Sideways Stories from Wayside School (Wayside School 1)

He thought it would also be fun to tie the pigtails together, or better yet, tie them

to her chair. But most of all, he just wanted to pull one.

Slowly he reached for the one on the right. “No! What am I doing?” he thought. “I’ll only get into trouble.”

Paul had it made. He sat in the back of the room. He paid no attention to anyone, and nobody paid any attention to him. But if he pulled a pigtail, it would be all over. Leslie would tell on him, and he’d become the center of attention.

He sighed and slowly withdrew his arm.

But Paul couldn’t ignore those pigtails. There they were, dangling right in front of him, just begging to be pulled. He could close his eyes, but he couldn’t make the pigtails disappear. He could still smell them. And hear them. He could almost taste them.

“Maybe just a little tug,” he thought. “No, none.”

There they hung, easily within his reach.

“Well let them just hang there!” thought Paul.

It would be foolish to pull one, no matter how tempting they were. None of the other children in the class pulled pigtails; why should he? Of course, none of the other children sat behind Leslie, either.

It was just a simple matter of being able to think clearly. That was all. Paul thought it over and decided not to pull one. It was as simple as that.

Suddenly his arm shot forward. He grabbed Leslie’s right pigtail and yanked.

“Yaaaaaahhhhhhhhhh!” screamed Leslie.

Everybody looked at her.

“Paul pulled my pigtail,” she said.

They all looked at Paul.

“I…I couldn’t help it,” said Paul.

“You’d better learn to help it,” said Mrs. Jewls. She wrote Paul’s name on the blackboard under the word DISCIPLINE. “Tell Leslie you’re sorry.”

“I’m sorry, Leslie,” said Paul.

“Hmmmph,” said Leslie.

Paul felt horrible. Never again would he pull another pigtail! Except, there was one problem. He still wasn’t satisfied. He had pulled the right one, but that wasn’t enough. He wanted to pull the left one, too. It was as if he heard a little voice coming from the pigtail saying, “Pull me, Paul. Pull me.”

“I can’t,” Paul answered. “My name’s already on the blackboard under the word DISCIPLINE.”

“Big deal,” said the pigtail. “Pull me.”

“No way,” said Paul. “Never again.”

“Aw, come on, Paul, just a little tug,” urged the pigtail. “What harm could it do?”

“Lots of harm,” said Paul. “Leslie will scream, and I’ll get in trouble again.”

“Boy, that’s not fair,” whined the pigtail. “You pulled the right one. Now it’s my turn.”

“I know, but I can’t,” said Paul.

“Sure you can,” said the pigtail. “Just grab me and yank.”

“No,” said Paul. “It’s not right.”