"Achoo!”   

Trish turned to see Steve get a tissue from the teacher’s desk.  She peeked at Sarah who had a worried look on her face. A sneeze could only mean one thing on that Tuesday morning: a cold.  Trish couldn’t catch a cold. Not this week.  Friday was the big sleepover party at Sarah’s house:  a night of movies, games and nail polish.  She missed it last year because she was sick.   

 “Don’t get sick again,” Sarah said to Trish on the way home from school.  Sarah didn’t have to worry. Trish already had a plan. 

“How do you stay so healthy,” Trish asked her older sister Anna when she got home.  

Anna shrugged. “It must be the orange juice. I have a cup every morning at breakfast.”

Orange juice? Really? That didn’t seem so hard to do. 

Wednesday morning Trish woke up with a sneeze.  She ran downstairs and handed mom a large cup. “Fill it to the top with orange juice, please.” She was sure she wouldn’t be sick now. 

But when she got to school, she sighed. Everywhere she looked someone was coughing.

Trish found Sarah in the schoolyard.   

“Look at all those people coughing,” Sarah said as they walked to their line and sat down.  

Trish gulped. “I woke up with a sneeze today. This can’t be good.”

Sarah crinkled her nose. 

“That’s okay,” Trish said.  “I had some orange juice this morning. Anna says it helps keep a cold away.” 

Sarah jumped up and held her hands in front of her. “Your hands! You have to wash your hands too.” After school, Trish washed her hands right away.  She had to be extra careful. There was a sleepover at stake.  

On Thursday, morning Trish woke up to a small cough. She washed her hands, drank some orange juice at breakfast and went to school. But when she got there, most of her class had a tissue in their hand. Oh no, she thought. Not runny noses!    

“Have you been drinking orange juice and washing your hands,” Sarah asked at recess.  

Trish nodded.  “But there has to be something else I can do.” 

After school, Trish and her sister Anna went outside.  As they were playing tag, Trish let out a yawn.  

“You better go to bed early tonight,” Anna said. “Lots of rest keeps a cold away too.”

Trish frowned. Bed? Early?  

She was still thinking about it after dinner and remembered her cough and sneeze. She went up to her room and started to pack her sleepover bag. It would be a shame to miss all the fun again. Although she wasn’t happy about it, she finished packing and went to bed an hour early.  

When the morning came, Trish woke up to…nothing! No cough. No sneeze. She was going to Sarah’s sleepover! That night, the girls enjoyed a whole night of movies, games and nail polish. And maybe a little orange juice.