Drama Queen Read online

  “You mean I’m Squirrel Number One now?” I ask.

  “Yes!” Ms. Tinkle says. “You are Squirrel Number One AND Number Two! Just remember, Lola, the show must go on!” And then she’s off to adjust Makayla’s fairy wings.

  Suddenly, I feel sick. I can barely breathe in my fur. I sink into the corner, holding the paper with my new lines, and Josh walks over to me.

  “Josh!” Alyssa yells. “Come back. I need you to rehearse with me.” He ignores her.

  “You’re going to do great,” Josh says, looking very kingly with his crown.

  “Thanks, Josh,” I say, “but I only have an hour to memorize my lines, and what if I freeze again?”

  “You can do it, Lola,” Josh says. “You are the smartest person I know, and since when is Lola Levine afraid of anything?”

  “Josh Blot,” I say, “you are a super best friend.”

  I am going to show Ms. Tinkle and everyone else that I, Lola Levine, can act and be dramatic, even up on a big stage.

  I go over my lines again and again until Ms. Tinkle says, “It’s showtime! Everyone backstage. I’m going to open the doors and let the audience in.” Pretty soon the audience has been seated, the lights go on, and the curtain goes up. Josh gives me a high five, and the play starts.

  Things go okay until it’s time for my important scene. I realize I have a problem, and it’s a big one. My furry tail is stuck! It’s stuck on one of the roots of the big tree in the center of the forest. And the roots are really just the metal legs of the round table from the teachers’ lounge wrapped in brown paper and duct tape, so it’s stuck good. I need help, or I won’t be able to make my offering to the King and Queen of the Forest and say my brand-new lines. I look around for help. Makayla is closest.

  “Psst, Makayla! Help me disconnect my tail. It’s caught on this root!” I say.

  “Lola, I’m about to present my fairy flowers!” Makayla says. “Leave me alone!” Then she flits over to the king’s and queen’s thrones, flaps her sparkly wings, and offers her basket of flowers with a bow.

  “Queen Arden, I give you these flowers to nurture and grow,” Makayla says. “And I pledge the loyalty of fairies from high and low.”

  I’m starting to sweat in my fur. I try to get my tail out from under the tree, which starts to tilt. It takes all my soccer muscles to make sure it doesn’t fall over.

  The bluebirds flap over to Josh and Alyssa, the king and queen.

  “A gift for you, our beautiful queen! A song of happiness to fill the forest green.”

  The bluebirds start to sing, and sweat is dripping from my forehead. I have only until the end of the song to unhook my tail. The song ends. Improvise, I think.

  “Greetings, Queen Arden, from your bushy-tailed friend!” I say from near the back of the stage. No one can see me, but luckily, I have a loud voice. I keep tugging as I talk.

  “I come with a basket of nuts to lend.” I don’t know what to do, but I want Queen Arden to get her gift, so I come up with an idea. I pick up an acorn and toss it over the bluebirds’ heads toward the thrones. I hear it hit the floor, so maybe I missed the horn of plenty holding the gifts. I try again.

  “OUCH!” I hear Alyssa say in a not-very-queenly voice. “You hit me in the head!” Now everyone is moving away from me, and suddenly the audience can see me. I’m sweating and pulling, and my tail is not coming unstuck. I need to think fast.

  “Queen Arden, I’m sorry I hurt thee, but my tail is stuck on the root of this tree!”

  I toss the last two acorns, and this time, Josh is prepared. He jumps up and catches them.

  “A present from us squirrels…,” I start to say, and then—riiiiiip!—I fall down on all fours. “Ouch! My knee!”

  There is a gasp in the audience. Then Olivia points to the place where my tail is supposed to be.

  “There’s a hole in her pants!” she says. I feel the air on my skin and know she’s right. What am I going to do?

  Then I hear it. A loud, dramatic voice. “My squirrel is hurt!” It’s my bubbe. I think of her crazy peacock shawl.

  “Grandmother Peacock!” I say. “Come with your shawl and save the day!”

  “I’m coming, my squirrel,” says Bubbe as she makes her way to the front of the gym. “Out of my way!”

  All of a sudden, I hear Josh.

  “Um, Grandmother Peacock!” he says. “Welcome to our forest. Do you have a gift?”

  Grandma Levine looks at Josh and looks at me and says, “Yes, young king, I do,” and then she throws her peacock shawl over everyone’s heads toward me. I catch it, of course, because I am a goalie after all! I know exactly what to do. I wrap the shawl around my waist and turn to the audience.

  “Thank you, Grandmother Peacock, your gift is sweet. Now”—I think fast—“you may go back to your seat.” Bubbe bows and then walks back to my family, whom I see smiling and grinning.

  Josh walks forward and takes my hand and says, “Thank you, Squirrel. Our forest gifts are a wonderful sight. They will get us through the long winter nights.”

  Josh and I take a big bow and walk offstage. We are laughing so hard, we almost don’t hear the applause.

  Chapter Eight

  Bye-Bye, Bubbe

  Principal Blot, Grandma Levine, and the rest of my family find us backstage.

  “Lola! Zola! Granola!” Ben says. “That was awesome!”

  Ms. Tinkle walks up to Josh and me and says, “Wonderful improv! I’ve taught you well.” And then the three of us laugh together.

  We drive Grandma Levine to the airport a few days later, and we are all sad to see her go.

  “Come back soon, Ruth,” Mom says.

  “Love you, Mom,” Dad says.

  “Bubbe,” Ben says, “what’s a kitty’s favorite color?”

  “I don’t know,” Grandma says.

  “Purr-ple!” Ben says, and kisses Grandma good-bye.

  I’m a little sad, so I just give Grandma Levine a big hug and tell her how much I love her and how glad I am that she helped me out.

  “Of course,” Grandma Levine says. “Just remember, Lola, that not only are you dramatic, you are from a long line of DRAMA QUEENS!” And with a wave, she’s off.

  “I’ve got an idea,” Dad says. “Let’s go to the Ice Cream Palace!” Ben and I cheer.

  “But no bubble-gum blowing contests, Benito!” says Mom.

  “I promise,” he says.

  Dear Diario,

  It’s been a pretty crazy couple of months. First I learned about drama, then I got stage fright, then I got stage brave, and then I learned to improvise by throwing acorns across the stage in front of a couple hundred people. Most importantly, I learned that I have the best bubbe in the whole wide world—one who will fly across the sky just to give me a hug when I’m feeling bad.

  Finally, my little brother, Ben, didn’t bug me even once this week. He’s in a much better mood since he convinced Mom and Dad to take him to the hairdresser, where he cut off all his hair. He wanted to match Mira. Mom says we are a very dramatic family and that’s okay. We also have extremely much fun together.

  If being dramatic means our inside voices sound like some people’s outside voices, then that’s okay with me.

  Of course, that’s just my opinion, and I have lots of opinions.

  Shalom,

  Lola Levine, Soccer (and Drama) Queen

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  CONTENTS

  Cover

  Title Page

  Welcome

  Dedication

  Chapter One

  Walk, Don’t Run

  Chapter Two

  Wave like Wheat

  Chapter Three

  Sizzle, Pop

  Chapter Four

  Bubble-Gum Ice Cream

  Chapter Five

  Auditions

  Chapter Six

  The Big Surprise

  Chapter Seven

  Showt
ime!

  Chapter Eight

  Bye-Bye, Bubbe

  Copyright

  Copyright

  This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is coincidental.

  Copyright © 2016 by Monica Brown

  Crown—Thibault Geffroy Paris, FR 2011

  Cover art by Angela Dominguez

  Cover design by Marcie Lawrence

  Cover © 2016 Hachette Book Group, Inc.

  All rights reserved. In accordance with the U.S. Copyright Act of 1976, the scanning, uploading, and electronic sharing of any part of this book without the permission of the publisher is unlawful piracy and theft of the author’s intellectual property. If you would like to use material from the book (other than for review purposes), prior written permission must be obtained by contacting the publisher at [email protected]. Thank you for your support of the author’s rights.

  Little, Brown and Company

  Hachette Book Group

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  The Little, Brown name and logo are trademarks of Hachette Book Group, Inc.

  The publisher is not responsible for websites (or their content) that are not owned by the publisher.

  First ebook edition: January 2016

  ISBN 978-0-316-25839-5

  E3