I'm Game (2 page)

Authors: Nancy Krulik

BOOK: I'm Game

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“That’s the third one he got right,” Mrs. Carew whispered to Katie. “One more to go!”

Katie’s heart beat hard as her father listened to the last question. “How do cows sleep?” he repeated. “Hmm . . . standing up?”

Katie bit her lip nervously.

Was that the right answer?

Suddenly, a huge smile spread across Katie’s father’s face. “Wow!” he shouted excitedly. “That’s great. Okay. Friday evening at six thirty. I’ll be there.”

After he hung up the phone, Katie’s dad hugged her mom. “I don’t believe it. I made it!” he shouted. “This is incredible. I’m going to be on
Tick, Tock, Clock
!”

“I guess wishes do come true,” Mrs. Carew said with a smile.

Katie gulped. Her mother was right. Wishes did come true. Unfortunately, it wasn’t always so great when they did.

Chapter 3

Katie knew all about wishes—especially the kind that came true. One of
her
wishes had come true—and it kept on coming true over and over again.

It had all started one horrible day back in third grade. Katie had lost the ball game for her team. Then she’d splashed mud all over her favorite jeans. But the worst part of the day came when Katie let out a loud burp—right in front of the whole class. It had been so embarrassing!

That night, Katie made a wish that she could be anyone but herself. There must have been a shooting star overhead when she made the wish, because the very next day the magic wind came.

The magic wind was a really powerful tornado that blew only around Katie. It was so strong, it could blow her right out of her body . . .
and into someone else’s
!

The first time the magic wind blew, it turned Katie into Speedy, the hamster in her third-grade classroom. Katie spent the whole morning running round and round on a hamster wheel and chewing on Speedy’s wooden chew sticks. They didn’t taste very good at all.

The magic wind had come back many times after that. Each time it turned her into somebody new—her best friends, Jeremy and Suzanne, her third-grade teacher, Mrs. Derkman, and even Pepper. That had been
really
weird—Katie had to go to the bathroom by lifting her leg up on a fire hydrant.

The switcheroo never lasted very long. It went as suddenly as it came, which was a good thing. Because every time Katie turned into somebody else, that person seemed to land in big trouble!

Chapter 4

Katie couldn’t wait to tell her friends all about her dad being on TV. But when she got to the school playground, everyone was clustered around George.

“George, those are so cool,” she heard Mandy Banks say. “Where did you get them?”

Katie walked over to where a group of fourth-graders were standing. Everyone was staring at something, but Katie couldn’t get close enough to see what it was.

“What’s so cool?” she asked her best friend Suzanne Lock.

Suzanne sighed. “George got some rubber bracelets. Everyone’s going nuts over them. I don’t know why.”

Katie shrugged. Suzanne was never excited about anything that made someone else the center of attention.

“
You
look happy,” Suzanne said, noticing the big smile on Katie’s face.

“The greatest thing happened!” Katie told her. “My dad’s going to be on
Tick, Tock, Clock
! He found out this morning.”

“No way!” Suzanne exclaimed.

“Really,” Katie assured her. “They’re going to be filming in Cherrydale and my dad is going to be one of the contestants.”

“Wow! Your dad’s going to be on TV!” Suzanne shouted, loud enough for the other kids to hear.

Suddenly, the fourth-graders turned away from George. They all looked at Suzanne and Katie.

Katie was impressed. Suzanne really was something.

“What show is your dad going to be on, Katie?” Jeremy Fox asked.

“
Tick, Tock, Clock
,” Suzanne answered before Katie could say anything. “He just found out this morning. And
I
was the first person Katie told.”

Katie sighed. Suzanne was obviously trying to make Jeremy think that Katie liked her better. And that wasn’t true.

“Where did you get those?” Katie asked George.

“At the skateboard park,” George replied. “But you can also buy them at Hot Stuff in the mall.”

Katie knew the store. If there was anything new and cool to buy, Hot Stuff had it!

“Maybe your dad should wear one for luck when he’s on
Tick, Tock, Clock
,” George suggested to Katie.

“Oh please, George,” Suzanne said, rolling her eyes. “Why would Katie’s father want to wear a stupid piece of rubber on his wrist?”

“
I
think they’re cool,” Kevin said. “I want to get some.”

“Me too,” Emma Weber said.

Suzanne scowled and walked away.

Katie felt kind of bad for her friend. Usually it was Suzanne who set trends at Cherrydale Elementary School. She wasn’t happy that everyone wanted to get bracelets like George’s.

Chapter 5

“Hey there, Katie!” Mr. Carew greeted his daughter as he walked into the back office of the Book Nook bookstore late that afternoon.

Katie’s mom was the manager of the Book Nook. Katie often came to the mall after school to do her homework in the back office while her mom worked.

“Daddy, what are you doing here?” Katie asked as she looked up from her math sheet.

“I left work early. I want to do a little research,” he explained.

Katie knew what research was. She did research projects in school. You had to look up all kinds of facts and then write a paper about them.

“Are you writing a report?” Katie asked her father.

Mr. Carew shook his head. “Actually, I wanted to buy a book of facts so I can study for the show.”

“What kind of facts?” Katie asked him.

“All kinds. Facts about places, people, sports, science, medicine, history, and all the other things they ask questions about on
Tick, Tock, Clock
.”

Just then Katie’s mother entered the office. She was holding a thick book.

“Here you go, honey,” Mrs. Carew told her husband. “This is the best trivia book we have.”

“What’s trivia?” Katie asked.

“Interesting facts that most people don’t know,” her mom explained. She opened the book and read a fact. “Did you know that sneezes travel out of your mouth at about one hundred miles per hour?”

Katie made a face. “That’s gross,” she said.

“But it’s a fact,” her mom replied. “And this book is full of them!”

“Soon my mind will be full of them, too!” Katie’s dad added with a grin as he took the book from his wife.

A little while later when Katie and her father went to Louie’s Pizza Parlor, they found Suzanne sitting at a table. Suzanne was concentrating on something she was holding in her hands. She didn’t even notice Katie and her dad.

“Hello, Suzanne,” Katie said, waving a hand in front of her friend’s face.

“Oh, hi, Katie. Hi, Mr. Carew,” Suzanne replied, looking up. “Sorry. I was making something.”

“What?” Katie asked her.

Suzanne held up a black rubber bracelet. It was just like George’s, except it had a thin strip of pink ribbon twisted around it. Now the bracelet had pink and black stripes, like some sort of funky candy cane.

“That’s so pretty,” Katie told her.

“I’ve already made seven of them,” Suzanne replied. “That’s two more bracelets than George has.”

Katie sighed. Suzanne always had to be better than everyone else.

“This one is for you,” Suzanne said, handing Katie the finished bracelet. “Because you’re my best friend.”

“Wow! Thanks,” Katie said sincerely as she slipped it on her wrist.

Just then, Louie walked over to the table. “Hi, everyone. What’ll it be?”

“Do you have the broccoli and mushroom pizza today?” Katie asked hopefully. “I want my dad to try it.”

“I’ve got one coming out of the oven in a minute,” Louie assured her.