Chapter 12

CHAPTER 12 "Please put your book and all your notes away," Ms. McKay told the class. "It's time to start the test." Michael swallowed hard. "Here we go..." He knew he should have stayed home and studied last night rather than go roller-skating, and now he was beginning to

regret it. He didn't feel prepared for the test, but he was still hoping he might be able to squeak out a B. That way, he could collect his $10 reward and pay Justin back. "Good luck!" Pearl whispered, popping up from his backpack. Since Jane didn't have preschool today, Michael couldn't risk keeping the squirrels in his room, so he'd brought them to school with him again in his backpack. "Thanks," Michael whispered back. He knew he would need it. Pearl ducked back down into the backpack as Ms. McKay walked by and placed Michael's test on his desk. The first three questions were easy. Simple division— he remembered that from fourth grade. He breezed through them. "Good job!" Pearl said. "I think I'm gonna go grab some chicken nuggets," Merle said from the bottom of the pack. Merle and Pearl had collected an enormous amount of leftover food from the lunchroom a few days before. "Don't overdo it!" Pearl warned. "Just a few." "Got it!" Merle crept from the backpack and out of the classroom window, being careful to not be seen by Ms. McKay and the other students. "Oh no," Michael whispered as he stared down at question 4.

Pearl peeked up at his test. Long division. She had helped Michael with a similar problem last night and knew exactly how to solve it. Pearl covered her face as Michael answered the question... incorrectly. It was all downhill from there, and not in a good way. More in a way a train with no brakes runs downhill through a big pile of fractions and off a cliff. The answers were all painfully obvious to Pearl, who had put in the work of learning how to solve the problems. She sank back into the backpack with a groan as Michael stood up to turn in his test.