by Nancy Krulik
“Well, I ...” Suzanne began. But before she could finish her sentence, she saw something terrible heading toward the playground. “Oh, no!” she cried out.
“What is it?” Katie asked.
Suzanne was too upset to speak. She just reached out her hand and pointed.
Katie gasped. It was Becky!
She was wearing a leopard-print shirt with fake fur at the cuffs.
Her pants were glittery-black.
It was the exact same outfit Suzanne had worn yesterday.
No one in class 3A had ever bought one of Suzanne’s outfits before. They wouldn’t dare.
“This is just horrible!” Suzanne moaned.
Chapter 4
Katie walked quietly into room 3A. She hung up her jacket, dropped her homework in the bin, and sat down at her desk. One second later, a note landed on her desk.
The note was from Suzanne. Katie glanced over at her best friend. She’d been really brave to pass the note just then. Mrs. Derkman hadn’t even turned her back to the class.
Obviously Suzanne was so angry at Becky, she didn’t care if she caught.
Katie slipped the note under her desk and quietly opened the paper. Suzanne’s writing was big, thick, and dark. There were only four words on the paper.
BECKY IS A COPYCAT!
Katie took out her pink pen and scribbled an answer to Suzanne’s note.
“Maybe she didn’t know you always wear glitter,” she wrote.
“Kevin,” Katie whispered. “Could you pass this to Suzanne?”
Kevin sat, right between Katie and Suzanne. “I’m not getting in trouble,” he said.
Katie sighed. It was too dangerous for her to throw the note to Suzanne. If Mrs. Derkman read this note out loud, Becky’s feelings would be hurt.
“I’ll give you my dessert at lunch if you’ll pass the note,” she whispered quickly.
Kevin thought for a moment. “And the tomatoes from your salad, too?” he asked.
Katie nodded.
Kevin quickly snatched the note from Katie’s hand and slipped it to Suzanne.
Katie watched as Suzanne unfolded the paper. Suzanne frowned, and shook her head.
“Whose side are you on?” she hissed over Kevin’s head.
“I’m not on anyone’s side,” Katie whispered back.
“Girls!” Mrs. Derkman said sternly. “Is there something you want to share with the entire class?”
For one scary moment, Katie thought Suzanne might call Becky a copycat in front everyone. But Suzanne didn’t say anything. She just sat up tall and glared at the back of Becky’s head.
“Okay then,” Mrs. Derkman said. “Let’s get to work. The first thing I want to discuss are your topics for your research papers.” “Let’s begin with the first row.”
George sat in the first seat in the first row. Mrs. Derkman had put him there so she could keep an eye on him. “I’m doing a paper on skateboarding,” George told her. “It will be wheel-y exciting.”
A few of the kids groaned at George’s bad joke. Mrs. Derkman never even looked up. She just wrote George’s topic in her notebook. “Okay, how about you, Mandy?”
“I want to do a research paper on dragon-flies. We have a lot of them living near the creek behind my house,” Mandy answered.
“That will be very nice,” Mrs. Derkman said. “Just please don’t bring any of them into the classroom.”
Everybody laughed. They all knew that Mrs. Derkman was very afraid of bugs.
“And you, Jeremy?” Mrs. Derkman asked.
“I want to do a report on soccer,” Jeremy said. “It’s my favorite sport.”
“Just remember, you can’t play ball in the classroom,” Mrs. Derkman reminded him.
“I’m going to make a videotape,” Jeremy assured her.
Mrs. Derkman smiled. “That’s a fine idea. Okay, now let’s move on to the second row. Have you come up with something, Becky?”
Becky sat up very straight and tall. “I want to do my research project on Cleopatra,” she said.
The class was silent.
They couldn’t believe their ears. Everyone figured Suzanne would be the one to do a research project about Cleopatra. The kids all turned around to see how Suzanne was taking the news: not well.
Suzanne’s eyes were closed in angry little slits. Her mouth was clenched tightly. She was obviously really mad—so mad, in fact, that she forgot Mrs. Derkman’s rule about calling out.
“That’s my topic!” Suzanne shouted. “I was going to do Cleopatra! Everybody knew it.”
Becky shook her head. “I didn’t know it.”
Suzanne glared at her. “Yes you did. You knew how I felt about Cleopatra. You heard me talking about her at lunch. Becky, you’re a great big copycat!”
The class gasped. No one had ever acted that way in Mrs. Derkman’s room before. Not even George.
“Suzanne Lock,” Mrs. Derkman said sternly. “That is not how we behave in class. Becky will be doing a report on Cleopatra. You will have to find another topic to research. There are lots of interesting people or things you can learn about.”
“Not as interesting as Cleopatra,” Suzanne moaned.
Mrs. Derkman sighed. “Oh, I think there are. In fact, I’m going to give you a topic for your project. You will do a report on Coco Chanel.”
“What’s a Coco Chanel?” Suzanne demanded. “Some sort of candy bar?”
Mrs. Derkman laughed. “No. Coco Chanel was a person. A very special person.”
“Why?” Suzanne asked.
“You’ll see,” Mrs. Derkman said, as she wrote the topic in her book. She smiled at Suzanne. “I promise that you—of all people—will find her very interesting.”
Suzanne sat back, folded her arms, and stared furiously at Becky.
Katie gulped. She’d seen that look on Suzanne’s face before. I’m sure glad I’m not Becky, she thought to herself.
Chapter 5
“Now do you believe me? I told you Becky was a copycat!” Suzanne insisted, as she and Katie walked out of the school building at the end of the day.
Katie nodded slowly. She couldn’t defend Becky anymore. Taking Suzanne’s research topic had been really mean.
“I can’t believe Mrs. Derkman is making me do a research project on that Coco Chanel person,” Suzanne moaned. “I don’t even know who she is.”
“You can come over to my house and we can look her up on the Internet,” Katie suggested.
Suzanne shrugged. “Why not? At least I’ll be able to eat some of your mom’s cookies while we work.”
Katie grinned. Her mom did bake great cookies. Suzanne’s mother usually served the store-bought kind.
Just then, Becky came running up to the girls. “Are y’all going to the library to start your research?” she asked in her soft Southern accent.
Katie was about to tell Becky that she and Suzanne were going to her house to use the computer, but Suzanne shot Katie one of her don’t-you-dare looks.
Becky looked hopefully at Katie. That made Katie feel terrible. She was supposed to be Becky’s buddy, and she wasn’t inviting her to come along. Katie knew Becky was feeling left out.
But Suzanne’s feelings had been hurt, too. She needed Katie every bit as much as Becky did. Katie didn’t know what to do.
Suzanne solved that problem for her.
“We have other plans,” Suzanne told Becky simply. “You’ll have to float down the Nile without us.”
Becky looked curiously at Suzanne.
“The Nile,” Suzanne repeated. “That’s a river in Egypt. You’d have known that if you were as big a fan of Cleopatra as I am.”
Becky smiled. “I’m going to learn all about Cleopatra. Then you and I can talk about her. Maybe we can even start a Cleopatra club.”
“Whatever.” Suzanne sighed. She put her thumbs together and held her pointer fingers straight up to make a big W.
This was going to get ugly—Katie could tell. She quickly grabbed
Suzanne by the elbow. “We’ve got to go. See you tomorrow, Becky.”
“I don’t believe that girl!” Suzanne exclaimed, as she and Katie walked off. “A Cleopatra club? How could she?”
“She just wants to be friends.” Katie said.
Suzanne rolled her eyes. “I’d rather be friends with a three-headed rat.”
Katie sighed. There was no point in arguing with Suzanne when she was this angry. It was easier to change the topic. “You can use the Internet first,” she told her. “I have a book on cocker spaniels that I can start with.”
Before long, the girls had reached Katie’s house. Mrs. Carew was sitting on the front steps with Pepper when they arrived.
“Hi, girls,” she greeted them. “How was school?”
“Rotten,” Suzanne moaned.
“Fine,” Katie said at the exact same time.
Mrs. Carew laughed. “Are you sure you were in the same classroom?” She held out a plate of warm sugar cookies with M&M’s baked into them.
“The new girl stole my research topic,” Suzanne explained between cookie bites. “Katie got the topic she wanted.”
“Cocker spaniels,” Katie told her mother.
Mrs. Carew laughed as Katie scratched Pepper behind the ears. “Of course,” she said.
“I wanted to do Cleopatra. But Blechy Becky is researching her,” Suzanne said. “Mrs. Derkman is making me do a report on some lady named Coco Chanel.”
“Oh, you’re going to love Coco!” Katie’s mom exclaimed. “She’s very interesting.”
Suzanne made a face.
“Besides, you already know everything there is to know about Cleopatra,” Mrs. Carew said. “Now you’ll learn something new.”
Katie and Suzanne looked at each other. That was one of those things only a grown-up would say. You couldn’t argue with it—even though you wished you could.
“Let’s go find out who this Coco Chanel lady is,” Katie told Suzanne.
Suzanne nodded and followed Katie into the living room. The girls sat down and booted up the computer. Suzanne typed the words “Coco Chanel” into the search engine. Almost instantly the link to a short biography appeared on the screen.
Coco Chanel: This French fashion designer’s real name was Gabrielle Chanel. Coco Chanel changed fashion forever. She designed the first pants for women. She was famous for wearing lots of beads and carrying quilted pocketbooks with chains. She also created perfumes.
“Oooh! Katie, look at her,” Suzanne squealed, pointing to the photograph.
Katie looked at the picture of a darkhaired woman in a black pantsuit. She wore strands and strands of white pearls around her neck. She looked very elegant.
“Isn’t she wonderful?” Suzanne asked Katie. “Don’t you just love all those beads? Do you think I should wear my hair short like that?”
Katie laughed. Good-bye Cleo, Hello Coco.
Chapter 6
“Teddy bear, teddy bear, turn around. Teddy bear, teddy bear, touch the ground,” Becky chanted as she jumped over the two double-Dutch jump ropes.
Becky, Miriam, and Zoe were already playing in the schoolyard when Katie arrived the next morning. Katie walked over to watch.
“Teddy bear, teddy bear, touch your toe,” Becky continued as she tapped her foot with her hand. “Teddy bear, teddy bear, out you go!” she shouted as she dashed out from between the twirling ropes.
“That was great!” Miriam congratulated Becky. “You didn’t miss once.”
Becky smiled and looked over at Katie. “Hi! Where’s Suzanne?”
Katie shrugged. “We don’t usually walk to school together. Why?” After what had happened yesterday, Katie couldn’t believe that Becky would be looking for Suzanne.
“I just thought she’d like to jump double Dutch with me. I know a whole bunch of jump-rope rhymes.”
Katie didn’t think Suzanne would want to learn any of Becky’s rhymes, but she didn’t tell Becky that. Instead, she said, “Nice outfit. Is it new?”
Becky was wearing a purple shirt with a pink flower in the center. The shirt matched her purple glittery skirt perfectly.
“I found it at the mall,” Becky told her. “I thought it was really cool.” She lifted her skirt a little. “And see, I’m wearing shorts.”
“Do you want to jump again, Becky?” Zoe interrupted. “Since you didn’t miss, you get another turn.”
“Okay,” Becky said. As Miriam and Zoe began turning the ropes, Becky leaped in. “Fortune-teller if you’re so smart, tell me the name of my sweetheart. Is it A ...B ... C ...”
Becky kept jumping, twirling around as she said each letter. The ropes were moving at a very steady rhythm, until suddenly ...
“Look at Suzanne!” Zoe cried out. She dropped one of her ropes. Instantly, Becky tripped over the fallen jump rope. “Hey! Why did you stop turning?” she asked.
But there was no one around to answer her. Miriam and Zoe were both running over to meet Suzanne at the far end of the playground.
“Wow, Suzanne! You look great,” Mandy Banks exclaimed. “I love those beads.”
Suzanne fingered the many strands of white plastic beads she wore around her neck. She smoothed the creases in her black slacks and straightened her plain black shirt.
Katie was amazed. The girls had only seen the picture of Coco Chanel yesterday. And Suzanne was already dressed like her.
“Hey there, Coco,” Katie teased.
“Don’t you just love this outfit?” Suzanne gushed. “My mom helped me put it together. She’s so glad that I’m over all that glitter stuff.” Suzanne stared at Becky’s outfit.
Just then George and Jeremy wandered over to see what all the fuss was about.
“What are you supposed to be?” Jeremy asked.
“Let me check my calendar,” George said. “I think I missed Halloween.”
Suzanne rolled her eyes. “You boys don’t know anything. This outfit is very grown-up.”
“But you’re not a grown-up, Suzanne,” Jeremy reminded her. “How are you going to play any games in that getup?”
“Maybe I don’t feel like playing games,” Suzanne argued.
“What are you going to do at recess then?”
“I’m going to spend recess drawing clothes,” she told him.
George made a face. “Boring!” he said.
“No, it’s not!” Suzanne replied. “I can get lots of ideas for new fashions here. As Coco Chanel said, ‘Fashion is in the air. Born upon the wind.’ ”
George and Jeremy had no idea what Suzanne was talking about.
“Forget Coco Chanel,” George moaned. “You’re Cuckoo Chanel.”
Jeremy laughed. “See ya later, Cuckoo,” he said as he ran off toward the soccer field.
“Cuckoo, cuckoo,” George added, sounding very much like a cuckoo clock.
As soon as the boys were gone, Becky held up a her purple lunch bag. “I brought lunch today,” she told Suzanne. “It’s pita bread and bean salad. I’ve got dried figs for dessert. I thought we could share our lunches and have an Egyptian feast.”
Suzanne shook her head. “Sorry, Becky. I have French bread and a hunk of cheese for lunch today. That’s what they eat in Paris. Coco Chanel lived in Paris, you know.”
Becky bit her lip. “Oh. Well, bread and cheese sounds good, too.”
“It is,” Suzanne assured her. “I love everything that’s French. As far as I’m concerned, Egypt is ancient history!”
Chapter 7
“Look at Blechy Becky,” Suzanne said as she watched Becky drag a huge black duffel bag to her desk. It had been two weeks since Becky had chosen Cleopatra as her research topic, but Suzanne still didn’t like her.
“What do you think she has in there?” Mandy wondered.
“Maybe a mummy,” Suzanne joked. “That would be perfect. After all, only a dead person would hang around with her.”
“That’s really mean, Suzanne,” Katie said.
“Not as mean as copying my clothes
and stealing my research topic,” Suzanne said.
“She’s probably got the stuff for her report in that bag,” Katie said.
Today was the first day of the research project presentations. Two kids would give speeches each day. George and Becky were first.
“She sure doesn’t look like Cleopatra,” Suzanne said, staring at Becky’s white blouse, black stretch jeans, and chunky red beads. “The Queen of the Nile didn’t wear beads. Coco Chanel wore beads. I wear beads. She’s not trying to be like Cleopatra. She’s trying to be like me. She’s such a wanna-be.”
Before Katie could say a word, Mrs. Derkman stood in front of the room. “Will everyone sit down, please?” she said.
The kids quickly scrambled to their seats.
“We’re going to get started on our research presentations,” the teacher continued. “George, do you want to go first?”
Katie glanced over at George. He was wearing baggy orange shorts and a huge yellow-and-orange Hawaiian shirt. He was also wearing his helmet and pads. He certainly looked ready to go first.
“Sure!” George exclaimed. He walked to the front of the room and held up his skateboard. “Hey there, dudes and honeys. This is my stick.”
Mrs. Derkman looked curiously at George. “Excuse me?”
George laughed. “All I said was, ‘Hi everyone. This is my board.’ I was using surfing slang.”
“I thought your report was about skateboarding,” Manny interrupted.
“It is,” George said. “Skateboarding became really popular in the 1950s. Back then, everyone in California was surfing. Other kids wanted to surf, too. But not everyone lived near an ocean. So skateboards were great. You could catch the surfing wave no matter where you lived. That’s why a lot of skateboarding words sound like surfer words.”
George put one foot on the back of his skateboard. “I’m going to show you a cool skateboarding move,” he told the class. “It’s called Mondo Foot.”
Mondo foot? Katie couldn’t help it. She started to giggle. So did lots of other kids.
“No, really,” George told them. “When you do Mondo Foot, you push the board with your front foot, like this.”
