the
whale’s ribs. The happy whale spewed a stream of crumpled
sheet-aluminum water out of its blow hole.
Takeesha was pounding one of the links of her
bicycle chain with the back end of a wrench. "The chain came apart
again." She threw down the wrench into her book bag, making a large
clanging noise, tugged on the chain, then wrapped it around her
bike wheel and locked it. She wiped her greasy fingers on a paper
towel.
“Guess what? I saw a ghost in the hallway
when I was leaving school yesterday,” Nova said.
“Really? What did it do? Were you scared? Did
you throw up?”
Nova told her about the ghost but left out
her fight with Brenda. It was still a little embarrassing the way
she didn’t stand up for herself.
“Do we want to meet in the library again to
contact the ghosts?” Nova asked.
“Oh, shoot, I left the Ouija board at home. I
think at the assembly today we can ask Nocturnal Ned.
That’s right. She had forgotten that the
famous psychic would be visiting the school.
The first bell rang as they ran for their
lockers.
Chapter 7 Threats to Science
The first class of the day was English. As soon as
Nova and Takeesha hustled inside, Nova could smell the dry, dusty
odor that came from heaters. She took a seat in a rickety old desk
near the back of the room. It wasn’t the greatest seat, but it put
her behind Brenda the bully, which was a safer place to be. Or it
was until Brenda’s sidekick, Amanda, took the desk behind her.
Takeesha sat near the front, as she always did. A few other
students had already taken their seats. Ms. Chilldress walked to
the board and wrote: “RESEARCH PAPER DAY.”
A loud crackling made the hair on Nova’s neck
stand up and her stomach churn. Two ghosts in dark suits and
fedoras entered the classroom. They stood in the front, their arms
crossed over their chests, and glowered at the teacher. Ms.
Chilldress glanced at the ghosts, then turned her gaze deliberately
on the class. The only sign of worry was the way she played with
the erasable marker in her hand. "I propose that we have a great
science fair in May. What do you think, people?"
Nova had heard that Ms. Chilldress hated
teaching English and really resented the fact that nobody was
teaching science anymore. The principal felt sorry for her and was
going to let her run a science fair in May to make up for it. The
students only whined and moaned about more schoolwork.
“We don’t want to irritate the ghosts,”
someone in the back said.
"We need to have a psychic fair,” Brenda, the
bully, said. “It said so in the horoscopes, you know.”
Most of the students agreed. Some were
holding their stomachs and making painful looking faces.
Despite the way the ghosts were making her
feel, Nova stood up. "No, you guys, science is a good thing.
Besides, Benny is going to enter, and I support his
inventions."
All the students started talking back about
how the paranormal was a good thing too. Nova felt drowned out and
sat down. Why didn’t more people support science?
Brenda made fists like she was wringing
something out under her desk. Amanda gave Nova a scowl. How could
Amanda, her best friend when she first arrived at the school last
year, even consider liking Brenda, let alone follow her? The way
Amanda looked at her now made Nova feel awful and hurt even more.
She probably told Brenda everything that Nova had told her.
"Yes, some of you have worked very hard on a
science experiment of some sort already." Ms. Chilldress handed out
a paper on science fair experiment ideas. Behind the teacher, the
ghosts grabbed her desk and dragged it across the floor toward the
wall. Her chair crashed backward. Ms. Chilldress whipped around
with a pinched face and threatened the ghosts with a hard stare.
She turned back to face the class and strolled to the back, past
the bullies. Brenda looked around the room whistling, and Amanda
buried her face in one of her books.
Some of the kids wadded up their papers
whale’s ribs. The happy whale spewed a stream of crumpled
sheet-aluminum water out of its blow hole.
Takeesha was pounding one of the links of her
bicycle chain with the back end of a wrench. "The chain came apart
again." She threw down the wrench into her book bag, making a large
clanging noise, tugged on the chain, then wrapped it around her
bike wheel and locked it. She wiped her greasy fingers on a paper
towel.
“Guess what? I saw a ghost in the hallway
when I was leaving school yesterday,” Nova said.
“Really? What did it do? Were you scared? Did
you throw up?”
Nova told her about the ghost but left out
her fight with Brenda. It was still a little embarrassing the way
she didn’t stand up for herself.
“Do we want to meet in the library again to
contact the ghosts?” Nova asked.
“Oh, shoot, I left the Ouija board at home. I
think at the assembly today we can ask Nocturnal Ned.
That’s right. She had forgotten that the
famous psychic would be visiting the school.
The first bell rang as they ran for their
lockers.
Chapter 7 Threats to Science
The first class of the day was English. As soon as
Nova and Takeesha hustled inside, Nova could smell the dry, dusty
odor that came from heaters. She took a seat in a rickety old desk
near the back of the room. It wasn’t the greatest seat, but it put
her behind Brenda the bully, which was a safer place to be. Or it
was until Brenda’s sidekick, Amanda, took the desk behind her.
Takeesha sat near the front, as she always did. A few other
students had already taken their seats. Ms. Chilldress walked to
the board and wrote: “RESEARCH PAPER DAY.”
A loud crackling made the hair on Nova’s neck
stand up and her stomach churn. Two ghosts in dark suits and
fedoras entered the classroom. They stood in the front, their arms
crossed over their chests, and glowered at the teacher. Ms.
Chilldress glanced at the ghosts, then turned her gaze deliberately
on the class. The only sign of worry was the way she played with
the erasable marker in her hand. "I propose that we have a great
science fair in May. What do you think, people?"
Nova had heard that Ms. Chilldress hated
teaching English and really resented the fact that nobody was
teaching science anymore. The principal felt sorry for her and was
going to let her run a science fair in May to make up for it. The
students only whined and moaned about more schoolwork.
“We don’t want to irritate the ghosts,”
someone in the back said.
"We need to have a psychic fair,” Brenda, the
bully, said. “It said so in the horoscopes, you know.”
Most of the students agreed. Some were
holding their stomachs and making painful looking faces.
Despite the way the ghosts were making her
feel, Nova stood up. "No, you guys, science is a good thing.
Besides, Benny is going to enter, and I support his
inventions."
All the students started talking back about
how the paranormal was a good thing too. Nova felt drowned out and
sat down. Why didn’t more people support science?
Brenda made fists like she was wringing
something out under her desk. Amanda gave Nova a scowl. How could
Amanda, her best friend when she first arrived at the school last
year, even consider liking Brenda, let alone follow her? The way
Amanda looked at her now made Nova feel awful and hurt even more.
She probably told Brenda everything that Nova had told her.
"Yes, some of you have worked very hard on a
science experiment of some sort already." Ms. Chilldress handed out
a paper on science fair experiment ideas. Behind the teacher, the
ghosts grabbed her desk and dragged it across the floor toward the
wall. Her chair crashed backward. Ms. Chilldress whipped around
with a pinched face and threatened the ghosts with a hard stare.
She turned back to face the class and strolled to the back, past
the bullies. Brenda looked around the room whistling, and Amanda
buried her face in one of her books.
Some of the kids wadded up their papers
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