4 You Can’t Say It!

Chapter 4 You Can't Say It! That was weird. Miss Laney did an infomercial in the girls' bathroom! "How many of those things have you sold so far?" Ryan asked. "So far?" Miss Laney replied. "None." "You'd probably sell more if you did it on TV," I suggested, "instead of in the bathroom." "Good idea!" Miss Laney said. "Okay, welcome back to I Bet You Can't Say This! Our first category is tongue twisters. The winner will get a prize from the mystery treasure chest. Are you kids excited?" "Yes!" said Andrea and Emily. "No!" said me and Ryan. "Let's spin the magic spinner to see who goes first!" shouted Miss Laney.

She reached into the desk and took out one of those little spinners they use for board games. "And our first contestant is… A.J.!" Miss Laney said. "Okay, repeat after me—" "After me," I repeated. "No," Miss Laney said, "I mean, repeat what I'm about to say." "What I'm about to say," I repeated. "Aha-ha, very funny, A.J.," said Miss Laney. "Here's your tongue twister. 'A skunk sat on a stump. The stump thought the skunk stunk. The skunk thought the stump stunk. What stunk? The skunk or the stump?'" I took a deep breath. "'A skunk sat on a thunk—'" BZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ! Where did that come from? I didn't even see her hit a buzzer.

"Sorry! Nice try, A.J.," Miss Laney said. "But YOU CAN'T SAY IT!" She took a kazoo out of her pocket and blew into it. "YOU CAN'T SAY IT!" shouted Ryan, Andrea, and Emily. "Let's spin the magic spinner to see who goes next!" said Miss Laney. "Our next contestant is… Emily! Repeat after me. 'A big black bug bit a big black bear. The big black bug made the big black bear bleed blood.'"

"'A big back blug—,'" Emily began. BZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ! "Sorry! Nice try, Emily!" said Miss Laney as she blew into the kazoo. "But YOU CAN'T SAY IT!" "YOU CAN'T SAY IT!" I shouted with Ryan and Andrea. "Let's spin the magic spinner!" Miss Laney said. "Our next contestant is… Ryan! Repeat after me. 'A noisy noise annoys an oyster.'" "'A noisy noise…'" BZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ! "Oh! You took too much time!" said Miss Laney, and she blew into the kazoo. "Sorry, Ryan!" "YOU CAN'T SAY IT!" I shouted with Andrea and Emily. "Our last contestant in this round is Andrea," said Miss Laney. "Repeat after me.

'If Stu chews shoes, should Stu choose the shoes he chews?'" "'If Stu chews shoes, should Stu choose the shoes he chews?'" Andrea repeated. "Very good, Andrea!" said Miss Laney. "You win round one." That was totally not fair. Anybody could say that thing about Stu's shoes. It's a lot harder to say my thing about the skunk. Miss Laney said Andrea could have a smelly sticker because she won round one. There were grape, cool mint, tutti-frutti, and root beer stickers. Andrea chose grape. "I love smelly stickers!" Andrea said. I hate her. We moved on to round two. I had to say "I saw a saw in Arkansas that could out saw any other saw I ever saw." Andrea had to say "Fred fed Ted bread, and Ted fed Fred bread." Ryan had to say "If two witches

were watching two watches, which witch would watch which watch?" Emily had to say "I wish to wish the wish you wish to wish, but if you wish the wish the witch wishes, I won't wish the wish you wish to wish." After three rounds I thought my tongue was gonna fall out. Miss Laney gave us water so our mouths wouldn't catch on fire. "The judges are almost finished tabulating their results," said Miss Laney. "Today's winner is… Andrea!" "Yay!" yelled Andrea. "Congratulations," Miss Laney said. "You can take any prize you want from the mystery treasure chest." Miss Laney opened up one of the stall doors, and there was a treasure chest inside. Andrea chose a solar-powered calculator. The rest of us were allowed to take a