10 Chapter 10

Chapter 10 By recess everyone had heard about Marvin's question. They couldn't wait to answer it. "Ask me!" said Gina. "No, ask me," said Heather. "Okay," said Marvin. "Have you ever picked your nose?" "Yes," said Gina. "Yes," said Heather. Then they ran away giggling. "Ask me!" said Melanie. "Ask me!" said Travis.… After recess Marvin was ready to give his report. He stood at the front of the room. Several kids were already snickering. Marvin began. "As you know, I asked everyone the question—Have you ever picked your nose?"

Everyone cracked up. Clarence called out, "How gross!" Marvin waited. "These are the results," he said. "Judy —Yes." The class laughed. "Keimy—Yes." They laughed again. "Stuart—Yes. Nick—Yes. Casey—Yes." They laughed every time Marvin said, "Yes." "Justin—Yes. Mr. McCabe—"

There was a gasp. No one knew Marvin had asked the principal. Marvin paused. Then he said, "Yes."

The class went wild. Marvin waited for everyone to be quiet. "Mrs. North—" Again there was a gasp. "Yes." "Settle down," said Mrs. North. She was blushing. Marvin continued. "Travis—Yes. Melanie—Yes. Patsy —Yes. Clarence—No." Everyone stopped laughing and looked at Clarence. "Gina—Yes. Heather—Yes." Marvin finished off the list. "In summary," he said, "everybody has picked their nose, except Clarence." Casey shouted, "Oh, Clarence. You're such a liar!" Mrs. North thanked Marvin for his report. "Excellent job," she said. "It was an unusual question, but I think it taught us all a lot about ourselves. We're all human, aren't we?" "Way to go, Marvin!" called Stuart. Nick clapped his hands, and the rest of the class joined in.

After lunch Marvin got on line to play wall-ball. No one complained. After all, what could they say?