Cowboy Colt Read Free

ache.
    â€œRashawn!”
    â€œCassie!”
    Both girls squeal and hug as if they haven’t seen each other for weeks. Cassandra Bennet is as popular as Ashley Harper. She could have anybody in fourth grade as her best friend. And she chose Rashawn. Good choice. I’m friends with them too.
    Only I’m the third . Every time I’ve been the third friend in a group of three girls, I’ve always known where I stood. Rashawn and Cassie couldn’t be nicer to me. And I’m grateful to have them as friends. But I know they’re best friends with each other.
    Like Ashley and Larissa are best friends.
    And Brooks and Dylan.
    And Colt and me. Or at least, I thought we were.
    â€œSee you later, Ellie!” Ashley calls as Larissa drags her away.
    Cassie asks about Dream. She and Rashawn and I talk for a minute. Then the two of them start talking about some TV show they watch.
    I wander off to my desk. Around me I hear kids talking and laughing. I realize I haven’t said good morning to God yet. So I do that. I think about how Jesus never makes me feel like a third. Mom says my granny’s favorite song was “What a Friend We Have in Jesus.” Granny’s right again.
    The bell rings. We settle in while Principal Fishpaw reads announcements and tells us what’s for lunch. He tells a joke about two fish. Nobody laughs.
    â€œWhat is going on?” Miss Hernandez, our teacher, shouts.
    I look up to see envelopes flying overhead. One lands on my desk. Somebody grabs it and flings it like a Frisbee across the room. There are at least a dozen envelopes sailing over desks.
    Then I realize they’re invitations to Colt’s party. And he’s the one throwing them.
    Miss Hernandez grabs an envelope in midair. She opens it. “What is this?” She reads it silently. “A party invitation?” She frowns at Colt. “Colt, you know our rule about not handing out party invitations in the classroom.”
    â€œYeah,” he says.
    Miss Hernandez tilts her head to the side. She only does this when she’s starting to get angry. She made the no-invitation rule after Larissa brought hers to class. Only, Larissa invited just half of our class. I didn’t get an invitation. Neither did a couple of other girls, who cried when they didn’t get invited. That’s when our teacher said no more invitations.
    â€œUm, Miss Hernandez?” I say. “Colt’s inviting everybody. Everyone in class gets an invitation.”
    Her head straightens up on her shoulders again. “Oh.” The mad drains out of her. “Well, I’m glad about that. Still, I’d rather you do this after school. All right?”
    Colt shrugs.
    School starts for real. We begin with reading, which I love, and move to math, which I don’t.
    I try to listen to the number questions. But it feels like the numbers float over my head. They don’t stay in my brain.
    I turn and stare out the window.
    I do some of my best daydreaming while looking out this window. Only now that I have my own horse, my daydreams have changed a little.
    I wake up, and the first sound I hear is a nicker. It’s soft as my pillow. I know it’s Ellie’s Dream. I go to the window and open it. She sticks her head inside. I kiss her good morning and stroke her blaze. Then I climb out the window and jump on her, bareback. “Let’s get Colt,” I whisper.
    We lope across the road to Colt’s. The sun is beginning to rise. And there’s Colt, waiting. He’s sitting on his quarter horse, doing rope tricks. He waves his cowboy hat. We take off at full gallops, my best friend on his horse and me on mine.
    â€œEllie?” Miss Hernandez is standing over my desk. “Did you hear the question?”
    â€œI . . . uh . . .” I look behind her, to Colt’s desk. He always bails me out at times like this, when I’ve been daydreaming. I study his