Allie Finkle's Rules for Girls: Stage Fright Read Online Free

behalf of the class, that I think this play sounds really, really good. And I would like to volunteer to play the part of Princess Penelope.”
    The minute she said the words “Princess Penelope,” about half a dozen other hands went flying up into the air, all belonging to other girls in Room 209. Every single girl whose hand was up wore an expression that showed she felt outraged over what Cheyenne had just done.
    All the girls in our class, practically, wanted to play the part of Princess Penelope.
    “Girls,” Mrs. Hunter said. “Put your hands down. You’ll all get a chance to audition for the parts you want. That’s why Allie is handing out the scripts now. I want you to take them home and give them a read-through tonight. Figure out which parts you’d like to try out for, and then I’ll hold auditions tomorrow and make the announcement of who got what part on Friday. We’ll start rehearsals on Monday.”
    Well! This was a much better way to do it than just giving the part to whoever asked for it first. Everyone had to try out, and whoever did the best job got the part. Kind of like the way my mom had gotten the job of film reviewer for the show Good News!
    Except that she’d been the only person who’d applied. At least according to her.
    After I’d finished passing out all the scripts, I went back to my desk and picked up the one I’d set down for myself. Mrs. Hunter was still talking about the play, but I wasn’t paying attention anymore. I was too busy reading.
    Wow. Princess Penelope had a lot of lines. As I read through them, I could sort of see that Princess Penelope was the star of the play.
    Well…her name was in the title.
    Hmmm. It would be kind of cool to play a princess in the class play. Especially if it was the main part. I mean, it would be a lot of lines to memorize.
    But think how proud my parents would be when they showed up at the open house, and we put on Princess Penelope in the Realm of Recycling , and I was Penelope! Good News! might even have me on their show as a guest to talk about my performance—I’m the daughter of one of their stars, after all.
    Even better, I wouldn’t have to work too hard on my costume, because I already had a princess gown: the flower-girl dress I’d worn for my aunt Mary’s wedding last summer (if it still fit). It would be perfect! It was a long dress, and made out of shiny gold fabric (Aunt Mary got married in a fancy restaurant at night). It totally looked like something a princess would wear (if I got my mom to do my hair in a bun or braids wrapped around my head).
    The problem was, I wasn’t the only girl in my class who wanted to play Princess Penelope.
    But whatever. I’d figure out a solution to that problem when the time came.
    In the meantime, figuring out how I was going to beat Cheyenne for the part we both wanted? That was going to be a pleasure.

RULE #3
It’s Rude to Tell Someone They’re Only Going to Get Something Because No One Else Wants It, Not Because They Earned It
    I was so busy poring over my copy of the script, I didn’t even hear the bell for recess ring. So I didn’t have any idea what was going on until I noticed Caroline, Sophie, Erica, and Rosemary all standing around my desk, holding their coats.
    “Oh,” I said, looking up. “Hey, you guys.”
    “Aren’t you coming outside?” Erica wanted to know.
    “Yeah,” Rosemary said. “Are you just going to sit there all day?”
    “Huh?” I said, embarrassed I’d been so absorbed in what I’d been doing. “Sorry. I guess I didn’t hear the bell.”
    “I guess not,” Sophie said with a laugh. “You must really like that play.”
    But I noticed she was still holding her copy of Mrs. Hunter’s script as well. Even though we were supposed to be going outside to play.
    “I do,” I said, getting up and going over to the coatrack. “It seems really good. Right? I mean, did you get a chance to read it?”
    “I did,” Caroline said. Caroline is one of the