Tabloidology by Chris McMahen Read Free Book Online Page A

newspaper? What sort of fun could she possibly have with a school newspaper? How much fun could she have writing about lunch-hour floor-hockey games or field trips to a wallpaper factory or… And then, Trixi’s mouth stretched into the biggest smile her face had ever made.
    Yes! She would work on the newspaper. Forget about her other pranks. Talking toilets, Harleys in the hallway and purple-haired dogs were small potatoes compared to what she could do with the school newspaper! Trixi’s mind was spinning with possibilities. This newspaper was a chance to have way more fun than the rest of her pranks combined. Ms. Baumgartner had no idea what she was getting herself into.

SIX
    M s. Baumgartner set out a few rules for running the newspaper. Trixi and Martin were to have a weekly newspaper meeting every Monday at noon in the computer lab. At this meeting, they would plan out the stories to be written for that week’s edition of the newspaper.
    At their first meeting, Martin arrived five minutes early and pulled a chair up to an empty table at the back of the room. He drummed his fingers on the table, glancing at the clock every few seconds. In his dreams, Trixi wouldn’t show up.
    The clock read 11:59. No sign of Trixi. Maybe she was too busy switching the signs on the boys’ and girls’ change-room doors. Or maybe she was in the middle of turning a garter snake loose in the staff room. Or maybe she’d decided to wash school buses instead of work on the paper. Martin remained hopeful.
    He pulled some sheets of paper out of his backpack, straightened the paper clip holding them together and laid them down carefully with the bottom of the papers lined up perfectly with the edge of the table.
    Martin glanced at the clock. 12:01. Still no Trixi. Maybe she was turning all the class pets loose or dropping water-filled balloons off the roof or taking the air out of all the volleyballs in the gym. Why would a troublemaker like Trixi want to work with him on the school newspaper? What was Ms. Baumgartner thinking?
    At 12:02, the door swung open and there stood Trixi, her cheeks bulging like a squirrel who’d just won an acorn lottery. In one hand was a half-eaten submarine sandwich and in the other a can of Zappo cola.
    Martin jumped out of his chair and said, “Ms. Hart’s number one rule is no food or drink in the computer lab. If she sees you, you’ll be in big trouble!” Trixi shrugged, flopped into a chair and slammed her can of cola down on the table.
    The two of them stared across the table at each other. Trixi chewed on her gigantic sandwich, while Martin nibbled on his thumbnail. Usually Trixi got in the first word, along with the second word and the next five thousand words. But with her mouth stuffed full of submarine sandwich, Martin went on the attack—the future of his newspaper was at stake. He reached across the table and carefully laid down the pile of neatly stacked papers in front of Trixi.
    â€œHere is the next edition of the Examiner ,” he said, wiping beads of sweat off his forehead with his sleeve. “All the stories are written, all the pictures are in place and, as usual, there are no spelling or grammatical errors.”
    Trixi kept chewing as she glanced at the papers in front of her. A sound came from somewhere deep in her throat. Martin couldn’t tell exactly what the sound meant. Either she was trying to say something or she was choking on her sandwich.
    He reached across the table and tapped the front page with his finger. “The front-page story, Trees Trimmed at Front of School , is about the trimming of the trees at the front of the school.” His voice was louder than it had to be, and the words flew out faster than he’d ever spoken in his life.
    â€œI interviewed the two workers cutting the tree branches and got a detailed, step-by-step description of the science of tree pruning. Everyone should find this article