Art class had been especially fun because the kids were starting to make their papier-mâché piñatas. George loved sloshing around in the soupy, goopy, papier-mâché paste as he built his piñata.
In fact, he was having so much fun that he didn’t even get mad when Mike told him his skateboard piñata looked like a big, white tongue. Which it absolutely did not.
George was actually feeling pretty good about things when the bell for dismissal rang. And then he heard Louie calling him.
“Hey, New Kid. Are you ready to show us what a hot skateboarder you are?”
Louie was mocking George. But so what?
“Sure. Meet me outside,” George told Louie.
“Yeah right,” Louie said. “You’ll probably sneak out the back entrance.”
Mike and Max laughed.
George frowned. What did Louie expect him to do? Skateboard right here in the hallway?
George put his backpack and his skateboard on the floor. Then he started to put on his helmet so he would be ready to skate as soon as he got outside. As he was buckling his helmet strap under his chin, George got a strange feeling in his stomach. A bunch of bubbles were suddenly bouncing up and down and all around in his belly.
Oh no! Not again!
George tried desperately to stop the bubbles. He held his nose and clamped his mouth shut. But the bubbles were strong. He’d kept them down before, but George wasn’t sure he could do it again.
“George, what’s wrong?” Alex asked. “Your face is turning purple.”
The bubbles ping-pong-pinged their way up out of George’s stomach.
They boing-bing-boinged their way to his chest.
They bing-boing-binged their way up his throat. And then . . .
George let out the loudest burp in the history of Edith B. Sugarman Elementary School. In fact, it was possibly the loudest burp ever burped in the history of all elementary schools. A super-duper mega burp! The burps at the ice cream shop and in his classroom were baby burps compared to this one.
Suddenly all the talking in the hallway stopped. Everyone turned to stare at George.
“It wasn’t me!” George declared.
But there was no hiding it. George was the big burper. Everyone had heard it. Now everyone was laughing.
And then suddenly, George’s feet wanted to jump on his skateboard right here in the middle of the school. George tried to stop them by grabbing onto Alex’s shoulder.
“Are you okay?” Alex asked.
George couldn’t stop himself. The super burp had taken over. He tried to keep holding onto Alex. But all at once his hands let go. They weren’t cooperating.
And neither were his feet. They leaped onto the board. And before he knew what was happening, George was rolling down the halls.
He shifted his weight to the back of the board and . . . wheee! He took off into the air and turned the board around in a circle. A perfect 180!
“Satisfied?” George shouted as he passed by Louie.
“George!” Mrs. Kelly came racing out of the classroom. “Get off that skateboard right now!”
But George didn’t get off. He couldn’t. It was like his feet were cemented to the board.
“Woo-hoo!” George shouted as he popped up into the air in another ollie.
Kids started clapping and whistling.
“Check this out!” George called to the kids. He turned the corner ready to do an awesome pop shove-it.
George looked over his shoulder. He could see Mr. Trainer running after him.
“I’ll put a stop to this!” Mr. Trainer shouted to Mrs. Kelly. But George was too fast for him.
Practically every kid at Edith B. Sugarman Elementary School was trailing after George and his runaway skateboard. George jumped up and landed back down on the skateboard.
As he passed her office, the principal came running out into the hall. “George Brown! There is no skateboarding allowed in school!” she shouted as he whizzed by.
George knew that. The principal didn’t understand. The burp was in control, not George. He turned his head and tried to say, “I’m sorry.” But nothing came out.
“George! Watch out!” someone shouted. George thought it sounded like Alex.
When George turned back around, he saw what the problem was. He was heading straight for the art room at the end of the hallway. The door was open. George was going too fast to stop. Besides, the magic burp wouldn’t let him.
“Whoa!” he shouted as he whizzed into the room and smashed into a table.
Ride over.
Whoosh. Suddenly George felt a big bubble pop right in the middle of his stomach. The air just rushed right out of him.
The super burp had disappeared. But George was still here, left to deal with the mess.
He fell off his skateboard and landed on his rear end just as a pail of icky, sticky, papier-mâché goo tipped over. Yucky, white papier-mâché rained down over George’s head.
George sat there, feeling the slippery, ooey-gooey, white paste slither down his neck, and ooze down under his shirt. It dripped on George’s face and into his mouth. Blech. It was the most disgusting thing George had ever tasted. And considering he’d once mixed tuna fish with chocolate ice cream and ketchup, that was saying a lot.
“Hey, check it out,” Alex said. “George is a human piñata.”
The kids were all crowding in the doorway.
“Nice job, New Kid,” Louie said in a mean voice.
George sighed. New Kid. There were those two words again.
“You’re in some mess now,” Louie told George.
George sat there for a minute, staring up at Louie. He didn’t say a word. What could he say? Louie was right.
“George!” Mrs. Kelly exclaimed as she ran into the art room. “Why would you do that? Just what got into you?”
George sighed. It was actually what had gotten out of him that had made him act all goofy. But what was he supposed to say? The burp made me do it? That would just get him into more trouble.
More trouble was the last thing George needed.
Chapter 13
That afternoon, George walked home alone—again. He’d had to stay after school to clean up the art room. That had taken a really long time since the principal wouldn’t let Chris or Alex stay to help. By the time he’d finished, all the kids had gone home.
Well, one thing was for sure. No one was going to call George the new kid anymore. Everyone knew his name—including the art teacher, the janitor, and the school principal, Mrs. McKeon. He’d spent a lot of time talking to her before she let him go home.
George reached up and scratched at his head. The papier-mâché paste was starting to harden in his hair. It was all clumped behind his ears, too. He was going to have to take a really long shower tonight. Then he’d have to clean up the dirty tub.
And after that, his parents would talk about being responsible. George could just hear his mother asking, “What happened to the new George?”
Worst of all, his parents would probably take away his skateboard for a week or two.
Why me? George thought as he walked through Beaver Brook on his way home. Of all the millions of kids on the planet, why am I the one to get stuck with this stupid, magic super burp? It didn’t seem fair.
George had a feeling he hadn’t seen the last of the burp. It was going to come back. But who knew when? All George knew for sure was that he would have to work hard to stop it when it did. Because if he let that burp out, there was no telling what might happen next!
About the Author
Nancy Krulik is the author of more than 150 books for children and young adults including three New York Times best sellers and the popular Katie Kazoo, Switcheroo books. She lives in New York City with her family, and many of George Brown’s escapades are based on things her own kids have done. (No one delivers a good burp quite like Nancy’s son, Ian!) Nancy’s favorite thing to do is laugh, which comes in pretty handy when you’re trying to write funny book
s!
About the Illustrator
Aaron Blecha was raised by a school of giant squid in Wisconsin and now lives with his wife in London, England. He works as an artist and animator designing toys, making cartoons, and illustrating books, including the Zombiekins series. You can enjoy more of his weird creations at www.monstersquid.com.
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