9 Ch9-Stalling for Time

Chapter 9 Stalling for Time That night I used my secret flash-card system to write ten poems. I brought them with me to school the next morning. Did everybody write a poem last night? asked Miss Daisy as she went around the room collecting our home- work.

My dog ate my poem, said Neil the nude kid. That was a total lie. Neil doesn't even have a dog. Miss Daisy looked mad. It was the second day in a row that Neil didn't turn

in a poem. He looked like he might cry or something, so Miss Daisy said he could go get a drink of water. I waited a minute. Then I asked Miss Daisy if I could go to the bathroom. She said okay. Neil wasn't at the water fountain in the hall. I went in the boys' bathroom and saw legs in one of the stalls. It sounded like the kid was crying. I went and sat in the stall next door. Psssst! Hey, Neil... is that you? Yeah. You need a poem? I asked. You got an extra one? Shhhhh! Quiet! I whispered. Sure I have an extra one. You wanna buy it?

How much? Neil asked. Your lunch money will cover it, I said. Is it a good poem? Only the best for you, Neil. Lemme see it, Neil whispered. I opened the door a crack and looked out to make sure nobody else was in the bathroom. Then I took a poem out of my pocket and slipped it under the stall to Neil. Hey, he said after reading it. This poem doesn't rhyme. Poems don't have to rhyme, dumb- head, I whispered. Do you want it or not? I don't have all day. I'll take it, he said, handing me a

bunch of coins. But now I won't be able to buy any lunch. Lunch is way overrated, I said. Thanks, A.J., Neil whispered. You saved my life. Don't mention it, I told him. There's plenty more where this came from. Just don't tell any girls where you got the poem. I won't, Neil said. You won't tell Miss Daisy you sold it to me, will you? My lips are sealed, I told him. But not with glue or anything. That would be weird.