9 Ch9-TV, at Last

Chapter 9 TV, at Last We were supposed to have music on Monday, but Mr. Hynde was absent. We were kind of worried. Maybe he was sick, or maybe a meteor hit his house or some- thing. That stuff happens all the time. But Miss Daisy told us he was fine and that we shouldn't worry so much.

A few days later, after we finished pledging the allegiance, Principal Klutz made an announcement over the loud- speaker. "Teachers, please turn on the TV sets in your rooms," he said. We all gasped. "But it's still TV Turnoff Month!" just about everybody in the whole school yelled. "Forget about that!" Mr. Klutz said. "Turn on your TVs! There is a very special tape I need everyone to see." Whatever Mr. Klutz wanted us to see must have been really important. Even before TV Turnoff Month, we were hardly

ever allowed to watch TV during school. Miss Daisy went to the front of the class and turned on the TV. It had been so long since I'd seen TV that I almost forgot what it looked like. But it didn't take me long to figure out what was on the screen. It was this dumb show called American Idol, where people get up and sing dumb songs and these dumb judges tell them how bad they sing. People vote for them, and one by one the singers have to leave until there is a winner. Why the heck did Principal Klutz want us to watch that? Some announcer guy said, "Our next contestant is a music teacher at the Ella

Mentry School—" And out walked Mr. Hynde! I just about fell out of my seat. Everybody in the class gasped. We couldn't believe it! It was the most amazing thing that ever happened in the history of the world! You should have

been there. Our own Mr. Hynde was on TV! "He's been working on his own rap CD," I told everybody. "This is gonna be cool," said Ryan. Mr. Hynde stepped up to the micro- phone. He looked a little nervous. Music started playing and Mr. Hynde started singing. "The sun will come out tomorrow....'" I wouldn't believe it! Mr. Hynde wasn't singing one of his rap songs. He was singing that dumb bet-your-bottom- dollar song! Tears were rolling down his cheeks while he sang. "'Tomorrow... tomorrow...'"

After he finished the song, we all cheered. Even me, and I hate that dumb song. I thought the judges were going to say how terrible Mr. Hynde was, because they pretty much hate everybody. But they didn't. They said he was really good. And when it was announced that Mr. Hynde was going to advance to the next round, we all went crazy.