It was the morning of the day that we were leaving for Washington, D.C. I had all my bags packed and had gone over my dads' checklist several times, but it still seemed like I was missing something. It's probably just a little stage fright, I told myself. Nothing but a little pre-spelling bee jitters. Nonetheless, the small nagging feeling lingered in my mind as I paced across the living room carpet.

The doorbell rang loudly. "I've got it!" I called out, wondering, Who would be showing up here right now?

I slowly opened the door to see a familiar boy standing on my porch yet again. "Hey, Leaf!" I greeted excitedly.

He beamed as he responded, "Hello again, Schwartzy."

"So, what's up? Did you come to whisk me away on another adventure?" I joked.

He seemed a little confused by my comment. "No, you're going to Washington, right?"

"Yeah." I paused for a second. "So, what brings you over here again?"

He reached over into the basket of his bicycle and retrieved a fairly large book. 10,000 Words to Make You Sound Smart. "You left this the other day." He handed it to me.

"Oh!" How could I have forgotten that? "Thank you."

"And also I wanted to wish you good luck."

How sweet! "Thanks!" I wrapped my arms around him in a tight hug. Before pulling away, he planted a small kiss on my cheek. I could feel myself blushing as he smiled at me.

"Remember what I told you, okay?"

"Got it," I responded with a grin. "And thanks again." It's funny how a guy who claimed to be "not that smart" was perhaps the best person for the job of helping me prepare for this spelling bee.

A/N: I hope you guys liked it, and I apologize again for the hiatus in between chapters 2 and 3.