She was the meanest teacher in the history of Wayside School. Of course there are other teachers at other schools who are meaner.
Louis looked toward the monkey bars. “I don’t see her,” he said.
“Well, she was there,” Deedee insisted. “I saw her!”
“You just imagined you saw her, Deedee,” said Louis. “If you hate somebody, or if you love somebody, you often think you see that person when she isn’t there. It’s very common. It’s just like Mrs. Drazil.”
“Who’s Mrs. Drazil?” asked Todd.
“She was the worst teacher I ever had,” said Louis. He shivered just thinking about her. “She was my teacher when I was your age. I sometimes think I see her, too. And I still have nightmares about her.”
“Was she mean?” asked Rondi.
“She was horrible!” said Louis. “Every morning she used to check our fingernails. If they were dirty, she’d tell the whole class. ‘Louis has dirty fingernails this morning,’ she’d say in a really nasty voice. And if you talked in class, she would pick up the wastepaper basket and put it over your head. You had to leave it on your head until the bell rang.”
“Did she ever put it over your head?” asked Todd.
“Lots of times,” said Louis.
Everybody laughed.
“It wasn’t funny,” said Louis. “My mother always knew when I got in trouble, because I’d have bits of trash stuck in my hair.”
“Did it get stuck in your mustache, too?” asked Rondi.
“Louis didn’t have a mustache when he was our age!” said Allison. “Did you, Louis?” she asked.
Suddenly, Louis screamed.
Everyone stared at him.
“She’s back!” he shouted, as he shook with fear. Then he slapped himself in the face. “Excuse me,” he said. “Sorry. For a second I thought I saw Mrs. Drazil.”
He turned to Deedee. “C’mon, let’s go to the monkey bars.”
“No!” declared Deedee. “I’m not going back. I’m never getting on the monkey bars again!”
Louis took hold of her hand. “Mrs. Gorf isn’t there,” he said. “You just imagined her.”
They headed to the monkey bars. No one else dared to follow.
“If she starts to wiggle her ears, run away as fast as you can,” warned Deedee. She held tightly on to Louis’s hand.
When they reached the monkey bars, no one was there. “Where were you when you saw her?” Louis asked.
“I was hanging upside down over there,” said Deedee, pointing.
“Okay, go hang upside down,” said Louis.
“No!” exclaimed Deedee.
“Don’t worry, I’ll be right here in case anything happens.”
It had rained during the night, so the sand under the monkey bars was wet and somewhat hard.
Deedee walked across the sand and pulled herself up on the bar. She hooked her legs over, then hung from her knees.
“Well, do you see her?” Louis asked.