Eggs with Legs Read Free Page B

card in his mailbox. And he saw you near his bike. He said he’d have known anyway, because you’re the only one who makes little circles when you dot your
i
’s. He says he wants to go to a movie with you Saturday.”
    Now Molly burst into tears. “I thought you said Roger didn’t want a girlfriend!” she cried. “This was supposed to be a trick on Roger, not a trick on
me
!”
    “It backfired,” said Mary Beth. “How could I know that?”
    After a little while Mary Beth said, “There’s only one thing to do, I guess.”
    “Move to China or somewhere,” said Molly.
    Mary Beth thought about that. She shook her head. “Your dad and mom would have to get jobs there,” she said. “You can’t move alone. No, I think you’ll have to go out with him. He’ll get tired of it and then you can have a fight and break up and forget all about it.”
    Molly stared at Mary Beth. “Are you kidding?” she said. “I am not going to be Roger’s girlfriend!” It was fine for Mary Beth to suggest this awful thing.
She
didn’t have to do it! Even though the trick was both of theirs!
    “Well, what else can you do?” Mary Beth said.
    Molly sighed. “There’s always thetruth,” she said. “I’ll have to tell him it was a joke. An April Fool.”
    “He’ll really be mad then,” said Mary Beth. “He doesn’t like to be the butt of a joke.”
    “Well, he’s always doing it to other people,” said Molly.
    “But he’s not a good loser,” said Mary Beth. “He plays jokes, but he doesn’t let anyone play jokes on
him
.”
    “I’ll write him another letter,” said Molly, “and tell him it was an April Fool.”
    After Mary Beth left, that was what Molly did. She wrote that she was sorry and then she took the note (on nonsmelly paper) and put it in Roger’s mailbox. When she got home, the phone was ringing.
    “Why is Roger calling so often?” asked her dad.
    “He likes me,” Molly said, sighing. She took the phone from her dad.
    On the other end Roger said, “Hey, that was no trick. You really like me, I know you do. And Saturday we’ve got a date. I’m coming over to take you to a movie at two o’clock. Then my dad wants you to come over for dinner. You know, like one of the family.”
    Things were not getting better! Molly had heard about things like this on the TV talk shows! She would hide on Saturday! She would run away!
    All week Molly couldn’t think of anything except the “date”! As it got closer and closer she knew she couldn’t hide. Her parents would come looking for her when Roger arrived, and they would be very worried if they couldn’t find her. And if she ran away, they would be evenmore worried! It looked as if she had to face the music. Bite the bullet.
    It took all her courage to tell her parents she was going to a movie with Roger and over to his house afterward.
    Her father frowned and her mother smiled. “Well, I think it’s nice to get along with all your classmates, dear,” her mother said. “After all, Roger is a Pee Wee too.”
    But when Roger came to the door at two o’clock, he wasn’t alone. Sonny was with him, and so was Tim. When she opened the door, all three of them shouted, “April Fool!” and began to laugh.
    “I really had you fooled, didn’t I?” roared Roger. “You really thought I’d go to a movie with you! And ask you over for supper! Hey, that would be the day! That will teach you to play a joke on Roger White,” he said. “The April Fool is on you!”

    Sonny and Tim were bent over laughing with Roger now. Molly thought of acting hurt. But this trick had gone far enough. The buck stopped here, as she’d heard her dad say.
    “That was a good joke on me,” she told Roger.
    “You bet it was,” he roared. “It wasn’t a joke on
me
, it was on
you
,” he repeated. “Say it, tell me you were the Fool.”
    Molly sighed. This was awful. “It was your joke,” said Molly. “I was the Fool.”
    The boys ran down the street, whooping and