B005N8ZFUO EBOK by David Lubar Read Free Book Online Page A

dozens of little braids, like a rap singer, and every time he jerked or twisted, the hair flew out like a bunch of exclamation points.
    Finally, in an unusual display of teamwork, about five kids on the other side threw at once. There was no way Flinch could avoid getting hit, but he gave it a good try. He leaped and twisted, like the star of a dolphin show, but one of the balls clipped his foot.
    Mr. Acropolis blew the whistle again. Gym was over. Score one for me. I’d gotten through a whole class without pissing off a teacher. Of
course, Mr. Acropolis had never even given a sign that he knew I was there.
    It was time for lunch next. “They do anything strange during the meal?” I asked Torchie.
    “Sometimes,” he said. “For a while, Principal Davis read to us while we ate. And sometimes they play music. But lunch is lunch, and there really isn’t too much they can do to mess with it.”
    He was right. Lunch was pretty normal, except that the food was just as awful as it had been at dinner and breakfast. I guess that was normal for Edgeview. After lunch, it was time for science, which I was looking forward to, since I’d heard so much about Mr. Briggs.
    THE FRACTION SONG
(TO THE TUNE OF MY DARLING CLEMENTINE)

    CHEATER ON THE PHONE AFTER LUNCH
    Cheater : Hi. I can’t talk long. Class starts in a minute. I just wanted to say hello.
     
    Mrs. Woo : Are you studying hard?
     
    Cheater : Yes, Mom.
     
    Mrs. Woo : Your father and I will pick you up this weekend.
     
    Cheater : Great. Hey, guess what. I met a new kid.
     
    Mrs. Woo : Is he a nice boy?
     
    Cheater : Yeah. Well, sort of. I think he’s okay. He likes to kid me, but he’s not mean. At least, not too mean. He seems pretty smart, too. Not as smart as I am, of course, but he isn’t a dummy.
     
    Mrs. Woo : Well, just be careful who you associate with.
     
    Cheater : I will.
     
    Mrs. Woo : How are you doing with your tests?
     
    Cheater : I have to go. I need to get a good spot for science. Bye.

FUN WITH SCIENCE
    M r. Briggs was waiting for us when we walked into science class. Today he was wearing a Harvard sweatshirt with his jeans. “Hey, a new face,” he said. “Come on in. Welcome. Glad to have you.” He smiled, and it almost looked like he meant it.
    Torchie had already plunked down on the carpet next to Cheater. He took a piece of paper from his notebook and put it on the rug. I guess it was an assignment from last week. I was about to sit next to Torchie when I noticed the paper was on fire.
    I guess Mr. Briggs noticed, too. He walked over and calmly stomped the paper, smothering the flame. Then he held out his hand. “Come on, give me the matches.”
    Torchie shook his head. “I don’t have no matches.” He reached into his jeans and pulled his pockets inside out. A bunch of change went flying to the floor, along with a half dozen lighters.
    Mr. Briggs bent over and scooped up the lighters. “Philip, if you keep denying that you have a problem, you’ll never make any progress.”
    “But I don’ t have no problem,” Torchie said as he gathered his coins.
    Mr. Briggs shook his head, then said, “I’m not going to force you to face reality. Only you can make that decision. But you might want to think about the evidence.” He walked to the front of the room and started the lesson.
    Torchie was right—Mr. Briggs was a pretty good teacher. And he didn’t get in my face with all that new-kid garbage. But learning stuff, or not learning stuff, was never my problem. I didn’t have any trouble with science or math or English—I just had trouble keeping my mouth shut sometimes. It wasn’t really fair. Lots of other kids mouthed off, but I always seemed to get in the most trouble for it. My sister mouthed off sometimes, but she didn’t get in trouble. Maybe it was because she was a girl. Mom always stood up for her. And Dad never got mad at her. But I didn’t hold it against her. She was the only one in the family who didn’t treat me