10. The Big Surprise Ending

10 The Big Surprise Ending

I grabbed the pencil out of Andrea's hand and quickly wrote my answer on the paper. That dumb Jeopardy! song ended. "Okay, pencils down," said Mr. Porky. "Dirk, you go first. I'll repeat the question. My birthday was January seventeenth. My wife was named Deborah. I played the violin, the harp, and the guitar. I was a slave owner. I died when I was eighty-four years old. Who am I?" Morgan Brocklebank held up her piece of paper. It said ANDREW JOHNSON on it. "No, sorry," said Mr. Porky. "That is incorrect." "Ohhhhhhhh," groaned the Dirk half of the audience. Morgan pounded the table with her fist. "Dirk still wins if the Ella Mentry team gets it wrong," said Mr. Porky. "Ella Mentry, what is your answer?"

Everybody in the audience was glued to their seats. Well, not really. That would be weird. Why would anybody glue themselves to a seat? How would they get the glue off their pants? But everyone was looking at me. I held up my piece of paper. It said BENJAMIN FRANKLIN on it. "Benjamin Franklin wasn't a president, dumbhead!" Andrea yelled at me. She was furious. "I can't believe it! How could you make that same mistake again?"

"BENJAMIN FRANKLIN IS CORRECT!" shouted Mr. Porky. "It was a trick question! I never said the person was a president! Ella Mentry School is the winner!" Everybody in the all-porpoise room started yelling and screaming and hooting and hollering and freaking out. All my friends rushed up onstage to give me high fives. Andrea said she was sorry for calling me a dumbhead. It was the greatest moment of my life.* I looked over at Morgan Brocklebank. She was furious. "We only studied the presidents!" she shouted. "It's not fair!" She looked like she was going to cry. I almost felt sorry for her. I went over to her and said these five immortal words... "Nah-nah-nah boo-boo!"