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    A Noodle Up Your Nose

    Chapter One Kate M'Mate Chapter Two Late Jake Chapter Three Pirate Plans

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     “Only twenty more days till my birthday!” sang Kate Morris, jumping up and down on her bed. “Only twenty more days till I'm seven!”

    Kate flopped down on her stomach.

    Seven was her lucky number. Seven was the year she was going to learn how to ride a two-wheeler, swim in the deep end and rollerblade down her street. Her best friend, Jake promised he'd help her learn. He was seven-and-a-half and could do all those things already.

    Kate was glad she was having a party this year. Last year she had the flu on her birthday. Then her mom and dad had the flu. No one could visit them for two weeks. But this year 3

    she was going to have the best party.

    The only trouble was it was going to be too big. Her parents insisted she invite her whole class.

    “I can't invite Leo,” Kate had protested. “He shoots spitballs into my hair at recess.”

    “I'll make sure he doesn't spit anything in

    our house,” said her dad, but her dad didn't know how sneaky Leo could be.

    “I can't invite Brad,” said Kate. “His nose is always runny, and he wipes the goop on his sleeve.”

    “I'll make sure we have plenty of tissues,” said Kate's mom.

    “I can't invite Violet,” said Kate. “She's so bossy, she always wants everyone to do everything her way.”

    “Just boss her back,” said Kate's dad.

    Kate sighed. That was easy for her dad to say. No one could boss Violet back. Violet 4

always got her way.

    At least Jake would be at her party. Kate smiled when she thought about how his curly red hair looked like a tangled forest even after he combed it. She thought about how before any adventure, he'd say, “Come on Kate M'Mate,” like they were pirates.

    So who cared if spitball Leo, drippy-nosed Brad and bossy-mouth Violet came to her party? 5

It would still be fun as long as Jake was there.

The first person to greet Kate at school the next

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    morning was Violet. She cornered Kate near the coat hooks.

    “Are you having a party this year?” Violet asked, brushing her long blonde hair. Violet was always brushing her hair. Before Kate could answer, Violet burbled on. “My party is in November and it's going to be amazing. My mom's hiring the best magician in town, Magic Merlin. She's ordering a three-tiered birthday cake from Cake Delight, the best bakery in the world. And wait till you see the gorgeous dress I'm getting from Fun Frocks, that new store that sells the cutest stuff. Oh, there's Lila. Gotta go.”

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    And with that, Violet buzzed off to brag about her amazing birthday party to Lila.

    Kate was glad she didn't have to discuss her party with Violet. She wasn't having Magic 8

    Merlin entertain at her party. She and her mom were baking her birthday cake together. And she hated dresses, so she wasn't going to wear one, even on her birthday. But she was going to wear great socks. They were red and black stripes. Perfect for a pirate.

    Maybe she'd even wear her red shirt and black pants and pull her straight brown hair back into a ponytail. Maybe she'd cover her eye with a black patch and borrow her mom's red scarf to wear as a sash. Maybe she'd have a pirate party!

    Kate was so busy dreaming about her party that she didn't hear the first bell ring.

    “Kate, hurry!” called Jake, zooming past her into his seat.

    Kate raced into her seat just as the second bell clanged.

    “Phew! I was almost late. My alarm clock forgot to ring,” said Jake.

    Kate laughed. “Your alarm clock can't forget. 9

It's not alive,” she said.

    “It is alive,” said Jake with a straight face. “It wants me to be late.”

    “Oh sure,” said Kate.

    Jake was famous for being late. He was also famous for his reasons for being late. Last year in grade one, he told the teacher that he was late because his goldfish died. The trouble was that Jake didn't have a goldfish.

    The real problem was that Jake loved to sleep in the morning. His mother said that waking him up was like trying to wake up a rock. Jake didn't hear her say, “Good morning.” He didn't hear her say, “Get up, Jake.” He didn't even hear her shout, “Hurry! It's late, Jake!”

    Last week his mother bought him an alarm clock, but that didn't seem to be helping much either.

    This morning, Jake wasn't the only one who was late. Mr. Bolin, their new teacher, dashed 10