I had all these twisty-turny feelings in my tummy. I wiggled my arm from under the covers and grabbed my glasses. I pushed them up on my nose and peeked around the room. Gardenia was still fast asleep. Shhh . . . I slid slowly out of my bed and onto the floor. Maybe I could hide under my bed till it was too late to go to school. I needed more time to practice. The problem was, there was not much room under there, with all the dolls and stuffed animals, dirty clothes, and old, torn-up shoes. I made myself small like a ball, so every bit of me would be hidden. I could hear Mom walking in the hall, and then her sneakers came into the room and right up to my bed. I held my breath. “Wake up, girls,” Mom said, as she gently shook Gardenia and moved the covers around on my bed. “Bean, where are you?” I couldn’t hold my breath for one second longer or I would’ve passed out for sure. All the air in my lungs came shooting from of my mouth. It made Mom’s shoelaces blow in the wind. “Bean”—she stuck her head under the bed to see me—“what are you doing?”
