Michael.
âMr. Klutz will put an ad in the paper,â Ryan said.
âThat takes too long,â Michael said. âWe need a lunch lady tomorrow .â
Michael was right. If Mr. Klutz didnât get a new lunch lady tomorrow, there would be no lunch tomorrow. And if there was no lunch tomorrow, we would starve and die. My friend Billy who lives around the corner told me that if people have no food, they get so hungry theyâll even eat dirt.
âMaybe our moms can be lunch ladies,â Michael said.
I donât think thatâs gonna happen. My mom doesnât even like to cook for our family, and we have two kids, not three hundred.
The bell rang. It was time to line up and go back to Miss Daisyâs class. Recessis way too short. We hardly had any chance to play.
I had forgotten what happened to Emily in the vomitorium, but the girls were still talking about it when we got back to class. Emily had apple juice on her clothes, and she looked upset, like her hamster died or something.
âIt was all your fault, A.J.,â said Andrea.
âMy fault?â I said. â Youâre the one who knocked the apple juice over.â
âYou shot a straw at my head!â Andrea said.
âI did not,â I said. âI shot a straw wrapper at your head. Thereâs a big difference.â
âWell, youâre not invited to my birthdayparty,â Andrea said.
âI wouldnât go to your stupid birthday party even if I was invited,â I said. Nah-nah-nah boo-boo on her.
Clap-clap, clap-clap-clap!
Miss Daisy clapped her hands, which means that everybody has to stop talking.
âI was going to start a unit about ancient Egypt today, but first I have some exciting news,â Miss Daisy said. âEllaMentry School has won an award. Our school has been named the cleanest school in the district! Next week a special guest is coming to present us with the award.â
âOooh, who is it?â everybody asked.
âItâs Ella Mentry!â
Ella Mentry! Sheâs the lady our school was named after! On the front lawn thereâs a big sign that says âElla Mentry Elementary School.â Thereâs a framed picture of her outside the front office, too. She looks like sheâs about a hundred million years old.
I thought Ella Mentry was dead, but Miss Daisy told us sheâs not only alive,but she lives just a few blocks away.
âElla Mentry was a student at this school a long time ago,â Miss Daisy said. âShe went on to become a teacher here, and she taught students like you for thirty years.â
âThatâs a long time to have the same teacher,â I said. Everybody laughed even though I didnât say anything funny.
âDid she teach Abraham Lincoln?â Ryan asked.
âI donât know,â said Miss Daisy, whodoesnât know anything. âMaybe we can ask Mrs. Mentry when she comes to visit.â
Miss Daisy went to the chalkboard and wrote, âDid you teach Abraham Lincoln?â
âMaybe we can do something to honor Ella Mentry when she comes to visit,â said Andrea Young, whoâs always trying to think of ways to do more work. Andrea will even ask for more homework.
âThatâs a great idea!â said Miss Daisy.
âHow about we honor her by taking the day off from school?â I suggested. âThatâs how we honor Martin Luther King Jr.â
âMrs. Mentry wouldnât be very happy to show up and find there are no childrenhere,â Miss Daisy said. âShe loves kids.â
âIf she really loved kids, she would let us have the day off from school,â I said.
Miss Smarty-pants Andrea was waving her hand in the air and moaning âOoohâ¦ooohâ¦ooohâ like she had to go to the bathroom.
âI have an idea,â Andrea said. âWe can make posters and banners and write letters to Ella Mentry.â
I hate her. Why canât a safe
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