Don't Tap-Dance on Your Teacher Page 3

  Emma swallowed. Then she tapped across the stage.

  I leaned on my crutches and crossed my fingers.

  The music was loud and echoey.

  Boy, that was a giant audience.

  From the stage, it looked like a monster with too many heads.

  When the tinkly mouse part of the music played, Emma made teensy tapping steps. She even smiled a little.

  When the elephant part of the music played, Emma just stood there. Waiting.

  Since I wasn’t there to stomp.

  To tell you the truth, it did look just a little bit silly.

  You could tell an elephant was supposed to be on the stage too.

  The elephant stomping part stopped. The tinkly music came back.

  And Emma started dancing her mouse part again.

  She was tapping her heart out.

  Being the very best mouse she could be.

  And I was hiding behind a curtain.

  Being a chicken.

  The elephant music came back.

  Emma stopped tapping.

  She wasn’t smiling anymore. In fact, she looked a little sad.

  I could hear kids whispering, and I thought about the big boys watching Emma dance all alone.

  Without an elephant in sight.

  I dropped my crutches.

  I kicked off my sneakers.

  I shoved on my tap shoes.

  And I tapped right onto that stage.

  Emma stared at me. Her mouth made an O shape.

  I think maybe she was in chalk.

  That’s when you can’t believe what your eyes are saying.

  “I’m cured!” I whispered. “It’s a miracle!”

  The elephant music played on.

  I clomped like a pro.

  The mouse music played.

  Emma twinkle-tapped like she’d been dancing forever.

  We tapped and clapped and twirled.

  I was so busy making noise with my feet, I forgot all about the big boys.

  I forgot all about my busted body and my broken left appendix.

  I forgot all about whether tap dancing was just for girls or just for boys or maybe just for everybody.

  I also forgot all about the edge of the stage.

  I twinkle-tapped right off that stage like a giant flying mouse-elephant-boy.

  I probably would have busted my whole body for real.

  If I’d landed on the floor.

  But lucky for me, old Mrs. Herman saved the day!

  Her guest-of-honor table was right next to the stage.

  So instead of the floor, I landed on her table.

  And her. A little bit.

  I knocked over her coffee cup and crumbled her cookies.

  But I just kept on tapping away.

  Because the show must go on.

  Mrs. Herman kept saying, “Oh, my! Oh, my!”

  Maybe she was just amazed at my fancy footwork.

  Or maybe it was because I sort of tapped on her sweater sleeve a couple times.

  Finally the music ended and it was time for our bows.

  I did a great one. Except I sort of got tangled in my tap-shoe ties.

  And plopped right into Mrs. Herman’s lap.

  Everybody clapped like crazy.

  I looked up at Emma on the stage.

  She waved at me and smiled.

  Then she did an elephant clomp, just for fun.

  She made a glorious pachyderm.

  14

  Good-Bye from Time-Out

  That evening, Mrs. Herman called my house.

  She asked my mom how my busted body was.

  After that, I had a little bit of explaining to do.

  Mom called Mr. Oshkosh after I told her the whole story.

  I told him I was sorry for faking a smushed body.

  He said he’d had a feeling I would make a full recovery.

  Dad and Mom talked to me for a long time.

  About how I should do what makes me happy.

  Not what other people think is right for me.

  And they explained how there’s no such thing as boy stuff or girl stuff.

  Then I explained that sometimes they make me more confused when they are trying to un-confuse me.

  Especially when it’s complicated things like boys and girls.

  Dad said not to worry. Because he’s still trying to figure that stuff out.

  Mom laughed. Then she threw a pillow at him.

  Sitting here in time-out, I have figured out one thing, at least.

  I’m going to take lots more tap classes.

  And guess what?

  After the show, Dewan and Gus both asked me how they could sign up for tap lessons.

  And Wyatt actually asked if he could try my tap shoes on.

  So I let him.

  He said he wanted to see if the tappers would be good for smushing ants.

  But I could tell he liked that clickety-clack noise as much as I do.

  Well, almost as much.

  I like it so much I am going to keep taking dance lessons forever and ever, I think.

  Emma says she will too.

  She was right about how much fun we’d have.

  Emma is almost always right.

  10 NOISES I REALLY LOVE

  by Me, Roscoe Riley

  1. New sneakers squeaking on the gym floor

  2. Skateboards racing down the sidewalk

  3. Frog croaks

  4. Lion roars

  5. Cat purrs

  6. Drums in a marching band

  7. Thunder

  (when your mom and dad are with you)

  8. Fireworks

  (when your mom and dad are with you)

  9. Tap dancing in a mud puddle

  10. Tap dancing anywhere!

  About the Author

  KATHERINE APPLEGATEs has never owned tap shoes, but she likes the clickety sound they make. She can do an excellent bubble-gum pop, and recently learned how to make armpit farts using a straw.* Katherine lives in a very noisy household in California, with her husband, two kids, and assorted pets.

  Visit www.AuthorTracker.com for exclusive information on your favorite HarperCollins author.

  The Roscoe Riley Rules books

  by Katherine Applegate

  Roscoe Riley Rules #1: Never Glue Your Friends to Chairs

  Roscoe Riley Rules #2: Never Swipe a Bully’s Bear

  Roscoe Riley Rules #3: Don’t Swap Your Sweater for a Dog

  Roscoe Riley Rules #4: Never Swim in Applesauce

  Copyright

  ROSCOE RILEY RULES #5: DON’T TAP-DANCE ON YOUR TEACHER. Text copyright © 2009 by Katherine Applegate. Illustrations copyright © 2009 by Brian Biggs. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.

  EPub © Edition SEPTEMBER 2009 ISBN: 9780061850882

  10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

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  *Place bendy straw in armpit. Blow. Enjoy.