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“You ever play wall-ball before?” asked Stuart.
“No, that was my first time.”
“Well, no wonder!” Nick exclaimed. “Beginner’s luck!”
4
The Door Key
On Tuesday, Joe wore the same clothes he had worn on Monday: Mickey Mouse T-shirt, baggy pants, untied sneakers. But there was one difference. He wore a Chicago Bears cap instead of a Dallas Cowboys cap.
“Good morning, Mrs. North,” he said. “I hope I learn a lot today.” Then he took his seat next to Nick.
Marvin could practically see the hate coming out of Nick’s eyes.
“His name should be Joe Weird, not Joe Normal,” said Casey Happleton.
“He’s just new here, that’s all,” said Marvin. “You’d probably seem weird, too, if you had to move to Chicago.”
“He likes to kiss the flagpole!” said Casey.
Marvin wondered if she was making that up.
“I saw him do it,” said Casey. “He just walked right up to it and kissed it!”
“Well, maybe that’s what they do in Chicago,” said Marvin. “Instead of saying the pledge, they kiss the flagpole. He was probably just being patriotic.”
“Your name should be Marvin Stupid,” said Casey.
Later, at recess, Joe asked Marvin if they were going to play wall-ball again.
“No!” said Nick, before Marvin could answer.
“Why not?” asked Joe.
“Because it’s Tuesday,” said Nick. “You can’t play wall-ball on Tuesday, can you, Marvin?”
Marvin didn’t know what to say.
Just then, two girls from his class, Gina and Heather, came running toward them. They seemed very excited about something.
“Hey, Joe!” said Gina. “Do you know what this is?” She was holding some kind of key.
“It’s what you are!” said Heather.
Joe smiled.
“What is it?” asked Gina.
“A key?” said Joe.
“What kind of key?” asked Heather.
Joe didn’t know. Neither did Marvin.
“It’s a door key,” said Gina.
“That’s what you are!” Heather exclaimed. “Dorky!”
