Transcript “A Story of Dork Diaries Series 1 p265-275
Listening Section Number 2 : Story of Dork Diaries Series Number 1, page 265 to 275
My parents and I drove over to WCD forty-five minutes early so we could get everything taken care of before the student started arriving.
As Mom and Dad sat in the office chatting with the secretary and completing the school-transfer paperwork, I couldn’t help noticing the colorful displays off the main entryway for the art competition.
No matter how much I tried to convince my self I didn’t care, I just HAD to know if MacKenzie had won. It was like I obsessed or something.
If I hurried, I could stop by the art competition for a few minutes and still have time to clean out my locker, get back to the office, and be out of the building before anyone spotted me.
“Well I better get going,” I muttered to my parents. I grabbed the empty cardboard box I had brought to carry the junk from my locker and headed down the hall.
The art exhibit was set up in the large student lounge near the cafeteria and was divided by grades. I hurried pass the sixth- and seventh-grade displays to the eight-grade section. There were about 24 entries, and immediately spotted MacKenzie’s.
Like everything she did, iot was big, bold, and over the top. She had painted seven life-size mannequins dressed in her Fab-4-Ever fashions on six-foot-tall panels.
I had to admit, she was actually a pretty good fashion illustrator.
But the strange thing was that I didn’t see her first-place ribbon.
Although, knowing MacKenzie, she probably had already taken it home so her parents could have it bronzed to match her baby shoes.
I was surprised to see the blue ribbon was hanging on the very last display.
I couldn’t help pitying the poor artist who would have to to put up with the drama over MacKenzie’s very public and humiliating defeat.
The winning display was a series of sixteen 8x10 close-up black-and-white photographs of inked artwork.
When I read the title and artist’s name, I almost FREAKED OUT!
I immediately recognized my tattoo artwork on Zoey’s shoulder, Chloe’s arm, Tyler’s neck, Sophia’s ankle, Matt’s wrist, and on and on.
So this must have been the “project” Chloe, Zoey, and Brandon were working on when they were too busy to talk to me on the telephone Monday afternoon.
Slowly but surely, the reality of the situation started to soak in.
I was like, “OMG! I WON first place in AVANT-GARDE ART! FIRST PLACE and five hundred dollars!”
Thanks to Chloe, Zoey, and Brandon! They must have cooked up this elaborate scheme after my painting got destroyed. And that fantabalous display with MY name on it had probably taken hours to complete.
I was SO wrong about them. They were the BEST friends EVER! And more than a dozen other kids had volunteered to be photographed. All of this totally BLEW MY MIND!
Maybe WCD was not such a horrible place after all. I actually had real friends here. And of course, it didn’t hurt that I was now rich, rich, rich beyond my wildest dreams!
I hurried back to the office in a daze and burst inside.
“Mom, Dad! I’ve changed my mind. I want to stay!”
They both looked surprised.
“Honey, are you okay?” my mom asked, concerned.
“Actually, Mom, I’m GREAT! I’ve changed my mind. I want to stay, PLEASE!”
“Well, it’s up to you. Are you sure?” my dad said, putting down his pen.
“I’m sure. I’m REALLY sure!”
The secretary gathered the papers from my dad, ripped the in half, and tossed them into the wastebasket.
“This is great news!” She beamed. “And congratulations on your first place in the art show! You’re coming to the reception for the winners this Saturday, right? They’ll be giving out the cash awards, and the catered dinner is fabulous.”
My parents looked totally confused. “I thought you said you didn’t-,” my mom began, but I quickly interrupted her.
“Listen, I’ll explain all of this later. Like, don’t you both have somewhere to be?” I smiled and waved good-bye to them, hoping they would take the hint and get lost.
Mom kissed my forehead. “Okay, hon! We’re glad you’ve decided to hang in there.”
“Yeah, and you can thank Maxwell’s Extermination for hooking you up!” my dad said, and winked. “I knew it would work out for you here, if you just give it a chance.”
“Well, I gotta go! Oh. Here, Dad!” i tossed him the cardboard box. “Can you get rid of this for me?”
Then I turned and rushed out of the office.
Students were starting to fill up the halls, and a few actually congratulated me. As I made my way back to my locker, I wasn’t quite sure what to expect, but I was ready and willing to deal with it.
The graffiti had been cleaned up, thank goodness. But there was something new on my locker.
= = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
| Nikki, |
| Pleas, meet us in |
| the janitor’s closet |
| ASAP! |
| It’s very, very important! |
| |
| Chloe and Zoey |
= = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
I knocked on the door of the janitor closet and then peeked inside.
Chloe and Zoey were sitting on the in a corner and looking pretty sad. I felt kinda sorry for them.
“We owe you an apology for the way we acted,” Chloe said. “We got really carried away with all of the tattoo and book stuff. And that wasn’t fair to you.”
“Yeah! And we learned who our real friends are too. The CCP’s wanted to hang out with us as long as you were doing the tattoos. What a bunch of phonies!” Zoey added.
“Actually, I kind of figured that out tattoo. That angry mob of cheerleaders was too scary!” I said, shuddering at the memory.
“Listen, please don’t be mad, Nikki!” Chloe said, starting to tear up. “But we have a confession to make ....”
“Well, after we heard about the accident with your painting, we rounded up the kids with your best tattoo artwork, and Brandon took picture of them during lunch. Then he printed out the photographs on the computer in the newspaper office. Mrs. Peach let the three of us work on your entry the entire afternoon in the library. We called it The Student Body.”
“And you’ll never guess what happened,” Chloe sniffed, blinking back tears.
“YOU WON!!” they said together.
“Wait! You KNEW?!” Zoey asked, surprised.
“Yeah. I just found out a few minutes ago.”
“We knew we shouldn’t have done it without asking you first. But there wasn’t time. You’re not mad at us, are you?” Chloe asked, and gave me jazz hands to try to lighten the mood.
“Actually, I am. I’m VERY ANGRY!” I hissed. Chloe and Zoey both hung their heads and stared at the floor.
“We’re sorry. We were just trying to help .....,” Zoey muttered.
“You’re supposed to be my friends. How could you to do this to me? I’m so TICKED! I would have given ANYTHING to have seen the look on MacKenzie’s face when she LOST!” I was trying so hard not to laugh that I was starting to snort.
At first, both girls blinked and looked bewildered. Then, slowly, smiles spread across their faces until they were grinning from ear to ear.
“OMG! Nikki, you should have seen her,” Chloe squealed. “When they announced you as the winner, she went into shock!”
“It was hilarious! MacKenzie threw a hissy fit right there in front of the judges!” Zoey snickered.
Pretty soon we were laughing and joking in the janitor’s closest, just like old times.
“Uh-oh! I think I just heard the first bell,” I groaned.
“Let’s get out of here before we start smelling like a mildewy mop!”
Chloe and Zoey opened the door, and then stood there waiting for me to leave first.
“Talent before ...... brains!” Zoey winked and then gave me the stink eye.
“Talent before ...... beauty!” Chloe grinned and then gave jazz hands.
“Hey, girlfriends, I see the talent! But, other than me, there’s definitely no brains or beauty up in here!” I teased.
That’s when Chloey and Zoey both socked me on my arm.”OW!!” I giggled. “That hurt!!”
That’s the end of the story. See you!!
