Spring According to Humphrey by Betty G. Birney Read Free Book Online Page B

wrapped around her middle.
    Cassie stared and stared, but she didn’t even pick up her pencil.
    Mrs Brisbane noticed, and she walked to Cassie’s desk. ‘Is something wrong?’ she asked.
    Cassie didn’t look up. She mumbled something about her stomach hurting.
    Mrs Brisbane leaned down and whispered something I couldn’t hear. Cassie shook her head. I thought she might even cry.
    Our teacher told Cassie to go to the nurse’s office, where she could lie down.
    As soon as she left, Stop-Talking-Sophie asked, ‘Where’s she going?’
    Mrs Brisbane explained that Cassie didn’t feel well.
    ‘She never feels well when we take a test,’ Daniel grumbled. Then he grabbed his stomach and said, ‘Ohhhh, my stomach.’
    ‘That’s enough, Daniel,’ Mrs Brisbane said. ‘I’ll speak to you later. Now, no more talking during the test.’
    I hopped on my wheel and started to spin.
    While my friends finished the test, I thought about what Daniel had said. It wasn’t a kind thing to say. But to squeak the truth, Cassie had asked to go to the nurse’s office the last two times the class took tests.
    I don’t get to take maths tests unless Mrs Brisbane writes the questions on the board. Then I copy them into my notebook and work out the answers once school is over. I’ve takenspelling tests and vocabulary quizzes, but they’ve never made me sick.
    So why did tests make Cassie’s tummy hurt?
    When the test was over and the bell rang for playtime, all of my classmates raced out of Room 26 except for Daniel. Mrs Brisbane asked him to stay.
    ‘That was a very rude thing to say about Cassie,’ Mrs Brisbane told him.
    ‘But it’s true,’ Daniel said. ‘She just says her stomach hurts to get out of taking tests.’
    ‘You don’t know that,’ Mrs Brisbane said. ‘Some people get very anxious about taking tests and that might make her stomach hurt. But, Daniel, it’s none of your business. Cassie and I will discuss it in private.’
    ‘Okay,’ Daniel said. ‘I won’t say anything again.’
    ‘Thanks,’ Mrs Brisbane replied. ‘I expect you to keep your word.’
    She excused him and he hurried out the door.
    It wasn’t long before Cassie returned to Room 26.
    ‘Feeling better?’ Mrs Brisbane asked.
    Cassie whispered, ‘A little bit.’
    Mrs Brisbane asked her to sit down. ‘I’m going to call your parents and suggest that they take you to the doctor to make sure nothing’s wrong,’ she said. ‘You might be sick, but since your stomach only seems to hurt when you take a test, maybe you worry about them a lot.’
    Cassie admitted that tests made her nervous and made her stomach feel like it was tied in knots.
    ‘If that’s the case, we need to work on ways to make you less worried about tests,’ Mrs Brisbane said. ‘Your marks are fine. You know the material. Why do you worry so much?’
    Cassie hung her head and softly said, ‘It’s just … I don’t want to disappoint my parents.’
    ‘I don’t think you’d disappoint them if you got a few answers wrong now and then,’ Mrs Brisbane said. ‘They’d still love you, don’t you think?’
    Cassie slowly nodded.
    ‘Sometimes we learn more from our mistakes than our successes,’ Mrs Brisbane suggested.
    I’d certainly learned what not to do with the blinds cord when I made a mistake!
    Then Mrs Brisbane taught her a little trick.
    ‘The next time you feel your stomach knotting up, take some long, slow breaths, like this.’ Mrs Brisbane took a very long breath in, held it, and then slowly let the air out.
    ‘Let’s try it together,’ she said.
    ‘Yes, let’s!’ I squeaked.
    Mrs Brisbane and Cassie tried the breathing together … and I did, too.
    ‘Breathe in slowly,’ Mrs Brisbane said. ‘Hold … and slowly breathe out.’
    I was amazed that I felt relaxed and calm after a couple of breaths.
    ‘Does that make you feel a little better?’ Mrs Brisbane asked.
    ‘Yes!’ I squeaked.
    Cassie nodded.
    ‘Why don’t you stay in for