Keena Ford and the Second-Grade Mix-Up Read Online Free Page B

Hanson’s class was back!
    And that’s when I crawled under Ms. Hanson’s desk.
    I folded my knees up near my shoulders and tried to breathe very, very quietly. I could hear my heart beating loud and heavy like a stomping foot. Then I heard people coming into the classroom.
    Ms. Hanson said, “Frederick, do NOT come into this classroom chewing gum.”
    Rules, pencils, and NO gum? Right then I knew there was no pudding pie. Eric must have made up ALL of that stuff! Why would he do that?!
    I heard chairs scraping against the floor as the boys sat down. I started to plan my escape. Maybe they would go to the bathroom, and I could run back into the girls’ bathroom. Then I could tell Ms. Campbell that I had been feeling sick. It seemed like a good plan.
    Ms. Hanson said, “Remember that you are now going to read silently for ten minutes. ABSOLUTELY NO TALKING.”
    Ten minutes?!?! Maybe they would go to the bathroom after that. I heard Ms. Hanson’s shoes clicking on the floor. The clicking was getting louder. I thought about all of the movies I had seen where a person is hiding. The person looking for them walks right by but doesn’t spot them. And then everyone thinks, “Whew, that was close.”
    But this wasn’t a movie. The clicking was getting even louder. Ms. Hanson’s desk chair started to move. Then she sat in it. I could see her knees and the bottom part of her legs. Her legs were crossed. One foot was on the floor, and the other foot was swinging back and forth slowly. Every time she would swing her foot, it would get a little bit closer to my face.
    And then Ms. Hanson kicked me. Right in the side of the head. I said, “Yowp!” and Ms. Hanson said, “What?!” Then she pushed her chair away from her desk and saw me. And she said, “EEEEE!”
    I think I startled her. But she got over it pretty fast. The next thing she said was, “WHO ARE YOU AND WHAT ARE YOU DOING UNDER MY DESK?”
    I scrambled out from under that desk as fast as I could. I stood up. Then I tried to say, “I’m Keena Ford,” but I couldn’t say anything. I could feel my face getting very, very warm. And my eyes started to get a little bit wet. And my lip started to wobble.

    I heard a boy’s voice say loudly, “That’s Keena. She is in Ms. Campbell’s class.”
    I knew the voice was Eric’s. Ms. Hanson looked at Eric. Then she looked back at me. She said, “Eric, go get Ms. Campbell.”
    Ms. Campbell must have been in the hallway at the water fountain, because she came into Ms. Hanson’s room in about three seconds. My whole class must have been in the hallway too, because they all crowded in the doorway of Ms. Hanson’s room.
    “Ms. Campbell,” Ms. Hanson said, “I have just found one of your students under my desk.”
    Ms. Campbell looked at me. She opened her mouth wide, like she was at the dentist. I think it was from surprise. Then she said, “Keena Ford! What on EARTH were you doing under Ms. Hanson’s desk?” She moved her eyebrows close together to make an angry face, but her lips were pressed together like she was trying not to smile.
    Even though Ms. Campbell didn’t look that mad, I still couldn’t talk.
    I heard Eric’s voice again. He sounded much quieter this time. “I know what Keena was doing,” he said. “She wanted to see our class because she thought it was maybe more fun than her class. Because I told her that it was. She said she wished she could be in our class.”
    I looked back at Ms. Campbell. Now she definitely wasn’t smiling. Her face looked like it had fallen down a little bit. Her shoulders dropped down too. She looked just like Brian when he didn’t make the basketball team. She looked sad and disappointed.
    I wanted to tell Ms. Campbell that I thought she was the greatest teacher ever. I wanted to tell her our class was the MOST fun. But my lip started to wobble even more, and the tears started falling down my face. I couldn’t say anything at all.
    Ms. Campbell sent me to Mr.