Dancing Dudes Read Online Free Page B

them tomorrow,” she said. “So let’s clean up and return to your desks. I have one more announcement to make before the bell rings.”
    We all cleaned up as fast as we could and ran back to our desks, wondering what it could be.
    “Well, as you know, the fourth-grade recital is coming up in two weeks. Mr. Fowl’s class will be singing some traditional American folk songs, and I am thrilled to announce that our class will be performing a real Western hoedown!”
    We all looked at each other. Mrs. Gibson seemed much more excited than we did. “That means you will all be learning to square-dance.”
    I looked at Graham. He was giving Diane an I told you so look .
    “Don’t worry,” Mrs. Gibson said. “You are going to have a wonderful time square-dancing. I’m sure you will all love it as much as I do. My husband and I used to have such a grand time square-dancing.”
    I’d never heard Mrs. Gibson mention her husband before, but my mom told me he died a long time ago. I could tell she missed him.
    “Tomorrow,” she said, “I will assign each of you a dance partner. That means we’ll line everyone up from smallest to tallest—boys on one side, and girls on the other—so we can match you up with a dance partner close to your height.”
    Immediately, everyone looked around the room to see who was about their same height. The only people that I knew for sure would be paired up together were Diane and David, since they were both the tallest, and Graham and Suzy, since they were both the shortest. I hoped I would get to dance with Heidi.
    Then the end-of-school bell rang, and we were all crowding through the door.
    “What am I going to do, Raymond?” Graham said by the coatracks.
    “What do you mean?” I asked. Graham had a serious look on his face.
    “I mean how am I going to get Kelly to be my dance partner?” he asked. “This could be the moment I’ve waited for my entire life. Not only would I get to dance with her that night, but we’ll be practicing this dance for two weeks.” Graham’s eyes looked crazy, and he was talking really fast.
    “I never thought of it like that,” I said. “But I don’t know how you would do it. You and Suzy are the two shortest kids in our class. Unless you can grow overnight, you are definitely going to get matched up with Suzy tomorrow.”
    “You’re right,” Graham said. “Unless . . .” He started to smile. “Unless I wasn’t at school tomorrow for the lineup. If I’m not there, Suzy will get paired up with someone else.”
    “That’s true,” I said. “But so will Kelly.”
    “Oh, yeah,” Graham said. He thought in silence for a moment. “Maybe an idea will come to me tonight.”
     
     
    The next morning, Graham wasn’t out on his driveway waiting for me like usual. I was about to ring his doorbell when he opened the door.
    “Hey, Graham, running a little late?” I asked.
    “No, just eating an extra bowl of cereal,” he said. Graham loved cereal as much as I did. “I was trying to eat as much as I could. The box said there was a toy inside, but I couldn’t find it.”
    “That stinks,” I said. “So did you figure out a way to get paired up with Kelly?”
    Graham shook his head. “I couldn’t think of anything,” he said. “Matt is the next shortest kid, and he’s still about four inches taller than me. If Suzy weren’t there, it would work out great. Besides Suzy, there aren’t very many short girls. Kelly’s probably even the next in line.”
    “Yeah, you’re right,” I said. “At least if you don’t get to dance with Kelly, you still get to give her a valentine telling her how much you like her. And she’s making a great valentine box. She was sitting at my table when we made them. You’ll know hers because she has a bunch of perfectly shaped hearts all over it. I mean, those hearts are perfect .”
    “Sounds like they’re just as perfect as she is,” Graham said in a soft voice.
    Sometimes Graham says the strangest