Wayside School Is Falling Down (Wayside School 2)

“Huh?” asked Jason.

“See, I usually get toys,” Calvin tried to explain. “But they always break, or get lost, or something happens to them. But this year I’m getting something I’ll never lose. I’ll have it for the rest of my life.”

“What is it?” asked Terrence.

“A tattoo,” said Calvin.

“Oooh, how neat!” exclaimed Maurecia.

Everyone thought it was a great present.

“You’re so lucky, Calvin,” said Rondi. “I wish I could get a tattoo too! Instead I got a tutu.”

“I got a tutu too,” said Dana.

“My parents won’t let me get a tattoo,” complained John.

“My parents wouldn’t let me get one either,” said Calvin. “Then, for my birthday, they said I could get one. But now I can’t decide what to get. My dad’s taking me to the tattoo parlor after school today! I just can’t make up my mind.”

“Get a snake,” said Stephen.

“No, get an eagle,” said Deedee. “They’re the best!”

“A dead rat!” suggested Kathy.

“I just don’t know,” said Calvin. “I’ve never had to make such a tough decision. Nothing else I do matters very much. It’s not like choosing jelly beans! If you pick the wrong color jelly bean, big deal, you can always spit it out. But once you get a tattoo, you can’t change your mind. You can’t erase tattoos. Whatever I get I’ll have for the rest of my life!”

“Get a naked lady,” said Jason.

Calvin shook his head. “I just don’t know. I just don’t know.”

“Where are you going to put your tattoo?” asked Allison.

Calvin threw up his hands. “I don’t know!”

“You should put it on your arm,” said Myron. “That’s the best place for tattoos.”

“You’re crazy, Myron,” said Todd. “Put it on your chest, Calvin.”

“I know where you should put it,” said Dana. “But I can’t say.” She giggled like a maniac. Then she whispered it in Jenny’s ear. Jenny giggled too.

All day everyone had lots of suggestions for Calvin. they told him what kind of tattoo he should get, and where he should put it. A rainbow on his forehead. A flower on his cheek. An anchor on his arm.

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It was easy for the others to make suggestions. They wouldn’t have to live with it for the rest of their lives.

“I just don’t know,” Calvin repeated over and over again.

Bebe drew a lot of pictures for him, in case he wanted to choose one of those. She drew lions, tigers, buffaloes, and butterflies.

“If you like one, I can draw it on your skin for you,” said Bebe. “Then the tattoo man can trace over it.”

“I just don’t know,” muttered Calvin. “I just don’t know.”

After school Calvin’s father picked him up and drove him to the tattoo parlor.