20

I've still got a chance to get OUT of summer school, and I really hope I DO, because I don't want to be staring at Dennis Denard's sweaty back for the rest of the summer. Thursday I worked on my Science Fair project yesterday from the time I got home until 11:30 at night. I wouldn't say my project is gonna win the Nobel Prize or anything, but I was proud of myself for actually getting it DONE.

I think Mom was pretty happy, too. But after I was finished she went over the requirements that Mrs. Abington sent home, and it said in big bold letters that the written report had to be TYPED. Mom said there was no use complaining, and that I needed to get started on typing up the report. But I had already spent all my energy getting to THAT point, so I told Mom I was gonna go to sleep and wake up extra early to get the work done. I set my alarm for 6:00, but when I woke up this morning it was 8:10. I totally freaked out because I didn't remember hitting the snooze bar even ONCE.

I knew I was in trouble because I had to leave for school in twenty minutes and there was no WAY I could type it up before then. But when I went downstairs, my Science Fair project was sitting on the kitchen table, and the whole thing was TYPED. For a second I thought maybe the Science Report Fairy had come in overnight and sprinkled some pixie dust on the pages, but then I realized it was MOM. I went up to her room to thank her, but she was out cold.

I handed in my Science Fair project during the second period, and I felt like a HUGE weight had been lifted off my shoulders. For the rest of the day, I actually ENJOYED myself at school Rowley, on the other hand, was not doing so good. At recess he just wandered around with a dazed look on his face, and once or twice I saw him near the Find a Friend station. I thought about going over and talking to him, but Mr. Nern beat me to it.

The more I thought about it, the more I realized me and Rowley are probably better off not being friends anyway. We've been going back and forth for so long that enough is enough already. But seeing Rowley play checkers on the bench with Mr. Nern made me feel really guilty. I couldn't decide what to do about Rowley, so I went to the one place where I knew I could get an answer. On the way home from school, I stopped by Gramma's house to see if I could find the Magic 8 Ball in her backyard. I knew it was broken, but I thought somehow I could get one more good answer

out of it. It took a long time, but I finally found it near the woodpile. I was ready to concentrate real hard and asked my question, but that's when I noticed something green and shiny poking out from under a log. I forgot all about the Magic 8 Ball and went for the plastic egg. I gave it a little shake, and when I heard the sound it made, I knew EXACTLY what was inside.