Wayside School Gets a Little Stranger (Wayside School 3)

“Well, if that’s the case,” said Mrs. Jewls.

“He must really need our help.”

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Chapter 9

Something Different about Mrs. Jewls

The children returned from Christmas vacation. On each desk were two knitting needles and a hunk of yarn.

“Today we are going to learn how to knit,” said Mrs. Jewls.

She showed the class how it was done. “See, you stick this needle through her

e, then wrap this around this like this, stick this through this, pull this like this, and then you stick this here. Any questions?”

Everyone stared at her.

“Good,” said Mrs. Jewls. “I want everybody to make socks. Okay, get started.”

Dameon looked at his knitting needles. He didn’t have a clue.

He looked back at Mrs. Jewls. Now, more than ever, he was sure she was somehow different.

She was sitting at her desk, knitting and eating Baloneos. Dameon couldn’t remember Mrs. Jewls ever eating a Baloneo before.

A Baloneo was an Oreo cookie, except instead of the white part, there was a round hunk of baloney.

Miss Mush invented them.

“Hey, Mac,” whispered Dameon. “Does Mrs. Jewls seem different to you?”

“She’s fat,” said Mac.

“That’s not a nice thing to say,” said Dameon.

“I didn’t say it to Mrs. Jewls,” said Mac. “I didn’t go, ‘Hey, Mrs. Jewls. You’re fat!’ ”

Mrs. Jewls cleared her throat as she stood up. She walked around the room. “Very nice, D.J.,” she said. “You’re doing fine, Rondi.”

She stopped at Joe’s desk.

“Oh, Joe!” she gushed. “Look, everybody, I want you to see Joe’s sock!” She held it up. “Isn’t it the most beautiful sock you ever saw?”

It was a great sock. Everybody oohed and aahed.

Joe was as surprised as anyone. He didn’t know he knew how to make socks. But the boy was born to knit.

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Mrs. Jewls started to cry. “I love this sock,” she sobbed.

“Uh-oh,” said Kathy. “I think she’s finally flipped out!”

“I love you, Kathy,” said Mrs. Jewls. She looked around the room. “I love all of you.”