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and sincere wrong. Another word was palindrome , which of course I know backward and forward. Another was afterthought , which I sometimes used to feel like at home back when Mom and Dad were always worrying about Pip. One last word was valentine .
    When Chuck gave me back my test, he drew a big star around the 100. When I gave back his, I did not circle the 70, but I did whisper, “You got palindrome and valentine right.”
    He whispered, “Did you hear about Kelli’s party this weekend?”
    I nodded.
    He said, “You going?”
    I nodded again.
    He said, “Me too.”
    Maybe I should have left well enough alone, but I didn’t. I whispered, “Are you and Kelli really going out?” I could not believe I said that!
    He looked like he couldn’t either. His eyes went wide, and he turned a little pink. “Sort of.”
    Mrs. Lemons said, “No talking.” She looked right at us and added, “Or whispering.”
    I passed Chuck a note: “Sort of?”
    He turned the note over, scribbled on it, and pushed it back to me. It said, “1. I’m not aloud to go out.” (He wrote “aloud,” but I knew he meant allowed .)
    Then he ripped a second strip of paper from his notebook and wrote “2.” He was about to scribble something else, but the bell rang, and You-Know-Who was already peeking in the little window in the door. (If you don’t know, I’ll give you a hint: she was wearing a sparkly sunshine-yellow headband.)
    AVA, NOTE PASSER
    PS What was Chuck going to write in his second note??

2/13
SATURDAY MORNING
    DEAR DIARY,
    There’s no school on Monday because of Abraham Lincoln’s and George Washington’s birthdays. I cannot tell a lie: I love three-day weekends!
    Y-A-Y presidents!
    I also like that it’s not getting dark quite so early. But it’s still icy cold out. Today I went outside to bring in the newspaper, and I could see my breath.
    Valentine’s Day is tomorrow, and the whole grade is going to Kelli’s. She said all the girls should wear red or pink. I don’t own anything pink, but Pip has a top I can borrow that is not too girlie-girlie.
    This morning Pip asked me if I’d talked to Bea yet, and I had to admit that I hadn’t. She said I should and handed me her cell phone, with the number already pressed in.
    Bea answered, and I said hi, and she said, “What’s up?”
    â€œThe ceiling,” I replied, but then felt immature since Bea is two years older than me. So I just went ahead and told her that Pip talked to Tanya about the Pip Pointers and now Tanya wants us to come up with Tanya Tips—but about weight loss. I thought Bea might say, “Tanya’s weight is not my problem” or “What do I know?” But Bea said Tanya was one of the first kids who was nice to her when she moved to Misty Oaks and added, “I didn’t know her weight bothered her.”
    â€œWant to come over?” I asked.
    â€œOne sec,” Bea said, and I heard a muffled conversation. Then she said, “Or you and Pip can come to the bookshop. Ben and I are about to go there.”
    I ran that idea by Pip, and she liked it and jumped in the shower. Now she’s drying her hair with a blow-dryer and just asked loudly, “Should I give Ben the valentine I made?”
    â€œDefinitely,” I shouted back, Little Miss Love Expert.
    â€œThink he’ll have one for me?” she shouted.
    â€œI don’t know if boys are as into Valentine’s Day as girls,” I shouted back. “But he could always grab one from the card rack.”
    Pip shouted, “That’s real romantic.”
    I rolled up my poster and put it in my backpack and mumbled, “At least you’re giving your valentine to a boy. I’m giving mine to a store.”
    AVA, WHOSE CRUSH IS SOMEONE ELSE’S VALENTINE
    PS I didn’t mean to write “CRUSH,” but it was like