My name is Junie B. Jones. The B stands for Beatrice. Except I don't like Beatrice. I just like B and that's all. My favorite color starts with that guy. Its name is blue. B also stands for something else - bad news. I can't wear blue clothes next week. On account of March 17th is St. Patrick's Day. And I don't even know what St. Patrick's Day even is!
When I got on the bus, I sat down next to Lucille. I never saw Lucille on the bus before, since she always drives a big fancy limousine to school. "Hey best friend! What are you doing on the bus today?" I said. Lucille fluffed herself. "My nanny's butler's limousine broke down, and so that's why I'm riding the bus," she explained.
I touched her dress. It was bright green with little pink clovers and hearts on it. "I love your outfit," I said nicely. "It's so poofy." "Thank you," Lucille said back. "My nanny said I should wear it today. St. Patrick's Day is in a week, after all."
I huffed. "Yeah, only what is that thing anyway?" I asked. "Well, it's a religious holiday about St. Patrick," Lucille explained. "He was Irish and he helped spread Christianity to everyone who lived in Ireland." "What's Christianity?" I asked. Lucille sighed. "It's a religion, Junie B., it's about Jesus Christ, the son of God," she told me.
"And what's Ireland?" I asked again. Lucille did another sigh. "It's a country right next to the United Kingdom," she said. Before I could ask anything else, the bus stopped and all the kids raced to the playground speedy quick. Except for me. I just walked. Because I was thinking about what Lucille told me about St. Patrick's Day, Christianity, and Ireland. And I thought about those things until the school bell rang. And I went to Room Nine. When I sat down in my chair, Mrs. clapped her loud hands together. "Boys and girls? Can I have your attention, please?" she asked. Everyone got quiet, and then Mrs said, "As you all know, St. Patrick's Day is in a week, and to celebrate, we will have a party!" I got all excited inside. On account of I love parties! "WILL WE HAVE JELLY DOUGHNUTS AT THE PARTY?!" I hollered. Mrs. closed her eyes and did a sigh at me. "No, Junie B., we will not have jelly doughnuts," she said all grumpy. "And please raise your hand before you speak."
I slumped back down. Then, Lucille raised her hand and said, "Will we have shamrock shakes with a cherry on top? My nanny's caterer always put a cherry on top of our shamrock shakes on St. Patrick's Day." Mrs. smiled. "Actually, yes Lucille! We will have shamrock shakes at our party next week." all of a sudden, everyone in Room Nine hooted and hollered and cheered and clapped. Except for Lucille. She just sat back down and fluffed herself. Mrs. took an aspirin and told the class to pipe down a bit. That is the grown-up word for chilling out, I think.
