Teacher's Pet

“If you like,” replied Ms. Colman. “Or it could be a made-up story.”

  “Does it have to be about a real animal?” asked Hannie.

  “Can the pet talk?” asked Terri.

  “Those things are up to you,” said Ms. Colman. “I want you to think about pets, to write a story, and to work together. All right. In group one is … ”

  Nancy found herself in a brand-new group. She would be writing the story with Natalie, Bully Bobby, Omar, and Chris. Yuck. This was not a good group. Too many boys. And one of them was Bobby. Nancy moved as far away from him as she could. The only person in this group who might be her new best friend was Natalie Springer.

  “Who is going to write down our story?” asked Natalie.

  “You or Nancy,” said Bobby. “Girls always have the best handwriting.”

  “Well, let’s see about that,” replied Natalie. “Everybody — write your name on this paper.”

  The kids wrote their names on the large sheet of paper Ms. Colman had given them. They wrote very, very carefully.

  “Ha! Omar has the best writing!” exclaimed Natalie.

  So Omar picked up a pencil. “Okay. How do we start?”

  “Let’s write a story,” began Natalie, “about a girl and her dog. And the dog is named Barf.”

  “Barf!” shrieked Omar.

  “You mean Bart,” said Nancy.

  “No, Barf,” Natalie repeated.

  “But Barf —” Nancy began to say.

  No one heard her, though. The boys were laughing too loudly.

  Natalie bent over. She pulled up her droopy socks. She tried to tuck in her shirt. Nancy noticed a bit of carrot on one of Natalie’s front teeth.

  “I want to write a story about a dog named Barf,” said Natalie slowly.

  “Okay, okay,” said Chris.

  The kids settled down. They wrote a story about a dog named Barf. They finished before the other groups did.

  Bobby made an announcement to his group. “I,” he said, “am bringing my dog to school on Pet Day. My parents said I could.”

  “Cool,” replied Chris. “I am going to bring our rabbit.”

  “You have a rabbit?” Natalie asked Chris.

  Nancy slumped down in her chair. She did not have a pet. What was she going to do on Pet Day? She had a beautiful stuffed monkey. But Hannie had said bringing in a stuffed animal was stupid.

  “Class,” said Ms. Colman from the front of the room. “You have worked hard on your stories today. Now it is time to share them with the other groups. Let me see. Nancy, would you please read your group’s story aloud?”

  “Me?” replied Nancy. She did not want to read a story about a dog named Barf. But Ms. Colman was the teacher, and she had asked her to read it. Slowly Nancy stood up. “Well,” she began, “our story is about a dog. And Natalie Springer said he should be named, um, Barf.”

  The kids laughed. Nancy glared at Natalie. No way was Natalie going to be her second-grade best friend. Then she read the story. She read it fast and sat down quickly. Some of the kids were still laughing. But they were looking at Natalie, not at Nancy. Nancy did not feel so bad.

  Except about the pet. She did wish she had a real, live pet to bring to school on Pet Day.

  GERBIL, HAMSTER, RAT

  “Group time again!” called Ms. Colman. She clapped her hands twice.

  It was Thursday afternoon. Recess was over. The kids in Ms. Colman’s class had returned to their room. And once again they found their desks pushed into three groups.

  “When I call your names, please form your new groups,” said Ms. Colman. “Then I will tell you about today’s assignment.”

  Nancy sat at a group of desks by the classroom door. In her group were Hank Reubens, Jannie Gilbert, Hannie Papadakis, and Terri Barkan. Could one of them be her new best friend? Nancy decided she was tired of looking for a new best friend. She sat back and waited for her teacher to talk about the next assignment.

  “Today,” said Ms. Colman, “we will start deciding on the pet we will get next week. You have already been thinking about pets. And you have written down some things that would make an ideal pet. Now I want you to think about what animal would make the best classroom pet. Talk about this in your groups. Then I would like each group to choose the pet they want to buy next week. When the three pets have been chosen, we will vote on one. And that is the pet we will get. Any questions?”

  Jannie raised her hand. “Can we really choose any pet?”

  “Yes,” replied Ms. Colman. “As long as it would be a good classroom pet. Would a dog be a good classroom pet?”

  “No!” cried Ricky.

  “Why not?” asked Ms. Colman.

  “Because you cannot leave it alone at night.”

  “That’s right. So think carefully. Okay, boys and girls. Time to get to work.”

  Hannie and Hank and Nancy and Terri and Jannie looked at one another.

  “Well,” said Terri, “what kind of pet should we get?”

  “I want a cat,” said Jannie.

  “A cat!” exclaimed Hank. “We cannot get a cat. A cat would not be happy living in a classroom. It would want to go outside. And it would not want to be alone at night.”

  “How about a monkey?” asked Jannie.

  “Now that is just silly,” said Hannie. “We have to get a smaller pet that can live in a cage.”

  “A gerbil,” said Terri.

  “A hamster,” said Hank.

  “What kind of pet do you want?” Hannie asked Nancy.

  Nancy shrugged.

  “We could get fish,” suggested Jannie.

  “Or a rat,” said Hannie.

  “A rat would be easy to take care of,” said Hank.

  “And fun to watch,” said Terri.

  “Do you like rats?” Hannie asked Nancy.

  “Yup.” Nancy nodded. And smiled.

  Hannie smiled back. “Okay. Our group chooses a rat,” she said.

  The other groups had not made decisions yet.

  Hank said, “Guess what I am bringing in for Pet Day tomorrow. My dog, Jack,” he went on, before anyone could guess. “I have a canary named Sassy, too. But I am only going to bring one pet to school.”

  “I am bringing in my cat. Her name is Eloise,” said Jannie.

  “I am bringing in a surprise,” said Terri.

  “I am bringing in Noodle, our poodle,” said Hannie.

  “What are you bringing, Nancy?” asked Terri.

  “I do not know yet,” Nancy replied. “Maybe … well, I do not know.”

  Hannie leaned over to Nancy. “Do you have a pet?” she whispered.

  “No,” Nancy admitted.

  “That’s okay,” said Hannie.

  Nancy smiled at Hannie again. She decided Hannie was nice.

  A BIG PROBLEM

  “It is time,” said Ms. Colman, “to choose our class pet. Girls and boys, please put your desks back in their rows.”

  The kids in Ms. Colman’s class bustled around the room. When their desks were in order, they sat in four neat rows, with four desks in each row, the empty desk in the back.

  “Thank you,” said Ms. Colman. “All right, these are the pets you have chosen. Group one chose a hamster.” (Ms. Colman wrote hamster on the blackboard.) “Group two chose a rat.” (Ms. Colman wrote rat.) “And group three chose a rabbit.” (She added rabbit to the list.) “These are very good choices. Any of these animals would make a fine pet for our classroom. Now we need to decide which one we will get. We will do this by voting. I would like each of you to vote for two animals. Please raise your hand when I call out the animals. Remember, you must vote for two of them.”

  In the back of the room, Nancy sat eagerly at her desk. When Ms. Colman said, “Hamster,” she held very still. When she said, “Rat,” she raised her hand high. When Ms. Colman said, “Rabbit,” Nancy raised her hand again.

  Ms. Colman counted the votes. “Ten for the hamster, seven for the rat, thirteen for the rabbit,” she said. “Okay, we
will take the rat off the list.”

  “Boo,” muttered Hank.

  “Now you will vote for either the hamster or the rabbit,” Ms. Colman went on. “Just one vote this time. Hamster?”

  Seven hands shot up.

  “Rabbit?”

  Eight hands shot up.

  Ms. Colman smiled. “The rabbit wins!” she announced. “Next week we will go to the pet store and choose a rabbit.”

  Eight kids cried, “Yea!”

  Seven kids were silent.

  Finally Natalie raised her hand. “But I do not want a rabbit,” she said. “I want a hamster.”

  “Me, too,” said six other voices.

  Ms. Colman sat patiently at her desk. “We took a vote,” she reminded her class. “You voted for the rabbit.”

  “I didn’t,” said Ricky.

  “Neither did I,” said Natalie and Terri and Omar and Chris and Leslie and Audrey. They crossed their arms. And Audrey added, “Seven people is almost half the class.”

  “Hmm. That’s true,” said Ms. Colman. “Almost half the class does not want to get a rabbit. What do you think we should do?”

  “Get a hamster!” called out Bobby.

  Ms. Colman smiled. “I am afraid that is not the answer. We have a big problem. Let me think about this.”

  Just before the bell rang at the end of the day, Ms. Colman said, “Class, I still am not sure what to do about our pet. For now, I think we better call off our field trip to the pet store. We just cannot get a rabbit if half the class will be so unhappy. I promise we will get a pet. But I must think about the best way to do it.”

  Nancy glanced at Hannie. She smiled at her. Hannie smiled back. So far, Ms. Colman was the fairest teacher they had ever had.

  In the front of the room, Ms. Colman smiled, too. “Tomorrow is Pet Day!” she reminded her students.

  PET DAY

  “Ms. Colman must be the best teacher in the world,” said Ebon Harris to his big brother Omar. “She said you can bring Buster to school?”

  “Yup,” said Omar. He gave Buster one last brushing. Buster was the Harrises’ sheepdog, and Omar was very proud of him.

  “Why?” asked Ebon.

  “Why what?” replied Omar.

  “Why did she say you could bring Buster to school?”

  “Because today is Pet Day.”

  “Is he all ready?” Tammy asked Terri.

  Terri peered inside the box she was holding. The lid of the box said Happy Feet Shoes. The twins had punched holes in it with their hole puncher. “All ready,” replied Terri. “Ready for his first day of school.” She giggled.

  “Do you think we should dress him up or something?” asked Tammy.

  “Nah. He never lets us…. Come on. Let’s tell Daddy we are ready for him to drive us and Frank to school.”

  “Won’t the kids be surprised when they meet Frank?” added Tammy.

  “Okay, you guys, I hope you like school,” said Hannie. She was sitting in the backseat of her mother’s car. Next to her was her little sister. In the front were her mother and Linny, her brother. In her lap were Noodle the Poodle and Myrtle the Turtle.

  “Are you sure you are allowed to bring two pets to school?” asked Linny.

  “Yes,” replied Hannie. “I have a special plan.”

  Nancy walked into her classroom feeling nervous. It was Pet Day. And she had not brought a pet. Not even her stuffed monkey. She looked around the room. She saw Omar with a beautiful woolly dog. She saw Terri and Tammy with a shoebox. She saw cats and cages and two more dogs. Then she saw Natalie. Natalie was sitting at her desk with no pet. She saw Ian. Ian was sitting at his desk with no pet. She saw Sara. On Sara’s desk was an old stuffed chipmunk. Nancy began to feel better.

  “Hey, Tammy, Terri. What do you guys have in the box?” asked Jannie. Jannie’s cat Eloise was wandering around the room. She was hissing. Jannie’s dad was standing in the back of the room with some other parents. Some grandparents, too. Mr. Gilbert was keeping a close watch on Eloise.

  Terri and Tammy grinned. They opened the box.

  “Meet Frank,” said Tammy.

  “Ribbit,” said Frank.

  “Ew, a frog!” screeched Sara.

  “We better keep Frank away from Eloise,” said Terri.

  “Nancy! Hey, Nancy Dawes!” called a voice.

  Nancy turned around. Standing in the doorway was Hannie. Behind her was her mother. Mrs. Papadakis was carrying Sari, and leading Noodle the Poodle on his leash. Hannie was carrying her turtle. She held her out to Nancy. “Here,” said Hannie. “This is Myrtle the Turtle. You can borrow her today.”

  “I can?” replied Nancy. “You mean, I will have my own pet?”

  “Just for Pet Day,” said Hannie quickly.

  “Boy … thanks!” cried Nancy.

  BEST FRIENDS

  “Welcome, mothers and fathers and grandparents and pets,” said Ms. Colman. “Welcome to Pet Day.”

  The morning had begun. Ms. Colman was standing in front of the blackboard. Her students were seated at their desks. The mothers and fathers were standing in the back of the room. And everywhere — on leashes, in carriers, in boxes, and on desks — were dogs and cats and frogs and turtles and stuffed animals.

  “This morning,” Ms. Colman said to her students, “anyone who brought in a pet may come to the front of the room and tell us a little bit about it. Who would like to begin?”

  “Me! Me!” called Hank.

  Hank’s father handed him a leash. At the end of the leash was a friendly black dog.

  “This is my dog, Jack,” said Hank proudly. “He is a mutt. We got him from the pound. He is — Hey, stop that, Jack! No biting!”

  “Yeah, no biting me,” said Natalie. She pulled her legs under her desk.

  “He is two years old,” Hank went on. “Jack’s favorite — No biting! His favorite toy is — No biting, Jack! Is an old — I said, no biting! And no chasing ca —”

  “Daddy! Save Eloise!” cried Jannie.

  Jack chased Eloise twice around the room. Finally Mr. Gilbert put Eloise back in her carrier. Eloise hissed loudly. Mr. Reubens led Jack into the hall for a walk.

  “I wanted to go next,” Jannie announced. “But I will have to let Eloise calm down first. She is all upset now.”

  Nancy raised her hand. “Could I go next?” she asked, and Ms. Colman nodded. Nancy carried Myrtle to the front of the room. “This is Myrtle the Turtle,” she began. “Myrtle is, um, she is … hmm. I forget how old Myrtle is.” In the back of the room, Hannie held up one finger. “Oh, yeah. She is a year old,” said Nancy. “She is very, um, friendly. And … and … let me see. Her shell is quite hard. She is —”

  “What kind of turtle is she, Nancy?” asked Ian.

  “Well, everyone knows she is a box turtle,” spoke up Hannie.

  “She likes to play, and she is a very good pet,” Nancy finished up. Then she sat down in a hurry. There. Done. She had not even had to admit that Myrtle was not her own pet. (Although she thought the kids knew anyway.) “Thanks, Hannie,” whispered Nancy. “You are a great friend.”

  “You’re welcome,” Hannie whispered back. “You are a great friend, too.”

  “I am?”

  “Sure. Karen has told me about you. You sound like a good friend, anyway.”

  In the front of the room, Chris was talking about his rabbit. But Nancy and Hannie were not listening.

  “Is Hannie your real name or a nickname?” Nancy wanted to know.

  “Nickname. It is short for Hannah.”

  “Do you have a best friend here? In our room?” asked Nancy.

  Hannie shook her head. “Karen is my only best friend.”

  “Mine, too,” said Hannie.

  “Girls! Shhh!” said Ms. Colman. “Please pay attention to Chris.”

  Nancy and Hannie quieted down until Chris finished. Then Nancy leaned over to Hannie and whispered, “Do you want to be my second-grade best friend?”

  “Sure,” replied Ha
nnie. “And you can be mine.”

  Nancy Dawes had a second-grade best friend at last.

  KAREN’S SURPRISE

  “Ing,” said Nancy Dawes to herself. “Ing, ing, ing.”

  It was Monday morning, and Nancy was bent over a worksheet. She was adding ing to words. Some words were easy, such as start. She just added ing after the last letter. But some words were tricky. She had to remember, for instance, to add another t at the end of pat before she put on the ing.

  “P-a-t-t-i-n-g,” Nancy was whispering, when the door to Ms. Colman’s room opened. Nancy glanced up.

  Karen Brewer walked through the door. A teacher’s aide was with her.

  “Good morning, Mr. Abrams. Good morning, Karen,” said Ms. Colman. Ms. Colman was smiling. “Karen, this will be your cubby.”

  Her cubby? That was when Nancy noticed that Karen was carrying her jacket, her extra sneakers, and everything she had brought to school that morning. Nancy could not believe it. Was Karen going to be in her class?

  Mr. Abrams left the room. Karen put away her things.

  Then Ms. Colman said, “Class, this is Karen Brewer. She started out in first grade last week, but we have decided to move her to second grade.”

  “Smarty pants,” whispered Ricky.

  “So she is joining our class. Karen, you may take that empty seat next to Nancy Dawes in the back of the room.”

  Karen grinned at Nancy and Hannie. Then she headed for the last row of desks. As she passed Bobby’s desk, he whispered, “First-grade baby.” He stuck his foot into the aisle.

  Karen stepped over the foot. She whispered back, “You leave me alone, you big bully. You do not scare me.” Then she hurried to the back of the room and sat down next to Nancy.

  “Karen!” Nancy said. She tried to whisper, but she was too excited. “Did you know you were going to be in my class?”

  “Mommy told me yesterday, but I wanted to surprise you. Isn’t this a good surprise? I can —”

  “Girls,” said Ms. Colman. “Quiet, please.”

  Karen sat quietly at her desk. This was very difficult for her. She wanted to say a million things. She wanted to say that she was best friends with Nancy and also with Hannie. She wanted to say that it was so great that Nancy and Hannie were best friends now, too. She wanted to say that this meant they could all be best friends together. Plus, she wanted to say that that very morning she had watched a cartoon about a great big chicken and a little tiny chicken hawk —