Junie B. Jones Is a Party Animal - Barbara Park [4]
“No poodle, Lucille!” said the nanna very snappish.
Lucille kicked her feet some more.
“I knew that dumb idea wouldn’t work!” she grouched.
Just then, the car stopped in front of a big iron gate.
Grace’s eyes opened big and wide.
“Wow! This gate looks like a castle gate,” she said.
Lucille smiled a teeny bit.
“It’s not a castle gate, you sillyhead, Grace,” she said. “This is the gate to my house.”
The nanna pushed a button, and the gate opened right in front of our eyes.
“Hey, that button is like magic!” I said.
Lucille smiled bigger.
After that, the nanna drove down a long driveway. She stopped in front of a big, beautiful house.
Lucille jumped out of the car and ran inside.
Me and that Grace followed after her.
And guess what? Lucille’s house was even beautifuller on the inside than it was on the outside!
There was a beautiful long row of stairs. And a beautiful big bowl of flowers. And a beautiful, giant, sparkly ceiling light made out of glass.
I did a gasp at that glistening thing!
“That light takes my breathing away!” I said.
Lucille skipped all around in a circle.
She singed a loud song in our ears.
“SEE? SEE? I TOLD YOU I WAS RICH! SEE? SEE? I TOLD YOU I WAS RICH!” she sang.
She made that song up, I believe.
After that, she took our hands and showed us all the rooms in her house.
She showed us the living room. And the dining room. And the kitchen. And the big giant patio. And the daddy’s office. And the mother’s office. And the family room. And the pool room where you play pool. And the outside pool where you swim. And the hot tub. And the library. And the gym. And the nanna’s room. And the mother and daddy’s room. And the fancy gold bathroom with the Jacuzzi. And the brother’s room. And a whole, whole bunch of guest rooms.
Then finally, Lucille showed us her very own bedroom!
And it looked like a bedroom where a princess lived!
Lucille’s bed had a pink frilly roof on top of it.
“That is called a canopy,” she explained. “It matches my pink silk draperies and my pink silk bedspread. And my pink telephone. And my plush pink rug. And my wallpaper with pink flowers in it.
“And see my TV? And my stereo? And my computer? And my CD player?”
She pointed to the corner. “And did you notice all of my big stuffed animals standing over there?” she asked.
My eyes popped out at those giant guys. The giraffe was bigger than me even!
Me and that Grace ran to play with them.
“NO! STOP! DON’T!” shouted Lucille. “YOU’RE NOT ALLOWED TO TOUCH THEM! THEY ARE JUST FOR SHOW!”
“Huh?” said that Grace.
“What?” I said. “How come?”
“Because they were expensive, that’s how come,” she said. “Those animals costed my nanna a fortune.”
“Oh,” I said kind of disappointed.
“Oh,” said that Grace.
We sat down on Lucille’s bed.
Lucille shouted at us again. “NO! GET UP! YOU’RE NOT ALLOWED TO SIT THERE! THAT BEDSPREAD IS JUST FOR SHOW!”
Me and that Grace springed right off of there.
Lucille quick smoothed the material with her hand.
“Don’t you two know anything?” she said. “This bedspread is made out of silk, I told you. I’m not allowed to get it soiled.”
“Oh,” I said.
“Oh,” said that Grace.
After that, Lucille skipped over to her dresser. And she pressed a button on her mirror.
A million bazillion lights came on!
“Look at this,” she said. “This is my very own professional makeup mirror! It is the same kind of mirror that they use for movie stars. My nanna brought it all the way from Hollywood, California!”
Me and that Grace runned to the sparkly mirror. We looked at ourselves in the bright lights.
Then we sticked out our tongues and made funny faces.
Lucille quick turned it off.
“It is not a toy!” she grouched.
After that, me and that Grace just stood very still. And we didn’t touch anything.
“This is going to be a long evening,” I said kind of quiet.
Only just then, something very wonderful happened!
Lucille’s nanna came in the room! And she was carrying a big box of dress-up clothes!
“I thought you little gals might have fun with some of my old evening gowns,” she said real nice. “They’re as old