Read Online Bases Loaded by Mike Knudson - Free Book Online Page B

know as early as possible. “It’s nothing about school, is it?”
    â€œAs a matter of fact, it is about school,” she said.
    â€œWhat is it? You’ve got to tell me,” I begged.
    â€œYou’ll find out soon enough,” Mom said. “See you in class.” She walked out the door and drove away without dropping even a hint about what was going on. Was Mrs. Gibson going to be out longer? Was Mom going to show our class my baby pictures? She’d better not show the one of me crawling naked on my blanky , I thought as I ate my scrambled eggs. I walked down to Graham’s.
    â€œGraham, something bad is going to happen,” I told him the second he walked out the door.
    â€œWhat are you talking about?” Graham said. “Everything’s going great. We’re getting closer to the playoffs, and today is the last day your mom will be eating lunch with us. I mean, no offense, I like your mom and all. It’s just hard to talk about certain things when she’s around.”
    â€œMy mom is what’s worrying me,” I said. “She told me she has another surprise for me today. I don’t know if I can take it. I’ve had enough surprises for one week.” I was about to tell Graham about having to help David with his fractions, but since I promised David I wouldn’t, I decided to keep it a secret. Plus, if he ever found out I told, I’m sure it would get me a huge slug on the arm.
    â€œRelax,” Graham said. “Surprises are usually good things. Maybe she bought you a present, or maybe your family’s going to a movie tonight. Hey, if it’s a movie, ask her if you can bring me. I really want to see Mega-Brain vs. the Alien Slime . I heard that—”
    â€œHold on,” I said. “Look, we’re not going to see Mega-Brain because—”
    â€œThat’s all right,” Graham interrupted. “It doesn’t matter what we see. I like almost all movies. I even like the ones—”
    â€œWould you forget about the movies?” I said, putting my hand over his mouth. “My mom said her surprise has something to do with school.” Graham pulled my hand away.
    â€œYou don’t think she’s going to be our teacher longer, do you?” he said. “What if she’s our teacher forever? What if Mrs. Gibson decided not to come back?” A look of dread came over Graham’s face.
    â€œI don’t know. That’s what I’m trying to tell you,” I said. “I don’t think I could take another week of my mom being our teacher and everything else that goes with it.”
    â€œMe neither,” Graham said. “Yesterday when I was talking to your mom at Mrs. Gibson’s desk, I sneezed. Your mom grabbed a tissue, put it right on my nose, and told me to blow. Diane was standing behind her and watched the whole thing. I mean, even my own mom doesn’t help me blow my nose anymore.”
    â€œWow. Sorry about that,” I said. I felt like she was my responsibility.
    â€œIt’s okay. If Kelly had seen it, I would’ve been more upset. But I can handle Diane,” Graham said.
    We walked to school thinking about all the different awful surprises that might await us in our classroom. As we entered the room, everything looked normal so far. But Mom wasn’t there yet, so I still couldn’t relax.
    â€œHey, Raymond,” Diane said, walking up behind us. Graham and I both spun around.
    â€œYou know, I’m kind of going to miss having your mom as our teacher. She’s really nice.”
    â€œYeah,” Heidi added, jumping into the conversation. “I’ve never heard a teacher call a student ‘sweetie’ before.”
    We all laughed. “I’ve never seen a teacher help a kid blow his nose either,” Diane said.
    Graham’s face turned red. “Hey, keep that quiet,” he told her.
    The bell rang and still no Mom. We