Beverly Quarter Chapter 18
On Tuesdays, I’m using this newsletter to publish a book called Beverly Quarter: Invisible Frenemy. It’s got nothing to do with the rest of the content of this newsletter. I mean, for real: It doesn’t even contain the word burpee. But I think you’ll like it.
I wrote it to make my kids laugh, their friends laugh, and their parents laugh. I’m guessing most of you have kids, or know kids, or were kids, so you’re my target audience. I explain the book’s backstory here.
Give this chapter a read. If you like it, read it to your kids, their friends, their friends’ parents, random strangers on the street, etc.
I’ll keep publishing the newsletter as usual on Thursdays. This will just be bonus content.
Chapter 18
“But I’m scared,” Sally said to Beverly Quarter as they sat alone on top of the slide the next day. “What if I forget what you want me to say? Are you sure this is a good idea?”
“Didn’t that crummy teacher Mrs. Knight say, whatever you think of to do, that’s what you have to do?”
Sally thought this wasn’t exactly right. “I guess so.”
“Then it must be OK, right? If she didn’t want you to do this, she wouldn’t have told you to do it. Mrs. Knight told you to do whatever you think you should do. Well, you think you should do this, so you have to do it, or you’re being disobedient. You’re a tiger, and you have something to say. Wouldn’t it be wrong not to say it? And isn’t it important for you to show her you deserved a better role?”
“I guess so,” Sally said.
“Great. You should be the tiger’s mouth, and this is a way to prove it. Let’s go over your lines a few more times until you have them memorized. You’re going to do great!”
Sally looked over the sheet of paper that Beverly Quarter had given her. It had “Sally’s Script” written on the top in pink crayon. There were drawings of rainbows in one margin, unicorns in the other and words in between. Sally thought she recognized some of the words. Maybe her dad had said it or she heard it on TV. “Where did you get this?” she asked.
“I googled it,” Beverly Quarter said. “This is the script that every actress reads from when she wants to become a movie star. If you want to be in a movie, you have to know this. The better you read it, the bigger of a star you’ll be. By the time you are done reading, everyone in the audience will know you should be a movie star.”
Suddenly Sally believed she had lived her life with being in the movies as her only goal. “Are you sure?”
“I’m positive. I read it on the Internet. This is going to be the most incredible dance recital anybody has ever seen!”