Be Brave, Willa Bean! Page 3

  It was hard for Willa Bean to concentrate in school. Her wiggly-jiggly feeling was out of control. It was spilling out of her wings. It was coming out of her fingertips and shooting out of her toes!

  Miss Twizzle was teaching the class how to write Nifty Notes. They were a very important part of being a cupid.

  “Pay attention, cupids,” Miss Twizzle said. “Sometimes on Earth, you will see children who are sad. Most of the time, you will use one of your friendship arrows to make them feel better. But you don’t always have to do that. You can leave a Nifty Note instead. Nifty Notes are just one or two words written on a piece of paper. You put them in a secret place for the Earth child to find. They will make him or her feel happy again. All right, let’s practice.”

  Miss Twizzle wrote, “Cheer up!” on the board.

  Willa Bean copied it into her notebook with her quill pen. That was a good Nifty Note. She jiggled her leg and wiggled her wings. This was fun.

  Next, Miss Twizzle wrote, “You’re sweet!”

  Willa Bean squiggled in her seat. She copied that Nifty Note into her notebook, too. But it was getting harder and harder to pay attention.

  Three more Nifty Notes went into their notebooks.

  “Hang on!”

  “You rock!”

  “Be brave!”

  Next, Miss Twizzle asked the class to think up their own Nifty Note. She told them to write it in their notebooks. Willa Bean thought and thought. She nibbled on the end of her quill pen. Finally, she wrote something down.

  “Who would like to put their Nifty Note on the board?” Miss Twizzle asked.

  Willa Bean raised her hand. So did Vivi.

  “All right, Willa Bean,” Miss Twizzle said. “You can go first.”

  Willa Bean jumped out of her chair. She ran through the space between the desks. She almost tripped over Pedro’s foot.

  “Hey!” said Pedro. “That was my foot!”

  “Sorry!” Willa Bean whispered. “My feet are a little wiggly today.”

  Willa Bean stood in front of the board. Then she wrote out her Nifty Note. It said, “Let’s fly!”

  She turned around and looked at Miss Twizzle. She was very proud of herself. She knew that any Earth child would love to go flying with her.

  But Miss Twizzle looked worried. She scratched her nose and shook her head. “No, Willa Bean,” she said. “Remember when we talked about this? People on Earth aren’t like us. They don’t have wings. They can’t fly.”

  “Oh.” Willa Bean could feel her cheeks get hot. She had forgotten that lesson. “Well, how do they get around, then?” she asked.

  Miss Twizzle looked out at the class. “Can anyone remind Willa Bean how Earth people get around?”

  A lot of hands went up. Vivi waved hers back and forth like a flag. Pedro stood up out of his seat. Even Harper leaned forward.

  “Oh, oh!” she said. “Pick me, Miss Twizzle! Pick me!”

  “All right, Harper,” Miss Twizzle said. “Tell Willa Bean how Earth people get around since they don’t have wings.”

  “They walk and run like us,” Harper said. “But when they want to get somewhere super-fast, they have to go in a plane. Planes have wings, but not like ours. They’re fake.”

  “Thank you, Harper.” Miss Twizzle looked at Willa Bean. “Now, can you think of something else you might say in your Nifty Note?”

  Willa Bean stared at her toes. She wiggled them inside her sandals. Then she looked up. “How about ‘Be wiggly’?” she asked.

  Miss Twizzle wrinkled her forehead. “ ‘Be wiggly’?” she repeated.

  “Yeah!” Willa Bean jumped up and down. She shook her wings back and forth. “Like this! So they can have fun! And be happy!”

  Miss Twizzle sighed. “Well, I’m not sure if they would understand what you have in mind, exactly. But you can write that down for now.”

  Willa Bean turned back around. She wrote the words carefully on the blackboard. “Be wiggly!” She thought it was a wonderful Nifty Note.

  Afterward, as everyone lined up for recess, Miss Twizzle came over to Willa Bean.

  “Willa Bean,” Miss Twizzle whispered. “Do you by any chance have ants in your pants today?”

  Willa Bean giggled. “No, Miss Twizzle. I’m just excited. I’m having my first-ever sleepover at my house tonight! With Harper! And I’m full of the wigglies just thinking about it!”

  “Oh.” Miss Twizzle smiled. “Well, now I understand. But the final bell is a little ways off, Willa Bean. You need to try to stay calm until then. Do you think you can do that?”

  “Well,” Willa Bean said, “I will try my hardest.”

  Willa Bean did try her hardest. In fact, she tried so hard to keep her wigglies under control that she completely forgot about the Tip-Top game at recess.

  “You’re up, Willa Bean!” Pedro said as everyone went outside. “You’re the last one from yesterday! Let’s see how high you can get!”

  The cupids formed a circle around Willa Bean.

  “Come on, Willa Bean!” Harper yelled. “I bet you can beat me! I bet you can go even higher!”

  “Start off super-fast,” Raymond said. He pulled his little red hat down around his ears. “That way, you won’t wobble.”

  Willa Bean stared at Raymond’s red hat. Her hands had already started to shake. Should she ask him if she could borrow it? She looked up. She tried to see the bottom of the baby cloud above her. But it was too high. There was nothing up there except sky. And then more sky.

  “Go, Willa Bean!” said Lola. “You can do it!”

  Willa Bean rubbed one of her eyes.

  She straightened her back.

  She raised her arms over her head and pressed her fingertips together.

  She would have to go higher than she had ever gone in her whole entire life. And what if her wings got too tired? What if they just pooped out and stopped working altogether? And then she fell? Who would catch her?

  She dropped her arms. “I don’t feel like it,” she said.

  The cupids stared at her.

  “Why not?” Harper asked finally.

  Willa Bean shrugged. She walked over and sat down on one of the orange swings. “I just changed my mind,” she said. “I don’t want to play this game.”

  “But you have to play!” Raymond insisted. “It’s Tip-Top! Everyone gets a turn!”

  “Well, I give my turn to someone else,” Willa Bean said. “ ’Cause I don’t want it.”

  Raymond and Pedro looked at each other. “That’s not how we play,” Pedro said. “Those aren’t the rules.”

  Willa Bean bit her lip. She stared at her sandals.

  “I know what’s wrong,” Vivi said. She pushed her way to the front of the cupid group. “Willa Bean’s scared to go up high. That’s why she doesn’t want to play. She’s a big scaredy-star!”

  Willa Bean jumped out of her swing. “Am not!” she said.

  “Yes, you are,” Vivi said. “You’re just a big baby, Willa Bean Skylight, and you know it!”

  “And you’re the meanest cupid in the whole uvinerse!” Willa Bean shouted back.

  “Am not!” Vivi hollered.

  “Are too!” Willa Bean hollered back.

  “Cupids!” Miss Twizzle came running over. She looked annoyed. “What are you two fighting about now?”

  “Willa Bean said that Vivi was the meanest cupid in the whole universe,” Raymond said.

  “But that’s just because Vivi called Willa Bean a scaredy-star,” Harper offered. “Which was not very nice at all.”

  “Neither of those things are very nice,” Miss Twizzle said. She looked at Vivi. Then she looked at Willa Bean. “And I am getting tired of having to step between the two of you every day. If you can’t remember the Cupid Rule in my classroom, I am going to have to send both of you to the principal. Is that understood?”

  Vivi wrinkled her nose. She poked at the ground with her shoe and nodded her head.

  Willa Bean squeezed her eyes shut tight.
She hated to disappoint Miss Twizzle. She nodded her head, too. “Yes, Miss Twizzle,” she whispered.

  “All right, then,” Miss Twizzle said. “Now, it sounds as if this game is causing too many hurt feelings. So I want all of you to play something else.”

  “I know!” Pedro yelled. “Let’s play Wingtag! I’m it!”

  Willa Bean opened her eyes. She smiled at her teacher.

  Miss Twizzle always knew just what to say.

  She was the best teacher in the whole entire world. Maybe even in the whole entire uvinerse.

  “Good-bye, Mr. Bibby!” Willa Bean and Harper yelled. They were getting off the cloudbus at their cloudstop.

  “Just a minute, you two.” Mr. Bibby sat up in his seat. He straightened his purple-and-pink bow tie.

  Willa Bean stopped walking. So did Harper.

  Mr. Bibby looked at them carefully. “Do either of you happen to know anything about a Snoogy Bar mess in the backseat?” he asked.

  Willa Bean looked at Harper.

  Harper looked back at Willa Bean.

  “Snoogy Bar?” Willa Bean said. “What Snoogy Bar?”

  Mr. Bibby gave Willa Bean a stern look. “I know best friends stick together,” he said. “But they still have to tell the truth. Even when it’s about each other.”

  Harper sighed. “It was me, Mr. Bibby. I got blueberry goo all over my hands, and I didn’t have a tissue, so I wiped it on the seat.” She blinked her big eyes. “I’m sorry.”

  “Well, I cleaned it up this time,” Mr. Bibby said. “But if it happens again, you will have to stay and clean it yourself.”

  Harper nodded. “I won’t do it again,” she said. “I promise.”

  “All right, then.” Mr. Bibby smiled at the girls. “Go ahead now. Have a good weekend.”

  “We’re having a sleepover!” Willa Bean said.

  “Is that so?” Mr. Bibby asked. “What fun! I want to hear all about it on Moonday!”

  “Okay, Mr. Bibby!” said Harper. “See you later!”

  And with a chug and two bursts, the cloudbus took off.

  “Hello, Harper!” Mama said as the girls got home. “It’s so nice to see you again!” She was sitting on the kitchen floor, rolling a red rubber star-bubble ball to Baby Louie. It was his favorite toy.

  Harper put her wingsack on the kitchen table. She got down on the floor next to Baby Louie. “Hi, Mrs. Skylight,” she said. “I can’t wait to sleep over. Thanks for inviting me.”

  “You’re most welcome,” said Mama.

  Willa Bean sat next to Harper. They played ball with Baby Louie for a few minutes. But it got pretty boring. Especially since Baby Louie couldn’t throw. Or catch. Plus, whenever he got the ball, he drooled all over it.

  It made a slobbery, disgusting mess.

  “C’mon, Harper,” Willa Bean said. “Let’s go up to my room.”

  “Some of Ariel’s friends are here already,” Mama said. “Make sure you don’t get in their way up there. I don’t want to hear any bickering!”

  “Okay, Mama!” Willa Bean said. But she stopped when she came to Ariel’s door. She pressed her ear against it. So did Harper. They could hear shrieks and giggles inside. There was a yell. Then more shrieks.

  Harper looked at Willa Bean. “What are they doing in there?” she asked.

  Willa Bean shrugged. “Maybe a pillow fight?”

  Suddenly, Ariel’s door flew open. “Are you out here snooping on us?” Ariel’s blond hair was a mess. Her wings were mussed and wrinkly. The feathers on top were bent over. Behind her, three other cupids poked their heads out. They were a mess, too.

  Willa Bean took a step back. So did Harper. Then Willa Bean started to laugh. She couldn’t help it. Her big sister looked so funny with her hair all over the place, and her wings bent and wrinkly.

  “What are you laughing at?” Ariel yelled.

  “Your hair!” Willa Bean giggled. “And your wings! You look so silly!”

  “You get out of here, Willa Bean!” Ariel said. “And if I find you snooping out here again, I’ll go down and tell Mama!” She leaned in close. “And then Mama will make Harper leave!”

  Harper tugged on Willa Bean’s arm. “C’mon, Willa Bean,” she said. “Let’s go in your room.”

  Ariel slammed her door.

  Willa Bean and Harper went inside Willa Bean’s room.

  They sat down on the floor. Harper emptied her wingsack. They spread out everything they were going to need on the rug:

  One green flashlight

  Six rubber spiders

  One lightning-and-thunder noisemaker

  One can of lavender mooncream

  Next, Harper and Willa Bean made their plan.

  They laughed and giggled. They covered their mouths so that no one could hear.

  It was a perfect plan.

  It was incredibly exciting.

  And it was going to scare the woolly-bully-wing-wang out of Ariel and her friends!

  After dinner, Willa Bean and Harper snuck upstairs. Mama and Daddy were in the den, playing with Baby Louie. Ariel and her friends were in the kitchen, making a super batch of peanut butter Snoogy Bars. Willa Bean and Harper had the whole upstairs to themselves. It was the perfect time to start their plan.

  They crept into Ariel’s room. They squirted gobs of mooncream under Ariel’s pillow. They hid two rubber spiders in her bed. Willa Bean was about to put the lightning-and-thunder noisemaker behind the door when she stopped.

  “Oh!” she gasped.

  Harper whirled around. She had two more rubber spiders in her hand. “What’s wrong?” she whispered.

  Willa Bean pointed behind Ariel’s door. “Look!” she said.

  Harper stared at the golden arrow lying on the floor. “Is that one of your dad’s arrows?” she whispered.

  Willa Bean nodded. “Ariel must’ve snuck it up here after Daddy got home,” she said. “I betcha they’re all going to sneak off to Cloud Two later, so Ariel can try to use it in her bow. She just wants to show off to all her friends!”

  “What if one of Ariel’s friends touches it?” Harper asked. “Won’t it be ruined?”

  Willa Bean nodded. “Daddy won’t ever be able to use it again if one of Ariel’s friends touches it. Golden arrows can only be touched by family! Else they won’t work!”

  “Wizzle-dizzle-doodad!” Harper said. “Ariel’s gonna get into some serious trouble if your dad finds out!”

  “Let’s get out of here,” Willa Bean said. “I don’t want Daddy to think we had anything to do with this!”

  Willa Bean and Harper crept back into Willa Bean’s room. They sat on her bed and played two games of Go Planet. Harper won the first game, and Willa Bean won the second. Snooze sat on top of Willa Bean’s pillow and watched them play.

  Next, they sorted through their treasures. Willa Bean brought out her three copper coins, a black-and-white-striped feather, and two silver rings. Harper had found a white marble, three hot-pink feathers, and an oval bead. The two cupids cleaned each treasure with a soft cloth. Then they dropped them in Willa Bean’s leather pouch. Tomorrow, they would fly to Cloud Five and put everything in their treasure chest.

  After they were done with the treasure, they built a fort out of Willa Bean’s blankets. Snooze pretended to be the guard. He marched up and down outside the fort. “Hup, two, three, four,” he said, keeping his wings straight. “Hup! Hup!”

  “You’re a very good fort guard,” Willa Bean said.

  “Thank you,” said Snooze. “I aim to please.” He settled himself on the window ledge and looked back at Willa Bean and Harper. “Well, it’s time for me to be off,” he said.

  “Where are you going tonight?” Willa Bean asked.

  “I have some unfinished business in Morocco,” Snooze said. “There are a few family members I still want to visit. I’ll see you in the morning, chéries.” And with a wiggle of his tail and three flaps of his wings, he sailed off into the night sky.

  It was very dark outside wh
en Ariel and her friends finally came back upstairs. Willa Bean and Harper ran to Ariel’s door and listened. But there were no screams about spiders. No yelling about lavender mooncream. And no jumping up and down under the lightning-and-thunder noisemaker. Instead, they heard Ariel’s window open.

  Willa Bean couldn’t stand it anymore. She pushed open Ariel’s door a tiny crack. Then she peeked inside. One by one, the older cupids flew out the window and disappeared into the black night. Ariel was in the very front, with Daddy’s golden arrow in her hand. Ding, her pet dragonfly, flew next to her.

  “Let’s go!” Harper whispered. She yanked on Willa Bean’s sleeve. “We can follow them!”

  But Willa Bean took a step away from the dark window. And then another. “No way,” she said. “It’s too cold out there.”

  “You won’t even feel the cold when you’re flying!” Harper said. She pulled on Willa Bean’s sleeve again. “Come on! It’ll be fun! And it’s super-dark, so we can just hide under the cloud! They won’t even see us!”

  Willa Bean looked out the window. She could see the moon. It was shaped like a crescent. It looked like a tiny white thumbnail. Around it, the sky was an inky black. She shook her head. “Let’s make our Snoogy Bars,” she said. “Mama bought some chocolate.”

  Harper’s shoulders sagged. “Who wants to eat now?” she asked. “This is exciting! This will be an adventure!”

  “I don’t feel like it,” Willa Bean said.

  “Oh please, Willa Bean!” Harper said. “Pleasepleasepleaseplease?”

  “I can’t,” Willa Bean said. “I think I’m coming down with a cold. Maybe the same one Snooze got. From Morocco. It could be a spicy cold. Those are very hard to get better from.”

  “Oh, Willa Bean.” Harper slumped down on the floor. “You’re no fun.”

  Willa Bean didn’t like it when her best friend said things like that. She was fun! But how could she tell Harper—who had won the whole entire game of Tip-Top at school—that she was afraid? That following Ariel meant having to do two of the things that scared her the most? Flying high. In the dark. At the same time!