Who's Afraid of Fourth Grade?

by Nancy Krulik

  Katie felt really bad. Emma had asked her if she could do the homework right when they had gotten to her house. But Katie had said no. She’d meant to do it later with Emma, but they had been so busy playing with Matthew and Pepper. Before they knew it, it had been time for Emma to go home. Katie had done her homework after dinner.

  If she’d only said okay, this never would have happened to Emma. Now Mr. Guthrie was going to be mad.

  But surprisingly, Mr. Guthrie didn’t seem angry at all. In fact, he laughed. “Little brother, huh? I have one of those.”

  “I have three,” Emma groaned. “And an older sister.”

  “Boy, you do have it rough!” Mr. Guthrie smiled kindly. “Just give it to me tomorrow. And, whatever you do, don’t leave your homework alone,” he teased. “You never know what kind of trouble a little brother can cause.”

  Emma smiled shyly as she took the homework sheet. “Tell me about it,” she agreed.

  The rest of the morning went quickly. Class 4A did their vocabulary, read the first chapter in their new reading book, and had a spelling bee. Other than his ponytail, and the fact that he made them sit in nests, Mr. Guthrie was a pretty normal teacher.

  Around eleven o’clock, Mr. Guthrie announced that it was time for a mid-morning snack.

  “Snack time is going to be part of our science lesson today,” he told the class. “Now, some birds, like parrots, eat seeds and fruit. Other birds, like pelicans, eat fish. Does anyone know what kind of food a robin might eat?”

  George’s hand was the first to shoot up. “They eat earthworms and snails. They dig them up and munch them down.” He made a loud slurping sound.

  “Eew,” Emma S. groaned. “Do you have to make it sound so gross?”

  “Hey, I’m just telling it like it is,” George replied.

  “George is right,” Mr. Guthrie agreed. “And today, you are going to be robins. If you want to eat your snack, you’re going to have to dig for it.”

  “What’s for snack?” Kevin asked.

  “Oh, I thought I’d made that clear,” Mr. Guthrie said as he walked over toward the small refrigerator in the corner. “You’re all robins. So, of course, you’ll be chomping on worms.”

  Katie gasped. Worms? For snack? Boy, had she been wrong about Mr. Guthrie. He wasn’t a normal teacher at all. He was just plain creepy.

  She watched as the teacher began to place small bowls of dark brown mud in front of each student. There were big clumps of dirt sitting in the mud. It was disgusting!

  The kids just stared at their snacks. No one wanted to eat dirt and worms.

  No one except George, that is. He leaned down and sniffed at his bowl of dirt. Then he grinned and happily shoved his face into the mud.

  “Yum!” George sat up and smiled happily. His face was covered in mud. “It’s chocolate pudding with chopped-up cookies in it.”

  “Chocolate!” Kevin exclaimed. He dug his face into the mud too. “Excellent!”

  George buried his face in his pudding again. This time, he pulled out a worm! Well, sort of.

  “Check it out! Gummy worms!” George opened his mouth and showed the class a half-eaten, orange-candy worm.

  “That’s gross, George,” Mandy told him. She turned to Mr. Guthrie. “May I have a spoon, please?”

  The teacher shook his head. “Sorry, Mandy. You’re a robin, remember? Robins don’t eat with forks. They use their beaks to dig for worms.”

  “Like this!” Kadeem exclaimed. He buried his face in his bowl of mud and worms.

  Soon all the kids were digging for worms.

  “Yum! I found a blue-and-red one!” Andrew squealed happily. He held the gummy worm between his lips, and dangled it in front of Emma W.

  Emma laughed, and began to dig through her own bowl of mud. “Here’s a red-and-yellow one!”

  “How about you, Katie Kazoo?” George asked her. “Aren’t you going to dig for worms in the mud?”

  Katie didn’t answer him. Instead, she buried her face in her big, gooey mound of pudding and cookies. “Check it out, George!” she exclaimed, lifting her head from the mush. “I found half a green-and-yellow one.”

  “Where’s the other half ?” George asked her.

  “I don’t know. I’d better get back in there and look for it!” She buried her face in the mud again.

  Yum! Maybe having a weird teacher like Mr. Guthrie wasn’t so bad, after all. Chocolate and gummy worms for a snack! Katie figured that not even Ms. Sweet would do that! She had a feeling being in class 4A was going to be a lot of fun. At the very least, it wasn’t going to be boring.

  Who was afraid of fourth grade? Not Katie!

  Chapter 8

  Over the next few weeks, Mr. Guthrie taught the kids lots of fun stuff. One afternoon, he made them all stand on one foot and hide their heads under their arms—just to see how birds slept. Another day, he showed them how to do birdcalls, and the kids started a 4A birdcall chorus. Mr. Guthrie also took them on a field trip to a bird sanctuary, so they could see the animals in their natural habitat.

  The kids in 4A were kind of cool too. Emma W. was really nice, and she liked dogs almost as much as Katie did! George and Kadeem kept everyone laughing with their joke-offs. And Kevin was still trying to break his tomato-eating record. He’d already eaten one hundred and thirty-five tomatoes—and it was just the beginning of the school year!

  So far, fourth grade was great.

  Except for Jeremy and Suzanne.

  Katie understood why she didn’t see Jeremy so much anymore. He was busy with soccer.

  But Suzanne didn’t have an excuse. Suzanne was acting like she didn’t want to be Katie’s friend at all. Katie talked to her mom about Suzanne. And her mom said that Suzanne had a point. It was good to try to make new friends. And she was sure that Suzanne was still her best friend. No matter what.

  One day, Katie and Suzanne arrived at the playground at the same time on Friday morning.

  “Hi!” Katie greeted her friend. “Aren’t you glad it’s Friday?”

  “Nope,” Suzanne said. “Friday’s not my favorite day anymore.”

  “It’s not?” Katie sounded surprised. “But the weekend starts right after school!”

  “I know. But Wednesdays are my favorite days now. That’s my modeling day.”

  “I love Wednesdays too,” Katie agreed. “It’s my cooking class day. Last week, we learned how to make cinnamon rolls from scratch. And we dipped strawberries in chocolate. You would have loved them.”

  “In modeling class, they told us to drink eight glasses of water a day,” Suzanne said, changing the subject back to herself. “It’s good for your skin. Next class, we’re working on our hairstyles. The teacher is going to tell us what shape our faces are and . . .” Suzanne stopped suddenly. “Oh, there’s Jessica,” she said. “I have to tell her something really important. See you later, Katie.”

  Katie tried to remember what her mother had said about how it’s okay to make new friends. But right now, she just felt like she wanted to cry.

  Luckily, when Katie got into the classroom, Mr. Guthrie had some news that really cheered her up!

  “It’s time for beginning band sign-ups,” the teacher announced. “I’ve got the forms right here.”

  Katie nearly burst out of her nest. “Oh, wow!” she exclaimed. “Can I have one right now?” Then she blushed. She was so excited, she’d forgotten to raise her hand.

  But Mr. G. wasn’t angry that she’d called out. In fact, he was happy to see her so excited. “That’s the spirit! What instrument do you want to play?”

  “The clarinet,” Katie told him.

  “Oh, the licorice stick,” Mr. G. said.

  “No, the clarinet.”

  Mr. G. smiled. “A lot of people call the clarinet a licorice stick because it looks a bit like licorice candy.”

  “I love licorice,” George interrupted. “Especially strawberry-flavored; it’s delicious.”

  “Then maybe you’d like to pl
ay the clarinet too,” Mr. Guthrie suggested.

  George shook his head. “Not me. I want to play the tuba.” He stood up in his nest and pretended to wrap a giant tuba around his body. “Oompah, oompah,” he said in a low, deep voice.

  “I want the trombone,” Kadeem added. “Whaa whaa, whaa whaa.” He imitated a trombone’s sound as he pretended to play one.

  “I want to play the trumpet,” Kevin piped in. “My big brother, Ian, can play Reveille on his. I want to be able to do that too.” Kevin began singing the army’s wake-up song.

  Mr. Guthrie covered his ears. “Let’s save the music for the school band director, Mr. Starkey,” the teacher chuckled. “He’s paid to listen to it! My job’s just to hand out the forms.”

  That afternoon, Katie raced out of school, carrying her permission slip tightly in her hand. On her way out the door, she ran into Suzanne and Jessica.

  “Hi,” Katie greeted them. No matter what, she was going to be friendly toward Suzanne.

  “Are you joining the band too?” Katie asked.

  “Not me,” Suzanne replied. “I’m going to be too busy modeling to practice an instrument.”

  “But your modeling class is after school on Wednesdays. That’s just one afternoon,” Katie reminded her. “I’ve got cooking then, and I’m still taking band.”

  “You never know what can happen. I might become a world-famous model and be traveling all the time. I couldn’t be in the band then, could I?” Suzanne countered.

  Katie knew better than to argue with Suzanne when she got like this. “How about you, Jessica?” she asked instead.

  “Well, I was thinking about the flute, but . . .” Jessica began.

  “Jess is going to be my manager and personal assistant,” Suzanne interrupted. “I’m going to need her with me all the time. There’s no way she can fit band into a schedule like that.”

  Just then, the girls heard three loud, shrill whistles. Katie turned around and waved to Mandy, Emma W., and Emma S.

  “What was that noise?” Suzanne asked her.

  “Birdcalls,” Katie told her. “Mr. G. taught them to us.” She answered her classmates with a high-pitched trill of her own.

  “That’s bizarre,” Suzanne told her. “In our class, we made bird mobiles from wire hangers and construction paper. We glued feathers to the birds.”

  “Sounds like fun,” Katie admitted.

  “It was,” Suzanne told her. “Everything we do in our class is fun. That’s why we’re 4B.”

  “What are you talking about?” asked Katie.

  Jessica laughed. “Don’t you know? B stands for better. We’re in the better class.”

  “No you’re not,” Katie argued. “Both classes are great.”

  “Katie, come on,” Suzanne said. “You know you wish you were in our class. Just admit it.”

  “I don’t wish anything!” Katie exclaimed.

  Just then, Emma W. walked over to the group of girls. “Hi, Jessica. Hi, Suzanne,” she said. Then she turned to Katie. “Are you still coming over today? We can practice birdcalls. Let’s make up a bird song and do it for the class on Monday.”

  Suzanne and Jessica started to laugh.

  “What’s so funny?” Emma asked them.

  “Oh, don’t worry about them. They’re just jealous because we’re having so much fun in our class,” Katie said finally.

  “B is for better,” Jessica and Suzanne began to chant. “4B is better.”

  Emma looked like she was about to cry. Katie knew how she felt. Jessica used to be Emma’s best friend. Now Jessica was being really mean. Just like Suzanne was being.

  “Come on, Emma,” Katie said, pulling her new pal by the hand. “We can’t stand here talking to these birdbrains. We’ve got beautiful music to make.”

  Chapter 9

  “Look at this place!” Katie exclaimed as she walked into Emma’s house. She blushed. The words had left her mouth before she could stop them. But she couldn’t help it. Emma’s house was so different from Katie’s. At Katie’s house, everything was neat and orderly. The coats were always hung up in the closet, the magazines were stacked on the coffee table, and the dishes were put away.

  But the Weber house was a mess! Baby socks were scattered on the floor of the front hall. There were toys everywhere. Katie had to be careful not to trip over a small truck or airplane as she followed Emma into the kitchen.

  The mess came from having babies in the house. Katie remembered how clean and neat Suzanne’s house had been—before her sister Heather was born. After that, there were bottles and toys all over the Lock house, too.

  Suzanne! Just the thought of her made Katie angry. She decided not to think about her anymore. Instead, she followed Emma into the kitchen.

  The kitchen wasn’t any neater than the front hall. The sink was stacked high with unwashed baby bottles, and there were crumbs and part of an uneaten bagel on the floor just below the two high chairs.

  Katie bet Mrs. Weber never made Emma clean her room the way Katie’s mother always did. Emma sure was lucky! She could be messy if she wanted to.

  But better than the mess was the fact that there were kids everywhere in the Weber house. By the time Katie, Emma, and Matthew got there, Emma’s big sister, Lacey, was already home. The teenager was talking to one of her friends on the phone. Katie wasn’t sure how Lacey could hear the person on the other end, since one of the twins was sitting on the floor, singing as he banged two pans together.

  Katie stared at Lacey. The fifteen-year-old looked so cool. She had her long hair up in a messy bun. She was wearing glittery eye shadow and lipstick. Katie really loved her low-slung jeans and her silver belly shirt. Lacey’s outfit was so much cooler than Emma’s brown suede loafers and well-worn overalls. Katie thought how lucky Emma was that when she got older, she’d be able to share Lacey’s awesome wardrobe.

  Katie sighed. She didn’t have anyone she could share clothes with.

  Katie waited for Emma to introduce her to Lacey, but Lacey didn’t even notice that the girls had entered the room. She didn’t even notice that the twin who had been banging pots on the floor was now standing on the kitchen table.

  “Tyler, get down from there,” Emma said, setting the toddler on the ground.

  “I’m firsty,” he told her. “Want juice.”

  “Wouldn’t Lacey get you a juice box?” Emma asked.

  Tyler shook his head and pointed to Lacey. “Talk. Talk. Talk.”

  Emma sighed. “Lacey, get off the phone. It’s your turn to help with the twins.”

  Lacey shot Emma a dirty look. She did not get off the phone.

  Emma went to the refrigerator and took out a sippy cup filled with apple juice. “Where’s Mom?” she asked Tyler.

  Tyler pointed up toward the ceiling. “Timmy made stinky.”

  Katie looked confused.

  Emma laughed. “He means Mom’s upstairs changing Timmy’s diaper,” she explained.

  Katie nodded. She smiled at Tyler. He looked adorable drinking his juice, and rubbing a small baby blanket against his cheek.

  Katie sighed. Emma was so lucky. She had cute little brothers, and a teenage sister too. Emma probably learned all about the latest styles and new music from Lacey.

  “You want a snack?” Emma asked Katie.

  “Sure. What do you have?”

  Emma peeked in the cabinet. “We have graham crackers, peanut butter, and raisins. Mom usually leaves carrots and celery in the fridge too.”

  “Graham crackers sound good,” Katie told her.

  “Me too!” Tyler slid across the kitchen floor in his socks. He crashed into Katie’s legs. “Oops, sorry.”

  Katie rubbed her knee. “It’s okay,” she assured him. She looked at Emma. “Is it always like this around here?”

  Emma laughed. “You should see what’s going to happen when Timmy gets down here.

  He’s the real troublemaker.”

  Just then, Katie heard a woman’s voice shouting down the s
tairs. “Timmy, walk down the stairs like big boy. You shouldn’t slide down on your tush.”

  “Bump. Bump. Bump,” Timmy replied. He said “bump” every time he bounced down another step on his rear end.

  Timmy and Mrs. Weber came into the kitchen. Timmy looked at his twin brother. He noticed that Tyler had his baby blanket. Timmy didn’t have his. That did not make Timmy happy.

  “WANT BLANKIE!” he cried out.

  “Emma, will you go upstairs and get Timmy’s blankie? I swear I can’t go up those stairs another time.” Mrs. Weber let out a weary sigh. “I’m so glad your dad’s getting home from this business trip tomorrow night. I could sure use his help around here.”

  “I’ll get the blankie, Mom,” Emma replied sweetly. “Do you remember Katie?”

  “Welcome to the zoo, Katie,” Mrs. Weber joked. “I haven’t seen you in so long. Why don’t you go into the family room and make yourself at home while Emma runs upstairs? It’s quieter in there.” She pointed toward a room in the back of the house.

  Katie looked at Emma.

  “Go ahead. I’ll be right back,” Emma assured her.

  As Katie left the room, she could see Mrs. Weber pull a package of chopped meat from the refrigerator. She was obviously starting dinner. Katie wondered how much food it would take to feed such a full house.

  The family room was quiet. Sure, there were plenty of toy cars, trucks, planes, and stuffed animals all over the place, but there was no one there. Katie sat down on the fluffy black couch and relaxed for a minute.

  Now she knew why Emma wanted to do her math homework at the Carew house. Katie couldn’t imagine how Emma got anything done with all the craziness going on in this house.

  Still, things were kind of exciting at Emma’s. There was no way anyone could ever be bored or lonely here!

  Just then, Katie felt a cool draft on the back of her neck. She turned around and looked for an open window. But all the windows were shut tight. She looked up. There was no ceiling fan in the room.

  The draft was getting colder and stronger by the second. But it only seemed to be blowing on Katie. There wasn’t any sign of a breeze anywhere else in the room. Katie gulped. This was no ordinary wind.