Carter Avery's Tricky Fourth-Grade Year, page 5
Some kids get excited for the first day of school ’cause they can’t wait to wear their new clothes, but not me. I hated clothes shopping and trying on all that stiff, itchy stuff. I was happy to stick with my old shorts and T-shirt. I liked how they felt and I could move in them. But Missy Gerber was a different story.
“Carter Avery, what’re you wearing?” she shrieked when she saw me buzzing down the sidewalk. Missy was on the student council, and one of their jobs on the first day was to hold the main doors open and welcome students back to a new year. She skipped over the welcoming part and went straight to being annoying.
“What? These are my regular shorts and T-shirt,” I said. “I even slept in them last night so they’re compterfied.”
“Compterfied?” she repeated. “That’s not even a word.”
“Is too. It means making something comfortable.”
“Sleeping in your clothes overnight doesn’t make them comfortable,” Missy argued. “It makes them dirty. That’s the word you should be using—and that’s disgusting.”
“Yeah, but you can’t run in that stuff,” I said, pointing at her fancy skirt and shoes.
“I don’t need to run. In case you forgot, there’s no running in school.”
She was right, but I wasn’t about to tell her that. I left her and her dumb new clothes in the dust and skipped into the building and up the stairs ’cause that wasn’t the same as running. When I reached the top, I got mad at myself ’cause I forgot to ask Missy if her mom got her switched to a different class, but I wasn’t going back. I darted out of the stairwell and around the corner and hurried down the hallway, searching for my locker. We’d never had lockers before. Fourth grade was our first time getting them.
I found mine all the way at the end, closest to the classroom door—which was right next to the bulletin board. I froze, staring at the display. There was a full moon at the top, with our room number written on it, and below that Ms. Krane had twenty-two mice scurrying across a meadow, one for each student. I scanned the names, looking for mine. I was in the middle but facing the opposite direction. I smiled. How did Ms. Krane know I liked running backward?
My smile faded when I spotted Missy’s mouse with pigtails running above mine. And I gulped when I noticed what loomed overhead. Perched in the tree that stretched out from the side of the bulletin board was a great horned owl. Its fierce yellow eyes, pointed ears, and razor-sharp talons zeroed in on the mice. Stamped across the owl’s chest was my teacher’s name—Ms. Krane.
As soon as I saw that, I knew Ms. Krane had tricked us. She only did something fun on Meet Your Teacher Day to fool us into thinking she was maybe a little bit nice. But we were getting the real Ms. Krane now. I didn’t need to do any more research. The real Ms. Krane sat on that branch. She was the Owl—and she was ready to gobble us up!
16
THE REAL MS. KRANE
“You going to stare at that all day or are you coming?” Kyle asked on his way past me and the bulletin board.
I shook my head and blinked a bunch of times. I was the last one in the hall. “I’m coming!” I shouted.
I quick shoved my bag inside my locker and slammed it shut. Then I stole one last glance at the owl and my mouse before scurrying into my new classroom.
When I spotted Ms. Krane, it looked like she’d already swallowed a few students. I hoped she’d started with Missy Gerber.
“Ms. Krane!” I exclaimed. “What happened to you?”
She smiled. “Welcome to fourth grade, Mr. Avery. You’ll find your seat over there.” She pointed.
My desk was pushed up against the counter that ran along the windows. And sitting on the table in front of me was a fish tank. Except it wasn’t a fish tank. It was a jungle tank.
“What’s in there?” I asked, rushing over to inspect it.
Ms. Krane came and stood next to me as I peered inside.
“That would be a bog, which is sort of like a miniature rainforest habitat, and there’s a tree frog in there. I thought we should have a class pet.”
Did you catch that? She said we.
“Really? Where is he? What’s his name?”
“Actually, he could be a she, and the frog doesn’t have a name yet. Maybe you can give it one for us?”
Did you catch that? She said us.
“Me?” I squeaked, looking at Ms. Krane with wide eyes. That seemed like a pretty important job, not one any of my other teachers would’ve given me before.
“Sure,” she answered. “I know you’ll think of a good one.”
I gulped. Then I searched inside the tank again. “I’ll need to get to know him a little bit first.”
“That sounds like a good plan,” Ms. Krane agreed.
She walked away and started chatting with some of my classmates, and I went back to staring in the tank. I forgot all about asking her how she got so fat ’cause I was distracted with trying to find our frog.
I had to slow my eyes down and look real careful before I finally spotted him resting near the top. He was hiding on a leaf. He blended in with the colors so it was really hard to see him. I thought about naming him Hider or Camo, which would be short for camouflage ’cause that’s what he was doing, but I wanted to give it more time before deciding, in case other ideas came to me.
Speaking of names, Ms. Krane got started calling ours for morning attendance. She never even told me to get to my seat. She let me keep standing at the tank, which was way better than trying to sit still behind my desk, but guess who couldn’t handle that.
“Carter, you need to sit in your seat now,” Missy Gerber said, already bossing me around.
I ignored her. Ignoring was one of the strategies Grams was always telling me to try—and Principal Ryan, too, when I got sent to her office.
“Carter!” she cried again, her voice sounding irritated like my old teachers.
Me and Camo were doing good ignoring. (That was me trying out his name. He was definitely a boy frog. I’d had enough of girls already—thanks to Missy.)
“Ms. Krane, Carter won’t sit down,” Missy whined.
Now you know why Missy Gerber was a double dose of annoying. She was bossy and a tattletale.
“Missy, I’d like you to worry about you,” Ms. Krane said. “Carter isn’t bothering anyone.”
Boy, did I grin when I heard that. “Yeah, worry about yourself, bossy pants.”
Kids laughed even though I wasn’t trying to be funny. I quick slapped my hand over my mouth, but it was too late. Those words had skipped ahead of my brain again. The idea that it was okay to think certain things but not say them was something I was still working on.
Ms. Krane lasered her triangle pointy eyes at me, giving me her death stare. The Owl was so scary and mean she didn’t even have to say anything—and I didn’t need to keep my hand over my mouth, ’cause I knew if I let one more word slip, I’d be a dead mouse.
Missy Gerber didn’t say anything, either. Instead, she hid her face in her hands. Missy wasn’t double trouble. She was a triple threat: bossy, tattletale, and crybaby.
Ms. Krane finished taking attendance and began passing out those black-and-white notebooks that reminded me of a cow. She put mine on my desk even though I still wasn’t sitting there. I grabbed it and sat on the counter between my seat and Hider’s tank. (That was me testing out his other name.)
“These will be your personal journals for the year,” Ms. Krane explained as she walked around. “Personal means it’s yours and you may use it for anything you want. There will also be times when I ask you to work in them. If you want me to look in yours or read something in it, I will. But only if you want.”
“Is that for real or a trick?” I asked.
The Owl twisted her head around and lasered her triangle pointy eyes on me again. “I don’t play tricks, Carter.”
I gulped a second time.
Ms. Krane took her position at the front of the room and continued giving us directions. “Please put your names on the front covers. You may work in your journals now or choose silent reading.”
I didn’t like writing very much ’cause it was hard for me, but I took my pencil and printed my name on the cover like she’d asked. I got done and then the great horned owl swooped over and landed next to me when I wasn’t looking. One thing me and Grams read this summer was that owls can make silent flight, which is something that makes them scary hunters. That was pretty cool, unless your teacher was an owl.
“Carter, I’d like to speak to you in the hallway.”
17
A HIGH-FIVE KICK
This was it. My mouth blurted stuff it wasn’t supposed to and now the Owl was taking me outside to bite my head off. I’d made this trip with my teachers lots of times before. This was when they told me how bad I was and left me out there to think about my behavior. I never did much thinking ’cause they were the bad ones. Instead, I practiced holding my breath for as long as possible. I played with the stuff I had in my pockets and picked at the carpet or counted the dots on the ceiling. I tried to see how many times I could spin around in place before I got super dizzy. I kept busy.
Ms. Krane pulled the door closed after we stepped into the hallway—but not all the way closed ’cause she still wanted to hear what was going on inside the classroom. Since it was reading or personal journal time, it had better be silent or she’d be biting off more heads when she got done with me.
“Carter, I’m sorry Missy was telling you what to do. I will speak to her later. Regardless, I cannot have you calling her names or using hurtful words in our classroom.”
Did you catch that? She said our classroom, not my. With my old teachers, it was always, “I will not let you disrupt MY classroom.”
“Did it make you feel better to see her get upset?” Ms. Krane asked.
“Yes!” I exclaimed.
“Really?”
My shoulders sagged. “It felt good to say it.”
“But not the rest?” Ms. Krane asked.
“No,” I admitted. “But she deserved it.”
“Maybe so, but making someone else feel bad is never a good way to make yourself feel better. On the contrary, helping others can be very rewarding. Our big rule this year is that we have to bring positive attitudes to our classroom, which is why I know you’re going to do great. You’re full of positive energy. Too much sometimes, but we’ll work on that.”
Did you catch it that time? She said our again—a couple times. And she said I was gonna do great.
“Huh,” Ms. Krane suddenly gasped.
My eyes popped. “What’s wrong?” Was she going to eat me now?
She put her hands on her belly. “Carter,” she said in a tiny voice.
“What?”
Ms. Krane kept looking down at her tummy. She moved her hands around slowly, then stopped and held them in one spot. Suddenly, she glanced up at me, her face turning from serious to bright and happy.
“What? Can I touch?”
Ms. Krane took my hand and placed it on her stomach. “Feel it?” she whispered.
“Feel what?” I whispered back, ’cause that’s what we were doing. But she didn’t have to answer. All of a sudden, something inside her belly hit my hand.
“Did you feel it?!”
I nodded fast, my eyes real big now.
“That’s my baby.”
“You mean you really are pregnant? You didn’t just get fat?”
Ms. Krane laughed. “Yes, I’m really pregnant.”
I didn’t know owls could smile. I’d heard Ms. Krane had never been seen smiling, but I’d witnessed it a few times already. And she had a big smile on her face now. Me too.
We held our breaths, waiting to see if it happened again. And then it did! Her baby kicked my hand. It was like giving me a high five or fist bump. I squealed and so did Ms. Krane.
“Wow!” I said. It was the most amazing thing I’d ever felt. I didn’t know a baby was moving and doing stuff inside its mom before coming out.
“Can your baby hear us?” I asked.
“I believe so, which is another reason why we’ve got to try hard to be positive and use nice words.”
I nodded fast ’cause I understood that. Then I leaned closer to my teacher’s belly. “Hi, baby,” I said.
Ms. Krane felt it move again. “I think my baby likes you, Carter.”
I grinned.
“C’mon,” she said, wrapping her wing around my shoulder. “We should get back inside.”
I glanced at my mouse on the bulletin board. He was still there. And you know what? I didn’t see it earlier, but he looked happy.
“Sorry, Missy,” I hollered when I reentered our classroom. I was using nice words for the baby.
I walked to my side of the room but I didn’t sit in my seat. Apologizing to Missy didn’t mean I had to do what she said. I grabbed my pencil and personal cow journal and opened it to the first page. And then I drew a picture of Ms. Krane’s baby giving me a high-five kick.
When I finished, I leaned closer to the tank and held up my artwork for Camo to see. (I decided that was his name.) He didn’t do anything, but that didn’t matter ’cause I was proud. And then I thought of something else—Ms. Krane’s three things, her two truths and a lie. Since she was for real pregnant, that meant her last statement was false.
She really did like kids—maybe even me.
18
THE SECRET
I bounded up the bus steps and slid into my seat behind Mr. Wilson, but I didn’t sit down.
“Guess what? My teacher’s pregnant,” I exclaimed.
“Well, that’s exciting.”
“Yup. I got to feel her baby move today.”
Mr. Wilson’s eyebrows went up. “Really?”
“Yup. We were having a private chat out in the hall when it happened.”
“A private chat, huh? That sounds familiar.”
“Yeah, but it was different with Ms. Krane. She’s nice.”
Mr. Wilson’s eyebrows shot up again. “Not sure I’ve ever heard you say that about a teacher before.”
I shrugged. “It’s true. And it’s not a trick ’cause she really does like kids.”
“Huh,” Mr. Wilson said, and smirked. “That’s great to hear, Carter, but I need you to pop a squat now. It’s time for me to put this big yellow taxi in drive.”
I plopped my butt on the seat and stared out the window. Mason never said I’d have to do hands-on research, but that was what I’d done—and I’d learned a lot! He was gonna flip if I ever got to tell him.
Grams was waiting for me when we got to my stop. I jumped to my feet. “See you tomorrow,” I cheered.
“Thanks for the warning,” Mr. Wilson replied.
I stuck my tongue out at him and hopped down the bus steps. Me and Grams waved as he drove away and then we turned toward the house.
“Your sister and Torrie are inside,” Grams said.
“No swim today?”
“Practice is later. They’re getting an after-school snack ready before tackling their homework.”
“Yay!”
“Maybe you can tell us about your day while we eat?”
“I’ve got lots to tell,” I teased.
“Really?” Grams sounded shocked ’cause I wasn’t usually thrilled to talk about school.
“Yup,” I teased more. Then I ran ahead ’cause Grams walked too slow for me and ’cause I was hoping Brynn had fresh snickerdoodles waiting. Plus, I didn’t want to tell Grams the news until everyone was together. I hurried inside and booked it to the bathroom ’cause I had to go bad.
“Did you wash your hands?” Torrie asked when I slid into the kitchen. Told you she was like another sister.
“Yes,” I groaned. If she didn’t ask, then Grams or Brynn would. Someone always checked on that ’cause I didn’t always remember, especially when I was in a hurry.
Brynn handed me a plate and ruffled my hair.
“So what’s your exciting news?” Grams asked.
I loaded up on Brynn and Torrie’s warm mini-muffins, which weren’t snickerdoodles but were still really yummy, and sat down. “Ms. Krane is pregnant and I got to feel her baby move today. Just me,” I blurted.
Brynn and Torrie looked at each other and then at Grams, but no one said anything. “Did you hear me?” I shouted.
“Yes. Yes,” Grams replied. “That certainly is exciting. Sounds like you learned something big about your teacher on the first day.”
“Yup, I sure did. I learned she’s pregnant and she really does like kids.”
Grams chuckled. “Well, that’s a relief.”
“Did you learn anything else about Ms. Krane?” Brynn wondered, glancing at Torrie again.
“Like what?” I asked.
“Brynn,” Grams cautioned.
“What? He might as well know. He’s gonna hear about it.”
“Know what?” I asked.
“Never mind,” Grams said. “Why were you the only one who got to feel the baby move?”
“Know what?” I repeated.
“CJ, you’re on the need-to-know list, and right now you don’t need to know, so drop it,” Brynn said.
“That’s right,” Grams snapped. “I said never mind. Now, why were you the only one who got to feel the baby move?”
I wanted to know their secret, but I knew better than to argue with Grams. Besides, I was still excited to tell them about the baby moving. I also told them about Camo and a little bit about annoying Missy Gerber ’cause she didn’t get switched into a different class.
“CJ, it’s gonna be real important for you to try hard for Ms. Krane. You don’t want her to get upset or stressed out, because that won’t be good for her baby,” Grams explained.
“Don’t worry. Our classroom rule is that we have to be positive and use nice words.”
