3. Duck

3 Duck Mr. Cooper turned off the smartboard. "Okay, open your math books," he said. "Any questions about page twenty-three?" "Yeah," I said. "Will you coach our class in the softball game against Dirk School?"

"Uh, no," Mr. Cooper replied. "I don't know anything about coaching softball." Bummer in the summer! "Maybe Miss Small will coach us," said Ryan. Miss Small is our fizz ed teacher. She's really good at sports. "Miss Small broke her leg falling out of a tree over the weekend," said Andrea. Not again! Miss Small is always falling out of trees. (You can read about it in a book called Miss Small Is off the Wall!) What were we going to do? We needed a coach if we were going to beat Dirk School.* And you'll never believe who walked into the door at that moment.

Nobody! Who walks into doors? That would hurt. But you'll never believe who walked into the doorway. It was our principal, Mr. Klutz! He has no hair at all. I mean none. He looks a little bit like Mr. Clean. "I just heard about your softball game against Dirk School," Mr. Klutz said. "How exciting!" "We need a coach," said Alexia.

"Will you coach us, Mr. Klutz? The game is next Saturday." "Uh, sorry," said Mr. Klutz. "This is a busy week for me." "Please, please, please?" we begged. We put on our best puppy dog faces. That's when you make your face look like a cute little puppy dog's. It usually works. Grown-ups will do anything if you put on a puppy dog face. "After school on Tuesday, I have to blah blah blah blah," said Mr. Klutz. "On Wednesday after school, I have to blah blah blah blah..." He went on like that for a million hundred seconds. "Where are we gonna get a coach?" asked Neil. "Hmmmm," Mr. Klutz said as he rubbed his chin.

Grown-ups always say "Hmmmm" and rub their chin when they don't have any ideas. Nobody knows why. "I've got it!" Mr. Klutz finally said, snapping his fingers. Grown-ups always snap their fingers when they get a good idea. Nobody knows why. "There's a man named Willie Ott who lives in town," Mr. Klutz told us. "He used to be a big league coach. I bet he would help you." "Will you ask him?" Andrea said. "No, but you can ask him," said Mr. Klutz. "Let's go to his house!" Mr. Klutz walked out of the room and we all rushed to follow him. Yay! No math! We were going on a field trip to Willie Ott's house. Field trips are cool. Well, except for

field trips to a field. Those field trips are boring. We left Ella Mentry School and made a left at the corner. Then we made a right at the next corner. Then we made another left at the corner after that. But who cares? Don't you hate it when they give directions in books? You're not going to that place. So why would you care about how to get there? Finally, we reached the street where Willie Ott lives. "There's Mr. Ott's house," Mr. Klutz said as he pointed. "They used to call him Duck."