Sticker Girl Rules the School--Stickers Included!

by Janet Tashjian

  I watch Bev’s expression change.

  “There was a bee on your sticker sheet,” she says. “Did you release that swarm, Martina?”

  “What do you mean?” Samantha asks.

  Before I can answer either of them, Ms. Graham makes an announcement to the class, telling us to walk—not run—to the gift shop to take cover. She says Caitlyn’s fine and as soon as the swarm disperses, we’ll head back to the bus. As we line up, Bev looks at me like she’s still waiting for an answer. How do I tell her this is all my fault?

  I can feel Walter bouncing around in my bag, trying to get my attention. When I sneak a peek, he points to the miniature hot-air balloon in my hand. “Do you think it’ll hold me?”

  I tell him it’s too dangerous, that I don’t want him to get hurt. “Besides, Caitlyn’s in the gift shop.”

  Walter shakes his head. “She’s okay now—but what if a bee flies inside? We need to get that EpiPen back.” Walter motions to the balloon with his tiny hand.

  “You just want to ride in a hot-air balloon,” I say. “This has nothing to do with Caitlyn’s medicine.”

  “Who DOESN’T want to ride in a hot-air balloon?” Walter asks. “Who DOESN’T want to save the day?”

  While Mom ushers the rest of the class inside, I try to spot the original bee with the trumpet. Where is that troublemaker? But I can’t tell him apart from the hundreds of others in the sky. I swat several bees away as we talk.

  “I think you should let Walter go,” Craig says. “In case Caitlyn needs the medicine later.”

  I look at the tiny hot-air balloon—Walter might be able to fit inside. As soon as he sees me waver, Walter takes the opportunity to jump inside the basket. What will happen if I let go?

  “There’s only one way to find out,” Craig says, reading my mind yet again.

  I tell Walter to be careful, then let go of the balloon. It slowly lifts into the air.

  “The monkeys will stop you,” Craig tells him.

  Walter motions to the telephone lines near the palm tree. “If this balloon can get me to those lines, I’ll do the rest.”

  The balloon jerkily rises above my head, and I’m surprised to see Bev standing beside me.

  “It might work,” she says. “Walter is someone I’d put money on.”

  I want to tell her I’m sorry I’ve been acting so weird, and sorry I unleashed bees on our class. But most of all I want to tell her I miss hanging out with her and hope that we’re still friends.

  But before I can say anything, Samantha runs outside with several other kids trailing behind her.

  “Look at that chipmunk in your balloon!” Samantha yells. “Is he … wearing a tutu? This zoo is insane!”

  The zookeeper comes outside, shielding her eyes from the sun. A crowd gathers around the tree full of monkeys too.

  The three monkeys on the trunk of the palm tree try to grab Walter as he sails by, but they can’t reach him. When the tiny balloon reaches the telephone lines, Walter hops out. The balloon continues to float to the ground while Walter carefully balances himself on the wire.

  Several people take videos of this strange chipmunk in a tutu making his way across a telephone wire as if it’s a tightrope. Except Walter isn’t walking.

  He’s dancing.

  Walter glides, leaps, spins, and pirouettes across the telephone line as if onstage. He may be a chipmunk, but he’s one hundred percent ham. It’s uncanny! Everyone on the ground is silent, staring at the incredible performance overhead. Even the monkey with Caitlyn’s medicine seems transfixed. He watches from the top of the tree as Walter bounces on the wire, leaps into the sky, and soars through the air. As his finale, the chipmunk whisks the EpiPen out of the monkey’s unsuspecting hand while the crowd below goes wild.

  Furious, the monkey lunges at Walter, who dives behind a group of palm fronds. The other primates shriek and race to the top of the tree, but now Walter’s the one in charge. Everyone cheers as Walter zips by the angry monkeys and down the trunk of the tree. With a low bow, he neatly deposits the medicine into my hands.

  “That was crazy!” Mike says. “I’ve got to come here more often!”

  Samantha’s not so sure. “How did a random chipmunk happen to know we were trying to get back Caitlyn’s medicine?” She looks around the benches and exhibits. “And where’s the chipmunk now?”

  I can feel Walter trembling with exhaustion inside my bag. “I’m sure he’s around here somewhere,” I answer.

  “How do you know it’s a ‘he’?” Samantha shakes her head. “And how does a chipmunk get a tutu?”

  “Didn’t you see the sign for the rodent ballet when we came in?” Bev asks. “The gerbil who does Swan Lake is an internet sensation.”

  I don’t know how Bev does it, but she gets Samantha to stop asking questions—at least for now.

  Ms. Graham makes sure Caitlyn stays inside while the zookeepers gather up the monkeys.

  Zombie Boy skates to a halt beside me. “You want me to get rid of these bees for good?”

  “Do zombies eat bees?” I ask.

  “Don’t be ridiculous!” He sets up his laptop in the middle of the swarm.

  “This is no time for music!” I shout above the humming of the bees.

  Zombie Boy begins to play a melodic beat of low beeps and hums. It reminds me of the music they play at the salon where Mom gets her hair done.

  “Music is calming to lots of animals,” the zookeeper says. “Your DJ friend might be on to something.”

  Geeky Zombie Boy has a pretty great brain for someone who could probably function without one. The bees slow down, and after a few minutes the swarm disperses as the bees drift farther and farther away. In a few minutes more, they’re completely gone.

  Ms. Graham cautiously leads Caitlyn outside, then lines all of us up to make sure we’re okay. Everyone is excited, Caitlyn most of all. I guess she’s not that different from Eileen—she almost liked the attention.

  “Well, THAT was a first,” the zookeeper says. “Swarming bees, belligerent monkeys, and a ballet-dancing chipmunk. What’s next?”

  “How about if we let ALL the animals out and then try to get them back in?” Tommy suggests.

  “I’ve got a better idea.” The zookeeper’s face breaks into a smile. “How about a private showing of the baby panda exhibit?”

  WHAT?! A wave of excitement rolls through our class.

  “The plumbers have finished fixing the leak, so the exhibit can officially open this weekend. But what if I unofficially take you over there now?”

  With everyone so wound up, it takes a moment for me to realize Eileen and Bev have grabbed my hands and are pulling me toward the exhibit. We hurry down the private access road with the rest of the class, toward the pandas.

  I slow down for a second to check on Walter. He’s lying in my bag while Craig fans him with a tissue. He looks exhausted.

  I tell Walter he saved the day.

  “But how was the dance?” he asks. “Original? Thrilling?”

  When I tell him it was the most original and thrilling dance any of us have ever seen, Walter smiles—then immediately dozes off.

  I catch up to Bev and Eileen. We’re just a few steps away from the baby pandas!

  A Day to Remember

  Because they’re only six months old, the pandas are still a bit wobbly on their feet and have just started to eat solid food—which of course means bamboo. Before that, they subsisted on only their mother’s milk and sleep. James is fascinated by the pandas and strains against Mom’s arms to join them in the enclosure.

  “This one is Lin Pi and the other is Mei Pan.” The zookeeper holds up the smaller of the two. “Aren’t they the cuddliest?”

  We beg the zookeeper to let us hold the pandas, but she tells us it’s against regulations. “How about if I hold her and we get someone in here to take a class picture?” she says.

  As we gather around the baby pandas for a class photo, Mike looks about to jump out of his s
kin. “This is amazing,” he says.

  Even Tommy agrees. “A monkey stole my hat, we got attacked by killer bees, a chipmunk danced across a power line, and we’re the only ones at the zoo who get to see the baby pandas. This day is epic!”

  “Best field trip in the history of field trips,” Stephanie adds.

  The three zookeepers arrange us around the pandas, then take several pictures. Ms. Graham can’t stop thanking the staff for all they’ve done. We eventually say goodbye and head back to the school bus.

  Because I’m president, Ms. Graham asks me to help out by doing a second head count. I stand outside the bus, counting as everyone takes a seat.

  Craig pops out of my bag. “You’re avoiding Bev,” he says. “Don’t you think you need to talk to her?”

  I tell him that everything’s fine. But Craig’s not letting me off the hook. “Friendship takes work,” he says. “Even a cupcake knows that.”

  Walter sticks his head out, groggy from sleep. “I’m with Craig on this.”

  “You guys are making me lose count!” I watch Eileen and Bev take a seat in the back just as Zombie Boy skates up to the cargo hold.

  “You sure you’ll be okay in there?” I ask.

  He grabs a handful of soiled lunch bags and pops them into his mouth. “I love it here,” he says between bites. “Totally comfortable.”

  When everyone is accounted for, I climb aboard, taking a seat next to my mom.

  As we pull out of the parking lot, no one can keep quiet.

  “That was awesome!”

  “Incredible!”

  “Best day of my life!”

  I’m thrilled my classmates enjoyed the field trip, but I can’t help feeling Craig and Walter are right. I DO have unfinished business. I make my way down the aisle of the bus and squeeze into the seat with Bev and Eileen.

  It takes a moment for me to find the words, but I eventually do. “I’m really sorry I was acting so weird and jealous. I just felt left out and didn’t know what to do.”

  Bev looks at me and smiles. “You’re a great friend, Martina. But that doesn’t mean I don’t like hanging out with other kids too.”

  “I know—I just didn’t want to stop being friends, that’s all.”

  “Why would we stop being friends?” Bev asks. “That’s never going to happen.”

  I tell her it was wrong to prank Eileen and treat her like an enemy. Every magic sticker I’ve had has taught me something, maybe Eileen most of all.

  I feel a rumbling in my bag; I open it slowly so I won’t wake Walter in case he’s sleeping again.

  “Martina—it’s time to go,” Craig says.

  “Go where?” I ask. “We’re almost back at school.”

  “No, I mean GO.” Craig holds up the sheet of stickers. The treasure chest, pizza, bee, and paint palette are already back on the sheet.

  When I jump up, the bus driver immediately tells me to sit down.

  “NO! You can’t leave! You just got here! There are so many things we need to do!” I beg.

  Craig shakes his frosted head. “Sorry, but we don’t have any choice. You know that.”

  “No, no, no!”

  I watch Walter go from sleeping next to my wallet back to the sheet of stickers.

  I whip around to face Eileen. “We got off on the wrong foot. I’m so sorry! Please stay!”

  Eileen grabs my hand, then Bev’s. “It was a blast hanging out—with BOTH of you.”

  Before I can ask how we’re going to explain her disappearance to Ms. Graham, Eileen is back on the sheet with the other stickers. Zombie Boy too.

  I examine the sticker sheet. Every sticker except the cupcake is back in position. Bev puts her hand on my arm.

  “Goodbye, Craig,” I whisper. “Maybe I’ll see you around?”

  “Not if I see you first.” Craig winks and jumps back onto the sheet of stickers.

  “Maybe one of them will get left behind like last time,” Bev says.

  But when I look at the sheet, they’re all there.

  Can you still be Sticker Girl if you no longer have magic stickers?

  One More Thing

  When we get back to the school parking lot, Ms. Graham takes another head count to make sure everyone’s here.

  “Where’s your friend Eileen?” she asks Bev.

  “Actually, she’s our friend,” I tell Ms. Graham. “She decided not to go to our school after all. Her mom just picked her up.” I point to a car pulling into the street.

  “What about that DJ in the zombie getup?” Mom adds. “I was going to see if he wanted to play at your father’s birthday party next week.”

  I tell her that, sadly, DJDK took off too.

  Tommy sticks his head into the group and holds out one of Zombie Boy’s handmade business cards. “I’ve got his number, Mrs. Rivera. I was going to call him too.”

  “Good luck with that,” Bev whispers.

  For the next week, all anyone can talk about is how much fun our class had at the zoo. I know I should be basking in praise the way my student council classmates are, but I’m too busy worrying about our next event. After this trip, anything else will be a giant disappointment.

  “You worry too much!” Bev tells me as we watch YouTube clips at my house that weekend. “The next trip will be even more fun. You just wait!”

  But my room feels empty without Craig, Walter, Zombie Boy, and even the fake-treasure-chest table. If I’m honest, I also miss Eileen always trying to grab the spotlight. Why did I let her get under my skin so much? I’m usually happy when other people want the spotlight, since I never do. I guess I have to learn to trust my friends more—even if they’re stickers.

  A phone rings in the distance; Bev and I ignore it and continue watching the video of the rat with the slice of pizza.

  The phone continues to ring. Why isn’t anyone picking it up?

  I go to the kitchen and ask Dad if he’s going to answer it. He looks at me over his reading glasses. “Answer what? I don’t hear anything.” He motions toward his cell phone, which is sitting quiet on the counter.

  I tell him it must be the landline. “Can’t you hear it?”

  My father turns to the phone in the kitchen, which also isn’t ringing. “I don’t hear anything, Marti.”

  Then where’s that sound coming from?

  When I get back to my room, Bev’s looking under my books and clothes. “Wasn’t one of the stickers on that last sheet a cell phone?”

  “Yes, but it never worked.”

  Our eyes meet, and then we frantically tear apart my room.

  “It was definitely on the sheet when they all disappeared,” I say. “I saw it!”

  “Where’s the sheet?” Bev asks. “Where’s the sheet?”

  I ask Bev to give me a boost so I can reach the top shelf of my closet. I feel across the too-big clothes Mom got on sale that she’s waiting for me to grow into. Aha! I jump back down and hand the sheet to Bev.

  The cell phone sticker is no longer in its spot.

  “It’s here somewhere!” I say. “We have to find that phone!”

  We run from room to room but can’t pin down where the sound is coming from. First it seems to be coming from the living room, then the kitchen. We look under tables, chairs, and shelves but can’t find it.

  “Where could it be?” Bev asks.

  I hold my finger to my lips and we both listen. Now the sound is even farther away.

  “Where’s it coming from?” Bev asks.

  “The garage!” I grab Bev and we hurry out of the house.

  We look through the area where Zombie Boy hung out, but the phone’s not there. We both stop again to listen, then realize where the ringing is coming from.

  Dad’s suitcase!

  We lay the suitcase on the ground and slowly unzip it. Sure enough, the phone that used to be a sticker is inside.

  The second I pick it up, it stops ringing.

  “Hello?” I say. “Is anybody there?”

  Like
before, the phone is dead.

  I toss the cell back into the suitcase, disappointed. “Well, so much for that.”

  But when I look at Bev, she’s grinning from ear to ear. I follow her eyes to the pocket on the inside of the suitcase.

  Is it? No! It can’t be!

  Other books by

  Janet Tashjian

  The Marty Frye, Private Eye series:

  The Case of the Missing Action Figure The Case of the Stolen Poodle

  The Einstein the Class Hamster Series:

  Einstein the Class Hamster

  Einstein the Class Hamster and the Very Real Game Show

  Einstein the Class Hamster Saves the Library

  The Sticker Girl series:

  Sticker Girl

  The My Life Series:

  My Life as a Book

  My Life as a Stuntboy

  My Life as a Cartoonist

  My Life as a Joke

  My Life as a Gamer

  My Life as a Ninja

  Multiple Choice

  Tru Confessions

  About the Author

  Janet Tashjian is a middle-grade and young adult novelist who’s been writing books for children for over two decades. Her first novel Tru Confessions was made into a critically acclaimed Disney TV movie starring Clara Bryant and Shia LaBeouf. The Gospel According to Larry series is a cult favorite and Fault Line is taught in many middle and high schools. Her bestselling My Life As a Book series is illustrated by her son, Jake. They also collaborated on the Einstein the Class Hamster series. Janet collaborated with fellow Macmillan author Laurie Keller on the chapter book series Marty Frye, Private Eye. Janet currently lives in Los Angeles and made her new home city the setting of the Sticker Girl series, which details the adventures of Martina who overcomes being shy with the help of her magical stickers that come to life. You can sign up for email updates here.

  About the Illustrator

  Janet Tashjian is the author of the popular My Life series including My Life as a Book, My Life as a Stuntboy, My Life as a Cartoonist, My Life as a Joke and My Life as a Gamer, as well as the Einstein the Class Hamster series, illustrated by her son, Jake Tashjian. Janet lives in Studio City, California. You can sign up for email updates here.