Ms N.O.R.T.

Chapter One: Mr. Rogers Wanna-Be

Chapter 1
Mr. Rodgers Wanna- Be

"I won't like her.  I'm gonna really hate her. I bet she's ugly and mean."  Sarah said as our class waited in the hall.

Actually we were wasting time, putting off going into our classroom.  "You haven't even seen her."  I told her.

Neither one of us had gotten our first look at our new sixth grade teacher.
But it didn't matter.  Even if she was pretty, smart, nice, and let us get away with a lot.  We would have still hated her. I bet she thought she was taking Mrs. Seal's place.

I know all the stuff that my mom and the grief counselors had said.  How we had to accept that Mrs. Seal had died.  Dead, I still can't or don't want to believe it.  I loved Mrs. Seal.  She was the best teacher in Michigan, maybe in the whole world.  Anyone who thought they could replace her was, well, they were in for a hard time.

A few more of the kids in our class walked up.  Everyone gave their opinion of Not Our Real Teacher. That's what we decided to call the new one; Ms. N.O.R.T.

Sam said his mom heard that Ms. Nort was kicked out of her last school for hitting a kid and swearing at the class.

Kenneth said he'd kick her butt if she tried that on him.  Nobody argued with Kenneth.  He's the tallest and fattest boy in school.

Leslie whined that we should give Ms. Nort a chance.  Maybe she was going to be a good teacher.  Everybody gave Leslie gag me motions and made kissy noises.  Talk about a teacher's pet. We should buy her a dog license and make sure she had her shots.  We were all talking at once and were probably getting a little loud. 

Mr. Simon, our principal, came out of his office.  Hearing his door slam, our group turned and looked down the hall.  The sight of Mr. Simon's red, puffy face pushed us all through the door and into our classroom.

No one else was in our room.  Most of us just stood looking around.  A few sat down at the desks they had last semester.  A couple sharpened pencils or got out paper.

I was frozen by the teacher's desk.  I was staring at a Cruella Da Ville coffee mug.  In it were dozens of pens of all different kinds.  Some had big, silly flowers, some were shaped like cartoon characters and others were for holidays. They all had a string or ribbon so you could wear them around your neck.  Only one person in the universe could use those pens, Mrs. Seal.  They were her trademark.

All the kids knew Mrs. Seal would give you anything she had.  She would loan you books, markers, or paper.  If you forgot your lunch, Mrs. Seal had your back.  But, mess with her pens?  No way!  You knew better than to ask.

I must have been really out there because I didn't notice when the room got really, really quiet. I noticed it looked like the whole room was holding their breath.  Everybody's eyes were large, round and glued to the door as it started to open. We would have bet our best video game that Ms. Nort would have walked in.  We would have lost.

In came Mrs. Gregory, everybody's favorite secretary.  Trailing after Mrs. Gregory was a strange-looking kid.  He was a short, skinny white boy with the thickest glasses.  He had on a church shirt, a sweater, and an I kid you not bow tie!  A Mr. Roger's wanna-be.  Mrs. Gregory walked right up to me and smiled.

Oh, no, I knew what she was going to say next.  "Good Morning, Tanisha, this is a new student" (no kidding) "He has just moved here from New Orleans." (good timing, coming to Michigan in February)
"Would you please make sure he doesn't get lost?" (That I could do, but keeping him from a butt-kicking? I wasn't so sure)

Mrs. Gregory smiled at me and Roger, I mean Walter, and then sailed out the door.  Another crisis handled by Super Secretary.

My thoughts were interrupted by a nasally, "Hi ya, Tanisha. I'm Walter Duovoux."

"Sure you are."  I mumbled.

The nicest thing I could manage was one small eye roll and pointed to the nearest chair.  "You can sit there, Roger."  I told him. 

"My name is Walter not Roger!" he insisted.
 
"Whatever" I said, already walking away.

I went to my own seat at the back of the first row, nearest the windows.  I put my chin in my hand and turned to look outside.  This was starting out to be a crappy day and I had a feeling it was about to get a lot worse.
Author Notes          This is a chapter book for higher elementary or middle school children.