A Flying Birthday Cake? Read Free Page A

around and swallowed. “This is delicious!”he exclaimed.

    “Told you,” said Linzy.
    Joe finished his bowl of Jell-O, then ate a second bowlful, and then a third.
    “I like Joe,” Linzy said to Marvin, while Joe slurped his Jell-O. “He’s not like Nick and Stuart. They’re weird.”

8
Wizzle-fish
    “Do you want to call your parents and let them know you’re here?” Marvin asked.
    “I already told them,” said Joe.
    Marvin tried to figure out when he could have done that. They’d been together since the flagpole.
    The front door opened, and Jacob came home, along with his friend Nate. Marvin was suddenly afraid that Joe might say something that would embarrass him.
    Jacob and Nate went to middle school. Marvin admired his older brother. He thought all of his brother’s friends werecool, but Nate was the coolest. Usually, Jacob and Nate were nice to Marvin, but sometimes they treated him like he was a stupid little kid.
    “Hey, Mar,” said Jacob as he tossed his backpack onto a chair.
    “Hi,” said Marvin. “C’mon, Joe. Let’s go up to my room.” He wanted to get out of there fast, before Joe said something weird.
    “What are you guys doing?” asked Nate.
    “Nothing,” said Marvin.
    “You want to play wizzle-fish?” asked Joe.
    Marvin felt himself redden. “They don’t want to play,” he said. Jacob and Nate never played with Marvin and his friends.
    “How do you play?” asked Linzy.
    “Everybody needs two wizzles,” said Joe.“But you probably don’t have any wizzles.”
    “No, we don’t,” said Marvin.
    “Paper plates might work,” said Joe.
    “We have paper plates,” said Linzy. “Left over from my birthday, don’t we, Jacob?”
    “Sure,” said Jacob. He went to the pantry and got a small stack of paper plates. “They even have fish on them,” he said.
    The plates were blue and green and filled with brightly colored fish.
    “How do you play?” asked Nate.
    Marvin couldn’t believe it.
    “Here, I’ll show you,” said Joe.
    They went in the backyard to play.
    Everyone got two paper plates. They had to try to walk from one end of the yard to the other, stepping only on their plates. It was hard. Marvin had to step onthe plate in front of him while he picked up the plate behind him. Then he would toss that plate in front of him and step on it as he picked up the plate he stepped off of.
    He was surprised by how much fun it was. Even more surprising, Jacob and Nate had fun, too.
    “Why is it called ‘wizzle-fish’?” asked Nate.
    “Lake Wizzle is a real lake,” Joe explained. “Big, flat fish swim around, right at the surface. People try to walk all the way across the lake, stepping only on the wizzle-fish.”
    “Really?” asked Jacob. “No way!”
    “I’d like to try that,” said Nate.
    “It’s dangerous,” said Joe. “Sharks swim underneath the wizzle-fish at the bottomof the lake. So if you fall off the wizzle-fish, the sharks will get you.”
    “Cool,” said Jacob.
    “And wizzle-fish aren’t like paper plates,” said Joe. “They move around and wiggle, and are slimy and slippery.”
    “Have you ever stepped on a
real
wizzle-fish?” asked Linzy.

    “Lots of times,” said Joe. “But I always stay close to the shore. The sharks are in the middle of the lake.”
    “What does it feel like to step on a fish?” Linzy asked.
    “It tickles a little bit,” said Joe.
    “You’re making this up,” said Jacob. “He’s making this up, isn’t he, Marvin?”
    Marvin wasn’t sure. Although as far as he knew, sharks didn’t live in lakes. Sharks lived only in salt water.
    “Where is Lake Wizzle?” asked Nate.
    Joe looked up at the sky and said, “Chicago.”
    Jacob nudged Marvin with his elbow and said, “Your friend Joe is cool. Not like those other two dorks you hang out with.”

9
How People Eat Pizza
in Chicago
    Marvin invited Joe to spend the night.
    “Were you born in Chicago, Joe?” Marvin’s mother asked him as they sat down for