Kat sat at the breakfast table Saturday morning, slowly chewing on a strawberry Pop-tart. She looked at the clock. 8:15 am. That left only forty-five minutes until she had to be at the school.
Yesterday, she and Lily had spent all of recess and nearly an hour after school with Ms. Ululani. They designed colorful posters and even came up with chants to use at the protest. Ms. Ululani brought out Buttercup and introduced him to the girls. Although he was scary at first, Kat and Lily could see how beautiful he really was.
“It’s funny how people are always scared of what’s different,” Ms. Ululani said stroking Buttercup.
Lily looked at Kat. “I know what you mean.”
By 4:00 pm, the girls had made posters for all of the fourth graders in their class. They could only hope that they would all show up.
Kat took another slow bite of the Pop-tart and swirled it around her moth. She had to string out breakfast as long as possible. Dad hadn’t left yet.
“Hey there kiddo,” Uncle Chad said coming into the kitchen. “You sure are eating that Pop-tart slowly.”
“Guess I’m not hungry,” Kat said. She took another look at the clock. 8:20 am.
When is he going to leave, she thought.
“It’s cause of all that sugar,” Uncle Chad winked. “You’ll be too sweet if you finish it all.”
Uncle Chad laughed to himself and went about making his protein shake for the morning.
Kat smiled and began to tap her fingers on the table. Dad was never late.
“Is there a keyboard on that table or are you waiting on something?” Uncle Chad asked.
Kat curled her fingers up and smiled, embarrassed.
“Just waiting for my dad,” Kat said.
“Oh, he left ages ago,” Uncle Chad said sitting down at the table with his shake.
“What?” Kat said dropping her Pop-tart on the floor. Princess Puffball scurried under the table and pulled the Pop-tart away in her teeth.
“Yeah,” Uncle Chad said taking a drink. “He had to make sure that he had the right tools for the job. Said it’s a pretty big one this time. Lots of dead bugs.”
Kat hadn’t planned on this. Dad never left this early for a job. All of her plans were throw off now. She had to move quickly.
“Oh, we was supposed to drive me to school this morning,” Kat said slyly. She knew Uncle Chad wouldn’t catch on. The last time Kat and her dad had talked about Bob, Uncle Chad had been at the hardware store tossing fifty pound sand bags for fun.
“You still working on that bug project with that pest Lily?” Uncle Chad asked.
Kat froze.
“How’d you remember that?” Kat asked a little alarmed.
Uncle Chad laughed. “I do have more than just muscles you know,” he said. “I did get a college degree in history.”
“Is that why you’re so good at telling stories?” Kat asked.
“Telling stories and taking nieces to school,” Uncle Chad said.
Kat breathed a sigh of relief. 8:30 am. She’d be at school before her father. That’s all that mattered.
Kat ran to her room quickly and slid on her ‘Save Bob’ shirt. She took a look in the mirror and smiled. For once in her life she knew what a superhero felt like.
As Kat and Uncle Chad pulled up in front of Edgeview Elementary, they were greeted by more than just Lily.
Outside of the school, almost every single fourth grader stood in front of the school. Jacob stood with his sister Sophie at his side. She had invited her whole girl scout troupe to help save Bob. Each girl had made their very own Bob out of pom poms and pipe cleaners.
“What is going on?” Uncle Chad asked suspiciously.
Kat looked around at all of the students. Nearly half of the school was here.
“We’re going to save Bob,” Kat said proudly.
Uncle Chad parked the car and Kat quickly unbuckled herself. She ran to the front of the school and hugged Lily.
“This is amazing,” Kat said.
“I know,” Lily agreed.
All around them, kids were plastered in ‘Save Bob’ t-shirts. Confused parents waited around, ready to see exactly what their children were so angry about. In the bus loop, a lone reporter geared up with her cameraman.
“Wait a second,” Uncle Chad said once he caught up to Kat. “Isn’t this the school that your father is working on today?”
Kat turned to her uncle and nodded. It was the first time in her life that Kat had ever tried to stop her father from doing something.
“I don’t think this is such a great idea,” Uncle Chad said. “Your dad already has enough on his plate.”
Kat’s mind had already been made up. This wasn’t going to stop until Bob was safe and ‘The Rules’ were broken forever.
“Hi there,” Ms. Ululani said coming over to break the tension. She wore a bright yellow shirt that said ‘Save Buttercup’ across the front. Strung around her neck was Buttercup, flicking his tongue and tasting the air around him.
“Hi,” Uncle Chad said completely entranced. “I’m Kat’s uncle, Chad. Chad Westwood.”
“I’m Lana,” Ms. Ululani said. “The art teacher.”
“Art teacher?” Uncle Chad said. “You know I’ve got a great story about Picasso. You like nachos?”
Kat laughed. It was funny watching her uncle flirt. Uncle Chad looked at Kat and scowled.
“Maybe we can stay for a little bit,” Uncle Chad said, smiling to Ms. Ululani.
Yes, Kat thought.
The doors to the school clicked and unbolted suddenly. All of the children turned around and started to chant.
“One, two, three, four, we won’t squish Bob on the floor.”
Principal Eugene Benbrook stood in the main doorway of Edgeview Elementary. He stood calmly looking at the screaming children and their interested parents.
“Five, Six, Seven, Eight, we won’t kick him out to be bird bait.”
Principal Benbrook’s calm stare warmed into an evil smile as he looked past everyone there. A pick-up truck pulled into the parking lot in front of the school. Kat swallowed hard as she watched her father storm out of the car.
“What is going on here,” he said looking at the ever growing group of students. “There must be at least three hundred people here!”
Kat fixed her eyes on her father.
Sorry, she thought.
“We’re saving Bob!”
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