Dunces Anonymous Read Free Page A

ordinary chicken underneath. Josh didn’t mind eating ordinary chicken; in fact, he liked ordinary chicken. That was his mom though—she’d never serve ordinary chicken for supper. Just like she didn’t want him to be ordinary Josh—he had to be Josh, the class president.
    â€œDon’t worry, Mom,” he said, trying to cheer her up. “I started a new club at school and guess what? I’m the president.”
    â€œWell, that’s good,” said his mother. “What’s the club called?”
    â€œDun…” He caught himself just in time. Mom would flip if she knew he’d started a club called Dunces Anonymous. He took a big gulp of milk to give himself time to think.
    â€œDunno yet,” he said. “It’s just a club where kids can get together and talk about, you know, their ambitions for the future.”
    Ambitions for the future . Mom would like that, and it wasn’t exactly a lie.
    â€œThat sounds great, honey,” Mom said. “You could call it Young Leaders of the Future.”
    Josh gagged on his chicken. That was exactly what he wouldn’t call it.
    â€œYeah, maybe,” he mumbled. “I’d have to ask the other kids in the club.”
    His mother smiled.
    â€œDemocracy is good, honey,” she said, “but a leader has to lead.”
    Josh stared back at his mom. Sometimes he didn’t get her. If a leader has to lead, why was she always trying to boss him around?
    â€œWell, good for you, honey, for landing on your feet!” his mother continued, spearing another piece of chicken. “Young Leaders of the Future. I’ll have to tell Stacey Hogarth’s mother about it the next time I see her.”
    â€œNo! Don’t tell her…,” Josh protested. His mother interrupted him.
    â€œNow, Josh, you shouldn’t be so modest about your accomplishments. Right?” She reached over and lifted his chin. “Right?”
    â€œRight, Mom,” Josh mumbled. She smiled and kept eating, but Josh could barely choke down another bite of his chicken, even with the nuts scraped off. Why had he said anything to his mom?
    If his mom talked to Stacey’s mom, Stacey’s mom would talk to Stacey. And if Stacey thought Josh had started a Leadership club, she’d want to join—that’s the kind of girl Stacey was.
    But they couldn’t let Stacey join Dunces Anonymous. If she did, she’d ruin everything.

THREE

MONTAGUES AND CATAPULTS
    â€œ R omeo and Juliet ! Sheesh!” Magnolia plucked the book from her backpack and flung it emphatically onto her mother’s favorite floral armchair.
    The gesture was completely lost on Josh and Wang. The two boys had taken over the red velvet sofa and were madly thumbing a pair of video-game remote controls, filling the Montcrieffs’ living room with gunshots and explosions. Magnolia picked up the master remote and clicked off the TV .
    â€œHey! We were just about to get to level nine!” Wang protested.
    â€œI thought we were having a meeting!” said Magnolia.
    â€œOh, yeah. Sorry,” said Josh.
    â€œWell, we’d better get down to it,” said Magnolia. “The auditions for the school play are this Friday. What are we going to do?”
    Josh glanced nervously at the swinging door that led from the living room into the kitchen.
    â€œDon’t you think we should keep our voices down?” he said.
    Magnolia had to admit that her living room wasn’t the best place in the world to hold a meeting, what with two parents and three nosy younger brothers running around the house. But that bossy Stacey Hogarth had taken over Mr. Bogg’s classroom for her Bake Sale Organizing Committee right after she was elected president, and there was no place else for them to go.
    Magnolia had warned her two middle brothers, Randy and Robin, to stay out of the living room. But she couldn’t very well stop her mother from