3. It’s a Tough World Out There

3 It's a Tough World Out There "Eeeeeeeek!" I screamed. "Girls! Who let you in here? Girls can't be Beaver Scouts!" "They can too!" Andrea replied. "Can not!" I said. We went back and forth like that for a while.

"They changed the rules, Arlo," Andrea said. "Boys and girls can be Beaver Scouts. This is the twenty-first century, you know." I knew perfectly well what century it was. What did that have to do with anything? I was going to say something mean to Andrea, but I didn't have the chance. Because you'll never believe who poked her head into the door at that moment. Nobody! Poking your head into a door would hurt. I thought we went over that in Chapter 2. But you'll never believe who poked her head into the doorway. "A ten... shun!" a lady shouted. I had no idea what that meant, but everybody else did, because they all stood up straight, the way soldiers do in

the army. "I'm Miss Blake," the lady barked. "I'm your Beaver Scout leader." Miss Blake was wearing a Beaver Scout uniform like mine, but with a cooler shoulder patch. She looked mean. "Hello, Miss Blake," my dad said, sticking out his hand to shake. "We're so happy to—"

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But my dad didn't have the chance to finish his sentence. "All parents out of the room!" barked Miss Blake. "Can we just stand in the back and take a few pictures?" my mom asked. "No!" barked Miss Blake.* "Parents, get out!" The parents made a beeline for the door. That was weird, because I've never seen bees get in a line. They usually just fly around every which way. "Are we going to learn how to blow stuff up?" I asked after all the parents were gone. "No!" barked Miss Blake. "Line up for inspection, in size order!" We all pringled up. I had to stand in front of Andrea, who's the tallest kid in our class. Emily is the shortest. She

looked like she was going to cry, as usual. Miss Blake walked down the line, looking everybody over. "Disgraceful!" she barked at Emily. "Stop whimpering like a jellyfish!" "Filthy!" she barked at Michael. "Tie your shoes!" "Disgusting!" she barked at Neil. "Comb your hair!" "Slovenly!" she barked at Ryan. "Trim your fingernails!" "A mess!" she barked at Alexia. "Neatness counts!" Miss Blake was standing in front of me. She looked me up and down. I was shaking with fear. I thought I was gonna die. She stuck her face about two inches from mine. "I heard what you said when I came