Philip and the Girl Who Couldn't Lose (9781619501072) Read Online Free Page B

his cold
water bath. He wanted to set a new take-a-bath record tonight, but
he couldn’t do it unless he knew the old record first.
    “ What was the fastest regular bath I
ever took?”
    “ Philip,” his father said with an odd
look on his face. “Who can remember one bath from another? Except
for the cold one.”
    “ Never mind. Never mind,” said Philip.
Tonight would be the record. He wouldn’t play with a single toy in
the bathtub. He’d wash, get out, and dry without a moment lost to
splashing or to silliness.
    A knock sounded on the door, and Philip’s
mother got up to answer it. Philip heard her say, “Come in, Emery.
Would you like something to eat?” Emery and Philip’s mother walked
into the kitchen.
    “ No, I had dinner at home,” said Emery.
“The babies were crying, and my mother was trying to get them quiet
so my father told me to come over here. Out of harm’s way, he
said.”
    “ Well, we’re going to clean up in here,
so why don’t you boys go outside for half an hour while there’s
still some daylight?” Mrs. Felton suggested.
    A few moments later, the two boys sat on the
step outside Philip’s front door.
    “ Everybody’s trying to get rid of us,”
said Emery. “It’s not so light out. I wonder why they didn’t just
leave us at the hospital when we were born if they didn’t want any
trouble. I wish they’d left my sisters there. I wouldn’t mind
visiting them once in a while as long as they weren’t around all
the time.”
    “ Uh, oh. Look who’s coming,
Emery.”
    The boys watched Jeanne walk down the
sidewalk and pause in front of Philip’s house.
    “ Hi,” she said brightly. She carried
something in a brown paper shopping bag.
    “ What do you got?” asked
Emery.
    Philip said nothing, hoping she would go away
without answering.
    “ Poster paper,” said Jeanne with a
smile Philip did not appreciate. “Poster paint. Everything I
need.”
    “ For school?” Emery asked.
    “ Didn’t Philip tell you?” asked Jeanne.
Emery looked at Philip. Jeanne talked on. “He’s going to win the
twenty-five dollars in the Walk-Mor poster contest.”
    “ What’s the Walk-Mor poster contest?”
Emery asked. He directed his question to Philip, but Jeanne
answered first.
    “ You know the store at the
mall?”
    “ Yeah.”
    “ They have a contest to make a poster
for an advertisement for them. Philip said he’s going to win
it.”
    “ No, I didn’t,” said Philip
glumly.
    “ Yes, you did,” said Jeanne. “You said
you already had an idea. He bet me he would win.”
    “ I didn’t,” said Philip with some
anger. “I said my poster would
be better than your poster.”
    “ Same difference because my poster is
going to win the contest. So to beat me, your poster has to win the
contest.”
    Philip wondered why it sounded so convincing
when Jeanne said she would win the contest, and he sounded silly to
himself when he said he’d win.
    “ Why don’t you enter too, Emily?” said
Jeanne.
    Emery’s temper flared. “Stop calling me
Emily. It’s Emery, Emery. What’s wrong with you? I don’t like to
draw, if you must know.” He turned to Philip. “What’s your idea,
Philip?”
    “ I’m not telling you with Miss Big Ears
around. She’ll steal my idea.”
    Jeanne gave a loud, “Ha!” She smiled and
said, “Don’t need it. Got my own. My poster’ll be finished this
week. Make sure yours is done by next Saturday, Philip. Less than
two weeks. Don’t make any excuses about forgetting.” She started
away, swinging her shopping bag carelessly at her side. As she
went, she called over her shoulder, “Boy, those candy bars are sure
going to taste good.”
    “ What candy bars is she talking
about?”
    “ We bet five candy bars my poster would
beat her poster.”
    “ You really bet her? That was
dumb.”
    Philip didn’t respond.
    “ You know you bet somebody who never
loses anything, right? What’s your idea? Tell me. It better be a
good one.”
    “ I don’t