Chapter 1 The worksheet

Hi. You might as well know that this is my first day of fourth grade, and my teacher is, well, Mrs. Meaner. I’ve heard rumors about her, and they’re not good. You see, she used to be dentist, and then she quit. Kids say she hides pliers in her desk, and whenever you get in trouble, she pulls one of your teeth out!

As I glance ahead, I see the teacher has already opened the door. I notice she’s fumbling with something in her pocket. I feel my heartbeat begin to quicken. Could she possibly getting her pliers ready? I shuddered as her hand led me inside our classroom.

“Class,” She began. “As you know, my name is Mrs. Meaner-” Some of the class was giggling already. She glared at them. “Anyone who wishes to break the rules should go out into the hall and cool down.” I blinked. She meant the people who had just laughed at her. I watched as they got up, and then slowly walked out of the classroom.

“Does getting something wrong count as spelling a word wrong?” Helen Superior asked, eyes round as an owl’s.

“No,” Mrs. Meaner answered, looking a bit annoyed.

“Does picking your nose count?” Danny Applegate questioned.

“Yes,” she said, more strongly this time.

“Does wearing underwear count?” Seth Wang asked, glancing down at his pants.

“Yes! I mean no!” She was fuming now. “That’s enough.” She puffed, and then sat down in her chair. “Today we will work on fractions. Does anyone know what twenty-four out of thirty-six is in its simplest form?” Only Seth Wang raised his hand. My head was spinning so much I couldn’t concentrate on anything. But she wasn’t looking at Seth Wang at all. She was looking at me. “Jason, would you like to solve the problem for us?”

“Um…Well…” I mumbled. I gulped; I had not been ready for this. I also wanted to shout out the correct answer, but my mind was blank. I couldn’t think. “Three fourths?” I guessed.

She put her hands on her hips. “Have you been paying attention at all?” She questioned.

“Well yes,” I said quickly. But I could tell she didn’t believe me, and the next thing I knew I was sitting in the hall with some of the other kids. This is no fun at all, I thought. Nothing to do except sit here and wait. I got up and sped down the hallway, only to get yanked up by someone’s hand. I swung my head around. It was the school bully, Mark Tough.

“What are you doing out here?” He demanded. I opened my mouth to speak, but I hadn’t drunken anything since breakfast, and all that came out was a cough. “You’d better wait here until you’re in trouble!” He laughed then hung me onto the nearby coat hook. “So long, kid!” He called as he joined his friends. I knew they hadn’t seen what he did, so they were quiet and calm. I’d better warn them, I thought. I twisted my head around, trying to get in a comfortable position.

Suddenly, a loud voice made my body freeze. “Jason! What on earth are you doing up there?” Mrs. Meaner demanded. Like an owl, she swooped up and set me on the ground. “This is not funny, mister! You know better than that!” I could do nothing but follow her to the classroom.

“As you know, we were going to work on fractions, but got interrupted.” The strict teacher glared at me for a moment, then continued. “I will pass out a worksheet for all of you to work on.” She began fumbling through some paper on her desk, then set the math sheets on a nearby table. “All of you should take your time, because your score will be put in the grade book.” She licked her thumb, then began passing out the papers. I glanced at the problems. This shouldn’t be too hard, I thought. All of the questions were easy, except for number five. Even though Mrs. Meaner wanted us to take our time, this was too easy. I sped through all the problems, but took a longer time on five. What is thirty five out of forty in its simplest form? The question rang in my head. I scribbled the answer on my paper at the last second. I slipped it in the pile, and then headed into the hallway for P.E.

Doing! Everyone was dribbling basketballs, and it sounded louder than a monkey house. I wanted to cover my ears, but then my basketball would just bounce away. Just then, the P.E teacher told us to line up. Physical Education is over already? I sighed and followed the rest of the class to the door. Now it was completely quiet, except for Patty Norman and Jason Doman. I rolled my eyes. Those two always quarreled with each other, and took a long time to separate. I leaned forward to hear what they were saying.

“I told you already, I won’t let you see my new ring!” Patty squealed angrily.

“Oh yeah, who’s going to stop me from taking it from you?” He cackled wildly.

“Both of you just be quiet!” I snapped.

They rounded on me, looking angry. “Since when were you the boss of us?” Jason demanded.

“Since when I was in kindergarten!” I said back. Before I could say anymore, Mrs. Meaner came and we headed back to our classroom.

“I am very proud of you all.” She said warmly as we sat down in our seats. “You all did well on the worksheet.” I noticed she was looking at me funny. Did this mean I did better than anyone? My question was answered when she placed my sheet on my desk. I expected to see an A. A look of horror spread across my face when I saw the big fat D on the top of my paper. I had gotten all the problems wrong except for number five.

“Jason, do you know what caused this?” She asked angrily. I knew exactly why. I had not taken my time, like the other classmates did. “Next time, please do better.” She left my desk, and then slowly walked away for lunch. Disappointed, I gradually followed her.