"Stinky Peterson, there you are."

He sat in the middle of the room like everyone else. It wasn't like he was invisible or nothing – just sitting there, bored as can be. They all just came in from lunch, which was kind of interesting on a count of they all figured out it was Arnold's birthday today. "I wonder why he didn't want us to know. And why has he been sad? And why is Mr. Simmons doing role call?"

Stinky turned his attention to his friend beside him, smiling a little but he wasn't paying attention. It was hard to see what Arnold was looking at. It looked like a picture book of some sort, having words that he couldn't make out from where he was. What was weird about it was that Stinky knew that when Arnold ever read a book, it was always on his desk and not on his lap.

It was brown leather, tattered too. Stinky didn't get it. It was like Arnold was keeping a secret or something.

He shrugged his shoulders. Every fellow has his own secrets to keep. Plus, if his friend really wanted to talk about it he would have by now.

"Arnold Shortman, Arnold, Arnold!"

Arnold looked up to the teacher, quietly slamming his book shut.

"Huh, what is it Mr. Simmons?"

The class laughed, including Stinky, at the shock that was on his face. However, he stopped sooner than just about everyone else because of Gerald. He was diagonal to Arnold's left in the front row. But he wasn't at least chuckling like the rest of them. The dark skinned boy looked at his best friend with a frown. What was going on?

One of the laughs that suddenly stood out from the others was Helga's on Stinky's right side. Although that girl was confusing, he knew Helga liked-liked Arnold. He had of course realized it when he pretended to be her boyfriend in exchange for Mr. Nutty candy bars. Every time she pulled him away to do this, Arnold was the only person who was always there. But he kept it a secret because he understood what made him special – his pride.

And Helga had a lot of it. So he could relate to her on that level.

Her actions were that of laughter, but he got the feeling that it was forced. Her blue eyes were shut tight as she held her arms around her stomach, but he could have sworn he saw a sad tear go down her cheek. Did she know what was wrong with Arnold?

When the amusement settled down, Mr. Simmons shook his head. "I just called your name for roll call."

Arnold rubbed the back of his head, feeling the awkwardness. "Um, I'm sorry about that. I guess I zoned off."

"That is quite alright Arnold."

Standing up from his chair, our teacher walked to the front of his desk. There was a large stack of papers. "Probably another spelling test that I didn't do well on again." Stinky sighed and stared up at the ceiling waiting for the inevitable disappointment.

Their teacher clapped his hands together in surprise. "Now I know you all are wondering why I did a second role call today."

Brainy lifted his hand, wheezing out "Uhh, why?" Following that a few more of the students groaned. Mr. Simmons didn't seem fazed by this behavior. He learned to deal with it last year as their fourth grade teacher. And though it was a challenge at times, he loved that he was promoted to the fifth grade and have the same class.

"Now everyone, before we have our English class, we have a special guest speaker here to discuss a contest that all of you must submit an entry to. Think of it as our assignment for the next week. We will also be working on them as well during class."

Again more groans and sighs.

But when that door opened, dark almond shaped eyes met the students with a comfortable gaze. Long locks of brown hair going down her back and tan skin, she certainly was a beautiful speaker even though it was obvious she was in her early forties. Even Stinky was kind of surprised by her appearance. Wearing a soft green blouse with black dress pants, it was also clear she meant business.

Setting down a small briefcase, her Spanish accent was somewhat apparent as she spoke. "Hello class, I'm Ms. Azmina Soto. Just as Mr. Simmons told you, I am here to tell you about a writing contest that you are all asked to enter."

Helga raised her hand. Smirking at the woman, she asked, "So, if we are going to do this contest, what do we get out of it?"

"Helga…"

"What? I was just asking a question. Is that so wrong?" She pouted her lip mockingly. Again, some low grade chuckles were heard. "Boy that Helga can be funny," Stinky thought, "maybe that was one reason why I liked her before. But I'm sure happy that's over. No offense to her of course."

Ms. Soto raised her right hand and shook her head. "That's quite alright, Mr. Simmons. She did have a question." Looking at the rest of the class, she smiled. "The prize as you mentioned Helga is that whoever wins has the choice of going to any country that they want to travel to on this list. The best part is that this will be a class trip. So whoever writes the best essay will decide for the class."

She handed the list to the students, each one passing it back. As Arnold handed one flyer to Phoebe behind him, the book he was holding fell to the floor. It exuded a noise so piercing that everyone turned to Arnold.

This time Arnold wasn't staring off into nothing. All he did was pick up the book off the floor and set it on his desk upside down. But he made it his turn to say something.

"What is it that we are to write exactly?" He seemed desperate, almost praying that the topic was one he could write about. "Wow, Arnold must love to travel," thought Stinky, "or else he wouldn't be acting so funny."

Ms. Soto walked toward the blonde child's desk, setting her hand on top of the list. "Well the topic is your favorite discovery," glancing at each student individually, "You see, because this is an adventurous opportunity you all, should one of you win, will discover so much about another culture. It truly is an amazing experience. As a judge myself, I cannot wait to read the tales all of you will tell. And don't be embarrassed by what you write. As long as you express what happened and how it affected you honestly I believe one of you will win."

With that they thanked their guest for coming and she left the classroom and English class began. One last time, Stinky looked to his left. Arnold was fidgeting slightly as he stared at the paper that he picked up. Until that point, the country "called city" boy had not once looked at the list himself. Picking it up, it read:

Contest Countries of Choice

You may only choose one should your essay win.

China

Egypt

England

France

Japan

Mexico

San Lorenzo

South Africa

Spain

Switzerland

If you win, you will be notified one week prior to the time when you make your decision on which country you and your class will visit.

"Well I'll be, no wonder Arnold must be excited. There is plenty to choose from in this dang list!"