? They were handing them out at the grocery store,” she said.

  “Let me see,” Sadie said. She pulled the paper out of my hands.

  “Hey! I wasn’t finished,” I told her.

  “Sorry.” She handed it back. Sadie can be pretty bossy sometimes, even with her friends, but I’m learning to stand up for myself when I need to.

  I kept reading. “ ‘Bring your family and your fabulous furry friend for a day of fun at the Happy Homes Animal Shelter’s first annual dog show. Parade starts at the east entrance of Piddleton Park at 10 am sharp. Refreshments provided by Rosie’s Bakery and Yip Yap Yums.’ ” I looked up at my friends. “That’s the shelter where we got Banana. This sounds like so much fun!”

  Sadie reached for the flier again and this time I let her take it.

  “You have to enter Banana,” Isabel said. “She’ll win for sure.”

  Sadie was nodding. “Banana is definitely Best in Show,” she said. Best in Show was the top prize in the dog show Sadie and I watched on TV last year, back before we met Isabel. We’d seen so many cute dogs, all fancily groomed and well behaved—but no dog was as special as Banana, I thought. I was glad to hear my friends agreed.

  I imagined Banana in a sparkly gold collar, marching past the judges with her ears perked and her tail in the air. I pictured myself in a matching gold headband, holding Banana’s leash and smiling proudly as the crowd gasped at her cuteness. Banana would be a star. And that would make me a star too.

  “ ‘Saturday the twelfth,’ ” Sadie read. “That’s this weekend. We only have two days to get ready!”

  We? I hadn’t pictured Sadie and Isabel being in the parade too—I’d assumed it would just be Banana and me. But of course Sadie and Isabel would walk with us. It would be even more fun with my best friends by my side. I’d still be the one holding the leash though, so everyone would know that Banana is my dog.

  “Good thing we’re having a sleepover at your house tomorrow,” Sadie said, pushing the flier back across the table. “There’s so much to do. We need to start planning right away.”

  “We do?” I said. I was excited about the parade and the sleepover too, but I wasn’t sure what kind of planning Sadie had in mind.

  “Yes!” Sadie jumped up as the bell rang. The cafeteria filled with the clanging and banging of kids all around us rushing to bus their trays. “I’ll make a to-do list and write down ideas.”

  “And I’ll help!” Isabel said, as she and Sadie started for the door.

  I grabbed my lunch bag and hurried after them, feeling weirdly left out. Banana was my dog. Why was Sadie in charge of the parade plans? “Then what am I supposed to do?” I asked when I’d caught up.

  “You’ll add ideas too,” Sadie said. “We’re all in this together, right?”

  “Right!” Isabel cheered, and I realized I was being silly. They weren’t trying to take over. They just wanted to be part of the fun.

  “Right,” I echoed. Sadie hooked her arms through Isabel’s and mine, and we skipped down the hall back to class.

  Anica Mrose Rissi grew up on an island off the coast of Maine, where she read a lot of books and loved a lot of pets. She now tells and collects stories, makes up songs on her violin, and eats lots of cheese with her friends and her dog, Arugula. Find out more at anicarissi.com.

  Meg Park is an illustrator who lives in Scotland with her two cats, Louie and Boo. She loves drawing, painting, and telling stories through her artwork. To learn more about Meg and her art you can visit megpark.com.

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  DON’T MISS THESE OTHER GREAT BOOKS IN THE ANNA, BANANA SERIES!

  Anna, Banana, and the Friendship Split

  Anna, Banana, and the Monkey in the Middle

  AND COMING SOON . . .

  Anna, Banana, and the Puppy Parade

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  This book is a work of fiction. Any references to historical events, real people, or real places are used fictitiously. Other names, characters, places, and events are products of the author’s imagination, and any resemblance to actual events or places or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

  Text copyright © 2015 by Anica Mrose Rissi

  Illustrations copyright © 2015 by Meg Park

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