3 Ch3-If You Don't Have Something Nice to Say, Say Something Mean

Chapter 3 If You Don't Have Something Nice to Say, Say Something Mean Even after Ms. Todd wrote my name on her piece of paper, she still had on a big smiley face. It must hurt to smile so much. My friend Billy who lives around the corner told me that if you keep smil- ing too long, your face muscles get frozen like that forever.

Ms. Todd told us all to sit in a big circle on the floor. "Let's go around the room and say something nice about the person sitting across from us," she said. "This will help me learn your names and get to know you better."

"Annette is a really good soccer player," said this girl named Lindsay. "Lindsay knows everything about horses," said Annette. "Michael is really good at sports," said Ryan. "Ryan is a really good eater," said Michael. "He will even eat stuff that isn't food!"

I looked to see who was sitting across from me. Ugh. It was Andrea! I hoped that I wouldn't get called on. "Your turn, Andrea," said Ms. Todd. Andrea looked at me for a long time. "A.J. is really good at picking out clothes," she finally said. Then she stuck her tongue out at me when Ms. Todd wasn't looking. "Wait a minute," Ms. Todd said to me. "I thought you said your name was Ryan!" "I'm Ryan," said Ryan. "He's a liar," said Andrea. "His name is A.J. That stands for Arlo Jervis." Ms. Todd went over to the desk and

wrote something else down on that piece of paper of hers. Then she came back to the circle. "A.J., it's your turn. Can you tell the class something nice about Andrea?" I looked at Andrea for a long time. There wasn't anything nice about her. "It would be nice if an elephant fell on her head," I said. "That's not nice, A.J.!" said Ms. Todd. "It's the truth," I said. "I hate her." "I hate you right back!" said Andrea. "I hate you right back back!" I said. "I hate you right back back back!" Andrea said. We went on like that for a while.

"A.J.," Ms. Todd said. "You were sup- posed to say something nice about Andrea. Don't you think she has nice hair?" "No." "Doesn't she have nice clothes?" "No." "Then why did you steal my shirt?" Andrea asked. "I didn't steal it!" I said. "Did too!" "Did not!" We went on like that for a while until Ms. Todd told me I had to write a note to Andrea telling her I was sorry. So this is what I wrote: