7 Ch7-The Truth About Mrs. Cooney

Chapter 7 The Truth About Mrs. Cooney It was recess the next day. Me and Ryan and Michael were playing on the monkey bars when Andrea and her little study buddy Emily came over, like we were friends or something. "I know what you boys are up to," Andrea said. "None of you has been

sick. You just want to go to the nurse's office because you're in love with Mrs. Cooney." "That's a lie!" I lied.

Why does Andrea have to know every- thing? And why doesn't a garbage truck fall on her head? "Mrs. Cooney is busy enough with kids who are really sick," Andrea said. "She doesn't have time for fakers." "It's none of your business, Andrea," I said. "My mother is vice president of the PTA," Andrea said. "She could get you kicked out of school for pretending to be sick." "Yeah," said Emily, who agrees with everything Andrea says. "You're not sick. You're just in love with Mrs. Cooney." "Well, I was in love with Mrs. Cooney,"

Ryan said, "but not anymore." "What?!" said me and Michael. "Mrs. Cooney is too weird," said Ryan. "I couldn't marry her." "What's weird about her?" asked Andrea. We told Andrea about all the strange things Mrs. Cooney did. I told her that Mrs. Cooney had me hop on one foot and cluck like a chicken while balancing a ruler on my nose. Michael told Andrea that Mrs. Cooney had him stand in a cardboard box and try to wiggle his ears. Ryan told Andrea that Mrs. Cooney had him bounce a balloon on his head

while he tried to sing the ABC song back- ward. "And she put a bag of frozen veggies on my head," added Michael. Well, Andrea and Emily were shocked! They couldn't believe it. "That's not what nurses are supposed to do!" said Emily. "They're supposed to take your temperature and give you medicine to help you feel better." "Maybe Mrs. Cooney isn't a nurse at all," Michael said. "Did you ever think of that?" "What do you mean?" asked Emily, looking all worried. "Maybe she's a fake nurse," said

Michael. "Maybe she kidnapped the real Mrs. Cooney and locked her up in an airplane hangar somewhere." "Stuff like that happens all the time, you know," I added. Andrea sat down on a swing and rested her chin on her hands. "I've been giv- ing this a lot of thought," she said. "People are not always who they seem to be. I hate to say this, but I've come to the con-