Wayside School Gets a Little Stranger (Wayside School 3)

After recess Sharie saw the UFO again, and Deedee returned the notebook to Mrs. Drazil’s desk.

Now all they had to do was find Jane Smith.

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Chapter 19

Time out

Miss Zarves taught the class on the nineteenth story. There is no nineteenth story. And there is no Miss Zarves.

You already know all that.

But how do you explain the cow in her classroom?

Miss Zarves drew a triangle on the blackboard. “A triangle has three sides,” she said, then pointed to each side. “One, two, three.” She drew a square. “A square has four sides. One, two, three, four.”

She walked around the cow to the other side of the board. She drew a pentagon, a hexagon, and a perfect heptagon. “A heptagon has seven sides,” she said.

Miss Zarves was very good at drawing shapes. When most people try to draw heptagons, there is always one side that sticks out funny. But Miss Zarves’s heptagon was perfect. Every side was the same length, and every angle the same degree.

It was a great talent. But nobody appreciated her.

Nobody appreciated anything she did. It was like they didn’t know she was there.

She counted the sides on the heptagon. “One, two, three, fo—”

“MOOOOO,” said the cow.

Miss Zarves dropped her chalk. She glared at the cow. “I hate this!” she shouted.

It was a brown cow with a white head.

“It’s all right, Miss Zarves,” said Virginia, her best student. “I’ll get the chalk for you.”

“No,” said Miss Zarves. “Leave it where it is. The cow made me drop the chalk. The cow should pick it up.”

Her students gaped at her.

“I will not continue,” said Miss Zarves, “until that cow picks up the piece of chalk and draws an octagon on the board!” She folded her arms across her chest, stared at the cow, and waited.

Ray raised his hand.

“Yes, Ray,” said Miss Zarves, arms still folded across her chest.

“Uh, cows can’t pick up chalk,” said Ray.

Miss Zarves sighed. “I know,” she said. “And I can’t teach with a cow in my classroom!”

No one had ever seen Miss Zarves so upset. She usually had a pleasant disposition.

“It’s okay, Miss Zarves,” said Virginia. “I don’t mind the cow.”

“You get used to it after a while,” said Ray.

“What cow?” asked Nick. “Oh, that one! I forgot it was there.”

Miss Zarves smiled. She knew her students were trying to make her feel better.