Keena Ford and the Second-Grade Mix-Up (5 page)

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. Lemon right away. She sent a very long note with me. It was much longer than the notes I got last year. Those always said, “Keena to Mr. Lemon’s room—NOT following directions!!”

Mr. Lemon read every single word of the long note. Then he looked at me. “Well, Miss Ford,” he said, “I suppose you must first write an apology to Ms. Hanson.”

So I did. I sat down at my usual desk and wrote, “Dear Ms. Hanson—I am sorry that I was snooping around your classroom. I am also sorry that I hid under your desk. And I am very, very sorry that my face got in the way of your pointy shoe. Love, Keena Ford.” I drew a sad face next to my name so she would know I was very sorry. Then I gave the letter to Mr. Lemon.

He said, “I suppose now you must write an apology to Ms. Campbell for not following directions.”

My eyes got wet again. “Ms. Campbell hates me now,” I said. “I hurt her feelings.”

Mr. Lemon asked me what I was talking about. I told him how Eric said that I had wished I could be in Ms. Hanson’s class. “I said it,” I told Mr. Lemon, “but that’s not what I meant! I meant I just wanted to be in their class for the pudding pie.” I told Mr. Lemon that I loved my class. And I didn’t mean to make my teacher sad.

“Well, Miss Ford,” said Mr. Lemon, “I suppose you can explain yourself to Ms. Campbell in your letter.”

This is what I wrote: “Dear Ms. Campbell—I am sorry that I broke the rules by sneaking into Ms. Hanson’s room and hiding under her desk. I am also very, very sorry to have hurt your feelings. I do not think Ms. Hanson’s class is more fun than our class. I think you are the very best teacher in the whole world. I love you very much. I hope you forgive me. Love, Keena Ford.” Next to my name I drew a REALLY sad face with two tears coming out of the eyes. Then I drew a broken heart.

I showed my note to Mr. Lemon. Then I started to talk. Sometimes when I have to go to Mr. Lemon’s class, all my thoughts come out. I told him that Linny Berry and I were going to be friends again. I told him about how Eric had lied to me about Ms. Hanson’s class. I said that I didn’t understand why Eric would make up all of those stories.

Mr. Lemon said, “Well, Miss Ford, has anyone ever gotten to do something that you wanted to do but couldn’t?”

I said yes. I said everyone got to go to Linny’s birthday party but me.

“And how did that make you feel?” Mr. Lemon asked.

“Jealous,” I told him.

“So how do you think Eric feels about your very exciting class and your new friendship with Linny Berry?”

I only had to think for about three seconds. “Jealous,” I said again.

Then I asked Mr. Lemon if I could write one more note.

“Dear Eric,” I wrote. “I am sorry if I made you feel jealous about my teacher. I am also very sorry if I made you feel jealous of Linny Berry. You are still my very best friend. Love, Keena Ford.” Next to my name I drew a boy and a girl smiling. I wrote “E” on the boy’s shirt and “K” on the girl’s shirt. Then I wrote “Best Friends.”

I showed my letter to Mr. Lemon. He said that I could go back to class. I gave my letters to Ms. Hanson and Ms. Campbell. Then I tried to be very quiet for the rest of the day.

When the bell rang I tried to get out of the classroom as fast as I could. But I ran right into Ms. Hanson in the hallway. She looked down at me. She looked very, very serious. “Keena,” she said, “you should not have gone in my classroom and hidden under the desk. But thank you for the apology. I think you have learned your lesson.” Then she smiled! I nodded my head. “Yes, ma’am,” I said. “It will never happen again.”

Then I heard Ms. Campbell calling me from the classroom. “Keena, please come back here for a moment,” she said.

I walked back into the classroom.

“I just wanted to give you this,” Ms. Campbell said. She handed me a piece of paper that was folded in half. “Thank you,” I whispered. I could tell it was a letter. And I knew what it said. It said that Ms. Campbell tried to love me, but she just couldn’t because I had done two very bad things. I had pretended it was my birthday when it really wasn’t, and I had said I wanted to be in Ms. Hanson’s class. I put the letter in my backpack. I decided to wait until I got home to read it, because I didn’t want Ms. Campbell to see me cry again.

Eric and this fifth grader named Lamont were waiting for me by the front door of the school. We are always supposed to walk home together. I was going to tell Eric that I was sorry, but I just handed him his note instead. He didn’t open it. We didn’t talk the whole way home. Even though it was only two blocks, it felt just like the time when we didn’t speak for three whole days.

As soon as I got home I went to my room. I got Ms. Campbell’s letter out of my backpack and I started to read.

“Dear Keena,” it said. “I forgive you. It is always good to say you’re sorry when you make a mistake. Please remember the rules next time! I know you will try. Love, Ms. Campbell.” And next to her name she drew a smiley face.

A smiley face meant that Ms. Campbell didn’t hate me after all! Right then I made a plan. The next time Ms. Campbell said, “Good morning, Keena!” I wasn’t just going to say good morning. I was going to give her a GREAT BIG HUG.

 

 

Eric came by after dinner. He said, “Thanks for the note.” Then he said, “Sorry I lied about my classroom.”

“It’s okay,” I told him.

Then Eric said that maybe we should fix up the Homework Hut after all. Even if we didn’t have the same homework, we both still needed a quiet place to work. I said I thought that was a smart idea.

I ran to my room and got my art box. Eric and I went onto the balcony and uncovered the Homework Hut. First we repainted the letters so that it said “Homework Hut” again. We blew on the letters to help them dry, until we got kind of dizzy. Before we put the cover back on the Homework Hut, we sat inside it, just to test it out.

Then I said maybe we should make some rules for the Homework Hut. “The first rule in the Homework Hut,” I said, “is that you CAN chew gum.”

“And the second rule,” said Eric, “is that you can write in pen.”

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 4

11:30 A.M.

 

 

It is Saturday. Brian is in DC practicing for basketball tryouts already, and I am at Dad’s house. This morning when Dad picked me up, he asked Mom, “How was Keena’s first week of second grade?” My heart started to beat fast while I waited for Mom to answer. She put her arm around me and gave me a squeeze. “I think Keena has already learned quite a lot in second grade,” Mom said. She smiled at Dad and then at me. “I’ll let her tell you all about it.” I smiled back at Mom, and she gave me a big hug. “Have a good weekend, Valentine,” she said.

Dad and I walked outside to his car. “I can’t wait to hear all about second grade,” he said. I told him we should probably go out for coffee. “It’s going to be a LONG story,” I said.