11. Thinking Outside the Box

11 Thinking Outside the Box We decided to leave Boomer alone and go back to the party so we could open our plastic eggs and eat the candy inside. But when we got to the lawn, the other kids were gathered around Mr. Klutz and Mrs. Bubbles. She was holding a big basket, and it was filled with all our eggs. "Hey, those are our eggs!" I said. "We found them!" "We're going to try something different this year," Mr. Klutz said. "I'm going to open the eggs for you." "But we get what's inside, right?" shouted Michael. "Of course," said Mrs. Bubbles. "You kids get the prizes."

Mr. Klutz opened an egg. I thought a piece of candy was going to fall out. But it didn't. You know what fell out? A piece of paper! WHAT?! No candy? "Each piece of paper has a question written on it," said Mr. Klutz. "The first child to answer the question correctly will get a chocolate-covered marshmallow bunny!" A chocolate-covered marshmallow bunny? Count me in. I love chocolate- covered marshmallow bunnies! I looked at Andrea. Andrea looked at me. We both made mean faces at each other. There was no way Little Miss Know-It-All was going to win the chocolate-covered marshmallow bunnies. "Okay," said Mr. Klutz as he opened the first egg. "What is... seven times eight?"

"Ninety-nine!" I yelled. "Ha! In your face, Andrea!" "Fifty-six!" yelled Andrea. "Right!" said Mr. Klutz. "Andrea gets a chocolate-covered marshmallow bunny." "Oh, man!" I shouted. No fair! Andrea went up and got her chocolate-covered marshmallow bunny. Then she stuck out her tongue at me.

"Next question," Mr. Klutz said as he cracked open another egg. "What's the difference between fiction and nonfiction?" "Nonfiction has no fiction in it," I shouted. "It's like nonfat milk." "Nonfiction is real, and fiction is a made- up story!" shouted Andrea. "Right!" said Mr. Klutz. He gave Andrea another chocolate-covered marshmallow bunny. Bummer in the summer! This game was no fun at all. Mr. Klutz opened another egg. "What is above the United States?" he asked. "The sky!" I shouted. "Canada!" shouted Andrea. Mr. Klutz gave Andrea another chocolate- covered marshmallow bunny, even though my answer was just as good as hers.

"When did Columbus discover America?" asked Mr. Klutz. "When he stepped off the boat!" shouted. "In 1492!" shouted Andrea. Another chocolate-covered marshmallow bunny for Andrea. This was a dumb game. "Where do we get orange juice?" asked Mr. Klutz. "From the supermarket!" I shouted. "From oranges!" shouted Andrea. She got another chocolate-covered marshmallow bunny for that lucky guess. She had five chocolate-covered marshmallow bunnies now. Nobody else had any. This definitely wasn't fair. "Okay, you should get this one, A.J.," said Mr. Klutz. "What do they call the man who wears a striped shirt and a whistle at a football game?"

"Bob!" I shouted. "The referee!" shouted Andrea. She got another chocolate-covered marshmallow bunny! It went on like that for a while. Mr. Klutz gave out all the chocolate-covered marshmallow bunnies he had, and most of them went to Andrea. This was the worst thing to happen since TV Turnoff Week! Not only was Andrea getting all the chocolate- covered marshmallow bunnies, but she beat me in the contest too. I was really mad. After it was all over, Andrea came over to me. "I don't even like chocolate-covered marshmallow bunnies," she said. "You can have mine, Arlo." "Really?" I said, taking the bag. "Thanks!"