4 Ch4-The Last Straw

Chapter 4 The Last Straw Miss Daisy told us to be on our best behavior while she called Mrs. Cooney on the intercom. So as soon as she turned her back on the class, me and Michael got up and shook our butts. Finally, after about a million hundred minutes of waiting, Mrs. Cooney walked in the door.

"Va-va-va-voom!" I whispered to Michael, who sits next to me. I really don't know what "va-va-va- voom" means, but that's what my dad always says when he sees a picture of that movie star who looks like Mrs. Cooney. "I'm in love," Michael said. "Me too," said Ryan, who was sitting behind me. "Me three," I said. It was bad enough that Mrs. Cooney had a husband. Now Michael and Ryan were in love with her too! How would I ever get Mrs. Cooney to marry me instead of all those other guys? My friend Billy around the corner

knows a lot about girls. He says the way to get a girl to like you is to make her laugh. So I decided that I would try that. "What are you going to teach us today, Mrs. Cooney?" asked Miss Daisy. "Today we're going to learn about nutri- tion," said Mrs. Cooney. "Does anybody know what a food pyramid is?" "Sure," I said, "That's what they eat in Egypt."

Some of the kids laughed, but Mrs. Cooney didn't. I would have to try harder. "Please raise your hand instead of shouting out," said Mrs. Cooney. "Andrea?" "The food pyramid shows the groups of foods that make up a good diet," Andrea said. "Good, Andrea," said Mrs. Cooney as she held up a big poster of a pyramid with food all over it. She gave Andrea a smiley face sticker for her notebook. Andrea has so many smiley face stickers on her notebook that you can hardly see the notebook anymore.

"Can anyone name all the food groups?" asked Mrs. Cooney. This time I raised my hand, and Mrs. Cooney called on me. "The refrigerator, the freezer, the pantry, and the kitchen cabinets," I said. "That's where we group the food in my house." A few kids laughed. Mrs. Cooney crossed her arms in front of her and tapped her foot until the laughing died down. She had on her serious face. She's cute when she's serious. "Not exactly," she said. Andrea had her hand in the air, as usual, and she got called on. Andrea named all the dumb

food groups and got another smiley face sticker. Why doesn't a food pyramid fall on Andrea's head? I wish I could punch her. "Good," said Mrs. Cooney. "Kids, where you eat may be as important as what you eat. Tell me, where do you usually eat your meals?" "In my mouth," I said. "Where else would I eat my meals?" "No, I mean, do you eat in your kitchen?" Mrs. Cooney asked. "Do you eat in the car? Do you usually eat in front of the TV?" "We eat all our meals in front of the TV," I said.