The next day Katie and Joy rode their bicycles to Boone Elementary School.
They were both excited.
Katie couldn't wait for everyone to see her new bangs.
And Joy wanted to tell everyone about the chickens.
"There's Luke!" shouted Joy.
She waved at a boy in a T-shirt that said "I DIG WORMS."
Luke was Katie and Joy's cousin.
"Joy," said Katie, "why don't you wait until Mr. Higgins starts the science lesson?
Then tell everybody about the chicks.
Learning about animals is part of science."
Joy hesitated. "Well, if you think so," she said.
"I guess I could wait until science."
But Katie didn't wait to share her news.
"Hey, Luke! I've got bangs!
Now nobody will mix me up with Joy!"
"Oh. That's good, I guess," Luke replied.
"How's your bait business?" asked Katie.
Luke collected earthworms and sold them to fishermen at the gas station.
"Excellent," said Luke.
"On Saturday I sold eight cups of worms for a dollar each.
Wait until summer.
I won't be able to keep up with the demand."
"Here comes Laura!" exclaimed Joy.
Laura Layman was in the third grade too.
"What's new?" Laura asked.
"I've got bangs," Katie blurted out.
"And I've got something exciting to tell everyone," Joy whispered to Laura.
"But I can't say it yet."
Ms. Olson, the school principal, stood outside the front door.
"Good morning, twins," she said. "Good morning, Luke, Laura."
"Good morning, Ms. Olson," said Katie.
"From now on remember—Katie is the one with bangs."
"Okay. That's nice to know," replied Ms. Olson.
Mr. Higgins waited by the door to the third-grade classroom.
"Hello, Luke. Hello, Laura," he said. "Hello, twins."
"Katie here," stated Katie. "I'm the one with bangs."
She thought, "It's going to be a great day."
The first activity of the day was a math worksheet.
Katie got three division problems wrong.
Joy solved them all.
During spelling time Katie spelled "cheese" with a z instead of an s.
Joy spelled every word right.
When it was time for art, Katie's clay horse would not stand up.
But Joy's clay sheep looked perfect.
"What is happening to my great day?" wondered Katie.
She had a feeling that things would get worse.
Science was next, and that meant Joy would soon have everyone's attention.
First, Luke showed the class a creepy earthworm he dug up.
It was 23 centimeters long!
Next, Joy raised her hand.
Katie jumped out of her seat. "Guess what?"
Mr. Higgins and the class looked at Katie.
"We're getting baby chickens," said Katie.
She heard Joy gasp.
"That's big news," said Mr. Higgins. "How old will they be?"
"Um, they'll be really little," Katie said quickly.
"One day old," Joy answered.
Mr. Higgins turned to Joy. "Oh," he said.
Then he looked back at Katie.
"How many chicks are you getting?"
"Maybe three," replied Katie.
She looked over at Joy, who narrowed her eyes at Katie.
"Six," Joy corrected her.
"What do chicks eat?" asked Mr. Higgins.
"Are you getting a rooster?" asked Luke.
"Will they miss their mother?" asked Laura.
Katie was sorry that she had opened her big mouth.
She had ruined things for Joy.
And now she couldn't answer a single question.
She looked over at Joy.
"Well," Joy said, taking over, "first, they will have special feed."
She pulled out her chicken catalog, and everyone gathered around Joy's desk.
"Here are the kinds of chickens we picked out," she explained proudly.
Katie stayed at her desk, listening in silence.