Wayside School Is Falling Down (Wayside School 2)

“Did you check the dirty clothes?” asked Ron. “Maybe it was never washed.”

“I checked,” said Mac.

“Do you have a dog?” asked Bebe. “Maybe your dog took it.”

“No, my dog doesn’t wear socks,” said Mac.

“Why didn’t you just put on a different sock?” asked Allison. “Even if it didn’t match?”

“I thought of that,” said Mac. “See, but then if I wore a sock that didn’t match, I’d be left with only one sock of that color for tomorrow. And then if I wore that sock, I’d have to wear a sock that didn’t match with it. And so on for the rest of my life! I would never wear matching socks again.”

“Well, be that as it may,” said Mrs. Jewls, “we really need to get back to decimals. Yes, Stephen?”

“Once I had both my socks on,” said Stephen, “but I wasn’t wearing my shoes. My mom had just waxed the floor, too. I slid all around on it like I was skating. It was a lot of fun until I fell against the kitchen table and broke two dishes. Then I got in trouble.”

“What’s that got to do with my socks?” Mac asked impatiently.

Stephen shrugged.

“Did you ever find your other sock?” asked Leslie.

“Yep,” said Mac, “but you’ll never guess where. In the refrigerator!” He held out his arms in bewilderment. “How did it get there?”

No one knew.

“See, here it is,” said Mac. He climbed on top of his desk so everyone could see his feet. He pointed to his left foot and said, “This is the sock I had from the beginning.” He pointed to his right foot and said, “And this is the sock I couldn’t find.”

His socks were red with gold lightning bolts down the side.

“Ooh, hot socks!” said Maurecia.

“No, it was cold after being in the refrigerator,” said Mac, still standing on top of his desk. “I made it up a song, too, while I was looking for it. You want to hear it?”

He sang:

“I got one sock!

Lookin’ for the other

One sock!

Lookin’ for its brother.

When I find that sock!

I’ll tell you what I’ll do.

I’ll put it on my foot.

and I’ll stick it in my shoe!”

g

The bell rang for recess.

“Since we didn’t finish the arithmetic lesson,” said Mrs. Jewls, “you’ll have to do the rest of it for homework.”

All the kids groaned as they headed outside.