When Teddy reaches the front entrance he leans on the door and looks at his watch When I reach the door I’m winded and trying to catch my breath Hey Billy Teddy says What took you so long Did you stop to feed the birds along the way Ha-ha I say Not all of us had gazelle food for breakfast Teddy scrunches his nose What’s that smell he asks Oh right it’s a ROTTEN dinosaur egg He points at me and laughs You’re lucky you’re my best friend I tell him Because if I were a dinosaur I’d chew you up and spit out your bones Well that’s a rotten thing to do Teddy says with a smile What did you expect I reply I hatched from a rotten dinosaur egg
The two of us laugh and high-five Then we walk to our classroom Teddy and I are both in Mr Karas’s third-grade class here at Fork Lane School I really like the name because it makes me think of eating food And that makes me think of lunch And sometimes I spend the entire morning staring at the clock waiting for it to be lunchtime But when I’m not hungry or thinking about food I like listening to Mr Karas teach Mr Karas is a tall man with a beard He brings in his guitar and sings songs that help us learn He’s goofy but cool and fun at the same time As the kids pile into the room Mr Karas claps his hands together and says Good morning class Once you’re settled and hand in your homework I am going to tell you about our next exciting scientific adventure You could say it is out of this world But is it something cool I call out
Billy that’s a warning young man Mr Karas says as he writes my name on the board You know you have to raise your hand to ask a question right OH MAN Now I have a warning That’s like strike one Two more strikes and I’m out out of the classroom and headed straight down to Principal Crank’s office Sorry sir I forgot I say I just get so excited about adventure that I can’t contain myself Grumpily I take out my homework from my schoolbag and hand it in Back at my desk I lean over and say to Teddy Do you think we’ll do something cool like dissect frogs Teddy shrugs My older brother didn’t get to cut open a frog until high school So probably not he says Say what I exclaim High school I can’t wait that long
Yuck says a high-pitched voice behind us It’s Polly Polly Pembroke is the class know-it-all She’s also kind of a snob Frogs are slimy and gross she says I try to say something clever but she may actually be right Hey Teddy frogs are slimy How do you get them to stay still before you dissect them Aren’t they slippery and hopping all over the place The frogs are already dead says Polly They’re soaked in formaldehyde
