The next day, Stephanie is still excited about the spelling bee and the recital. In fact, they're a day apart from each other. Her recital would be first, and the class spelling bee. She still can't wait to see if she's an essay winner Monday. Then a week after that would be her tenth birthday! She can't wait for that the most. She wants to invite her friends including Sportacus. All she knows that she is not inviting Robbie. He might ruin the party or something. She's glad his cousin would be coming though when she learned Lila Rose is very nice. The nine-year-old would be meeting Linda's four children; 12-year-old Lisa, 9-year-old George, 6-year-old Mary, and 5-year-old Mark, Jr. They would be Stephanie's cousins someday. None of them like him. She is worried he might create problems someday.
"When are you going end up studying for the spelling bee?" asked Howard.
"I have all next week. Besides, we're going to do some spelling work to help us prepare for that," replied Stephanie. "My friends are planning to pretend we're in the actual spelling bee and Sportacus is giving us the words each day."
"What a nice idea to study," said Howard.
"I know. I told them it would be after the piano lessons. My last day to practice is Monday since it's on Wednesday," said the nine-year-old.
"That's good," said her father.
"I know," agreed Stephanie.
A week later, Stephanie realized she's been forgetting all about her mother when she finished practicing for the recital and studying for the spelling bee. Plus, her essay was the winner. She was thrilled on that. On Wednesday, it was the day of the auditions. The nine-year-old was starting to get a bit nervous, but she knew she would do just fine. She wants to make her mother proud. She learned she made it to the quarter finals, which is on Saturday. Saturday flew by when the quarter finals was about to begin.
"Mother, this is for you," said Stephanie in her head.
She was told that she was going to play The Star-Spangled Banner for the opening. That's what she did and she was talented! She knew how to play it since Anna taught her on the last day of piano lessons. She was scheduled to play that and her two songs she's chosen to do in one hour or so. If she wins, she'd be in the semi finals. There would be three winners in two groups according to ages. Stephanie's age group is from ages six to ten and the other group is eleven to eighteen. They'll be doing from the youngest to the oldest.
An hour later, Stephanie played her two songs: one was There is Always A Way and a special song about Ruth or anyone who lost a loved one called They'll Always be in Your Life. She did a terrific job according to Anna. Two hours later, after the last piano player was done, it was time to be judged. When Stephanie learned she was one of the winners, she was thrilled!
"Wow," said the nine-year-old.
The semi round would be on her birthday.
"That'd be a nice birthday present," said Anna.
"I know. My birthday party is the day after," said Stephanie. "I can hardly wait."
"I bet," smiled her piano teacher. "We start practicing again on Monday."
"No problem," said Stephanie. "My next step is the spelling bee during class."
The next day, at school, it was time for the spelling bee. It was girls vs. boys.
"Like I said before, the winner or winners will be in the school spelling bee," said Mrs. Gomez. "Girls are up first. Stephanie, spell preparation."
"Preparation. P-r-e-p-a-r-a-t-i-o-n. Preparation," spelled Stephanie.
"That is correct," said Mrs. Gomez.
They kept going until the last person standing. Stephanie and Pixel were the only two standing.
"Congratulations, Stephanie and Pixel. You are now winners and would be in the school spelling bee," said the teacher.
"Oh, my gosh!" exclaimed Stephanie.
"The spelling bee is on October 13th at seven o'clock, so you both have the entire month to study," continued Mrs. Gomez.
A week flew by and before Stephanie knew it, it was her birthday and the second round of the recital! When she got up, no one was in the kitchen.
"Where is everyone?" asked the ten-year-old.
That was when her uncle, her father, and Sally came from the living room as they all shouted, "Happy Birthday, Stephanie!"
She turned around with a surprised look.
"Wow," said Stephanie.
"Dad made pancakes," said Sally.
"Swell. Thanks, Daddy," said Stephanie.
"And tonight, we'll go out for dinner," said Howard.
"But I can't. My piano recital's tonight, remember?" asked Stephanie.
"We know. We can do that before then," replied Howard.
"Oh, good," said Stephanie. "It's at six-thirty."
"We can go out for five. We can eat at the diner," said Uncle Milford.
"Sounds good enough to me," said Stephanie.
"It's so hard to believe you're already ten," said Howard. "And boy, you're getting taller than me."
When he measured her, she grew two inches taller.
"Before you know it, you'd be taller than me as well," said Uncle Milford.
The ten-year-old laughed at that. That night, after dinner, they went straight to the Lazy Town School where the recital would be taking place like Anna mentioned a week ago. Stephanie decided to do two songs again. She had permission to do either the same songs or choose two different songs. The first song was Friendship and the other one was about her family. Once again, she played the notes perfectly. She won first place again from her age group and a boy named Steven Pikes won first place from his age group, which was between eleven and eighteen. The final round was going to be about the week after the school spelling bee, which would be on October 20th.
The next day, it was a birthday party for Stephanie and had a fun time. She even gets to have a sleepover party. That's what she had. She met Linda Rotton along with her family.
A month went by on October 10th and Stephanie was studying for her school spelling bee, which would be in a few days. Stephanie and Pixel helped each other since they were the only two winners from Mrs. Gomez' class. Three days later, it was the big night for Stephanie and Pixel! They both can't wait until tonight. Stephanie found out Patrick was going to be in it, too. She was glad for that. The theme would be based on school subjects.
That night, at the school, at seven, the spelling bee. Mrs. Gomez, Mr. Lionel Young, and Ms. Lynn Mudge were the judges. Stephanie was up first.
"Stephanie, your word is geography," said Mrs. Gomez.
"Geography. G-e-o-g-r-a-p-h-y. Geography," spelled Stephanie.
"Correct," said Mr. Young.
An hour went by. Stephanie was the only on the stage since Pixel missed a word a few minutes ago. Patrick was already gone.
"Stephanie, if you spell this word right, you're the winner," said Ms. Mudge. "Spell education."
"Education," said Stephanie trying to think and then smiled. "E-d-u-c-a-t-i-o-n. Education."
"That is correct. Congratulations. You're the tonight's spelling bee champion," said Mr. Young.
"Oh, my goodness," said Stephanie.
Mr. Young came with the blue ribbon and a spelling bee champion certificate.
"Thank you very much," smiled the ten-year-old.
A week later on October 20th, it was the night of the final round of the piano recital. She decided to do two songs again. One would There is Always A Way and the other would be Friendship. Two hours later, Stephanie learned she was first place again and Steve was the other winner. They both won grand prize from their age groups. Stephanie was thrilled even more!
