Keena Ford and the Second-Grade Mix-Up by Melissa Thomson Read Free Book Online Page A

tunnel.” Then I heard a clicking sound as he hung up the phone. I know that sometimes when people drive through tunnels their phones stop working. But there is no tunnel in Eric’s apartment, unless you count the time we tried to dig a tunnel to my apartment through a loose floor tile. We got in big trouble for that one.
    I thought about not wearing my T-shirt to show Eric he’s not the boss of me, but I was too curious to see what he had planned. So when Eric arrived this morning, I was wearing my T-shirt and my cat ears. I opened the door to see Eric in his T-shirt, hiding something behind his back.
    “Ta-daaaa!” he said, and held out two permanent markers.

    “Huh?” I said.
    “When we get to camp, we’ll get everyone to sign our T-shirts with a permanent marker. Then we will always remember our friends from camp!” Eric seemed very excited.
    I tried to act excited too, because even if Eric’s great ideas aren’t that great, he IS my very best friend.
    “Okay,” I said. I was thinking to myself, “What’s so great about two old markers?” But at least I had my cat ears.
    You know what, though? Eric’s idea was really good! We got all of the other kids and even the counselors to sign our T-shirts. Everyone else wished they had worn their camp T-shirts too. It was lots of fun with only one problem. The problem was that the ink went through the shirt and onto my skin in some places, so it says “Nancy” on my arm and “Leonda” on my stomach. I can’t quite seem to wash it off. But I’m sure my mom can fix it with a little scrubbing, once I show her.
     
     
    7:00 P.M.
    Every day after camp Eric and I have been working on our playhouse. Well, it’s not really a playhouse. We call it a Homework Hut. It’s a place for us to sit and work on our homework once we are in second grade. Second grade has lots of homework, so Eric and I need a pretty quiet place to work on all of it. And since we know for sure that we will be in the same class, it makes sense for us to work together. We have a big box from Mom’s new refrigerator. Eric got two old pillows that will be our seats. I have been painting the Homework Hut. We keep it on the balcony behind my apartment, and we cover it with plastic bags every night. It looks really, really cool. It is going to be so fun to do our homework in the Homework Hut. I think second grade is going to be the best year ever.

FRIDAY, AUGUST 27
    8:00 P.M.
     
     
    Today was the worst day EVER. Last night I forgot to put the cover on the Homework Hut. Mom called me to set the table when I was about to cover the hut. I knew she had made a pudding pie, and that is my very favorite dessert. So I didn’t want to make her mad by not setting the table right away. Then she might say, “No pudding pie for you, Keena Ford!”
    So I got my pudding pie, but I ruined the Homework Hut. We had a thunder-storm and the whole thing is wet. It’s bad. Really bad. The paint dripped all down the side, and now it looks like it says “HORK HU.” But that is not even the most awful thing that happened today! Here is the MOST awful thing:
    Eric and I are not going to be in the same class.
    I got a letter from school today. From the SCHOOL PRINCIPAL. At first I was afraid that maybe she had found out that I was the one who got the jump rope stuck in Mr. Lemon’s DVD player by mistake.
    But the letter wasn’t about Mr. Lemon’s DVD player. It was about Eric and me NOT BEING IN THE SAME CLASS for sure. Know why? Because Eric is a boy and I am a girl. That’s right. Our principal is putting boys and girls in different classes.
    I hope this doesn’t mean my classroom will have a lot of pink.
    Now there’s no reason to even fix up the Homework Hut.

SATURDAY, AUGUST 28
    8:30 A.M.
     
     
    I am watching cartoons with Brian while we are waiting for Dad to pick us up to go to Maryland. We watch two cartoons every Saturday morning. The first cartoon is about machines that fight for no reason, and the