by Abby Klein
To Dani and Josh — My California babies who love walking on the beach and searching for sea glass. Love you always …
A.K.
TITLE PAGE
DEDICATION
CHAPTER 1: Missing Robbie
CHAPTER 2: What Am I?
CHAPTER 3: California Cool
CHAPTER 4: The New Kid
CHAPTER 5: Rubber Spider
CHAPTER 6: AAAAHHHHHHHH!!!!!
CHAPTER 7: My Bodyguard
CHAPTER 8: Trick-or-Treat
Freddy’s Fun Pages
GREAT WHITE SHARK QUIZ
GREAT WHITE SHARK TEETH
SILLY HALLOWEEN STORY
PREVIEW
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
OTHER STORIES BY ABBY KLEIN
ALSO AVAILABLE
COPYRIGHT
I have a problem. A really, really big problem. I am now in second grade, in a new class with a new teacher, and my best friend, Robbie, isn’t in my class.
Let me tell you about it.
I lay in bed on Monday morning. I could hear my mom yelling from downstairs, “Freddy! Freddy! Let’s go! Get a move on!”
“UGGGGHHH!” I groaned.
I didn’t want to go to school.
“Freddy! Freddy!” she called again. “You are going to be late!”
I dragged myself out of bed. “Coming, Mom!” I yelled. “Be there in a minute.”
I threw on some clothes and walked slowly down to breakfast.
“Well, look who’s here,” said my dad.
“Ha, ha, ha!” my sister, Suzie, laughed.
“What’s so funny?” I snapped.
“You,” said Suzie, pointing. “Your hair is a mess. It’s sticking out all over. You look like a werewolf.”
I tipped my head back and howled, “OOOWWWOOOO!!!”
“And your breath smells like one, too!” said Suzie, waving her hand back and forth in front of her nose. “Peeuuww!”
“Freddy!” said my mom. “Stop howling and come eat.”
I plopped myself in my chair and stared at my plate.
“What’s wrong?” asked my mom. “Why aren’t you eating? I made your favorite, chocolate-chip pancakes.”
“I don’t want to go to school,” I said.
“Why not?” said my mom. “I thought you liked your new teacher, Miss Clark.”
“Oh, I like her a lot,” I said. “She’s really nice.”
“So, then, what’s the problem?” asked my dad.
“Robbie’s not in my class.”
“You have other friends in your class,” said my mom.
“I know,” I said. “But not my best friend.”
“So what?” said Suzie.
“So what?” I cried. “It’s not fair, that’s what! You have your best friend in your class, so be quiet.”
“Freddy,” said my dad. “Don’t talk to your sister that way.”
“Well,” I said, “it’s not fair. Suzie gets to sit next to Kimberly every day.”
“But you get to sit next to Robbie on the bus and at lunch, right?” said my mom.
“Yeah, but it’s not the same.”
“I know it’s hard not having Robbie there,” said my mom.
“He was in my class in kindergarten and in first grade,” I said. “I thought for sure he would be in my class in second grade.”
“Sometimes the school likes to mix kids up,” said my dad.
“Fine,” I said. “Why couldn’t they put Max or Chloe in a different class? That would be great!”
“Why don’t you try making some new friends?” suggested my dad.
I sighed. “I guess I could.”
“What about that new kid?” asked Suzie.
“What new kid?” said my dad.
“There’s a new kid in Freddy’s class,” said Suzie.
“Really?” said my mom. “What’s his name?”
“Josh,” I told her.
“Where’s he from?” asked my dad.
“I’m not sure.”
“I wonder why he moved here,” Suzie said.
“I think his dad got a new job,” I told her.
“I bet he’s missing his best friend, too,” said my mom.
“Maybe.” I shrugged.
“He probably has a best friend at his old school that he misses a lot,” said my dad.
“At least you know kids in your class,” Suzie pointed out. “He doesn’t really know anybody.”
I hadn’t thought about it like that.
“I think it would be really nice if you tried to make him feel welcome,” said my mom.
“Maybe you could ask him to eat lunch with you and Robbie,” said Suzie.
“That’s a great idea!” said my mom.
“I know,” said Suzie, smiling.
“Now, Freddy,” said my mom, “you’d better start eating, or you’re going to miss the bus.”
I reached for the syrup and accidentally knocked over Suzie’s glass of milk.
She jumped up out of her chair. “Look what you’ve done!” shouted Suzie. “I spent a long time picking out this outfit, and now I have to go change my clothes!”
I just stared at her.
“Freddy,” said my dad, “don’t you have something to say to your sister?”
“Sorry,” I mumbled.
“You are so annoying!” Suzie growled as she stomped out of the kitchen to go change her clothes.
“Freddy,” said my mom, “stop staring at this river of milk. Go get the sponge and clean up this mess.”
“And next time,” said my dad, “please ask someone to pass you the syrup instead of reaching for it.”
I cleaned up the milk and went back to eating.
“Now you really don’t have a lot of time,” said my mom. “The bus is going to be here any minute, and you still need to comb your hair.”
I started gobbling down huge forkfuls of pancake.
Suzie came back into the kitchen. “That outfit is just as cute as the first one,” said my mom.
“Thanks, Mom,” said Suzie. Then she turned to me and said, “Not only do you look like a werewolf, but you eat like one, too!”
“I’m just trying to eat fast,” I said with a mouthful of pancake.
“EEWWWWW! Keep your mouth closed,” said Suzie. “I don’t want to see what you’re eating! That’s disgusting.”
“Sorry!” I said as a small piece of pancake fell out of my mouth.
“Gross!” said Suzie.
“Freddy, where are your manners?” said my mom. “You know not to talk with your mouth full.”
“Josh isn’t going to want to eat lunch with you if you spit food all over him,” said Suzie.
“Freddy, run upstairs and brush your teeth and comb your hair,” said my mom.
“Yeah,” said Suzie. “You don’t want to scare kids on the bus. It isn’t Halloween yet!”
“I have a fun writing assignment for you all today,” said my teacher, Miss Clark.
Miss Clark was new to Lincoln Elementary. She seemed really young, and I thought she was very pretty. She had long, shiny blond hair and bright blue eyes, and she smelled good, too.
“She always has fun things for us to do,” Jessie whispered to me.
“I know,” I whispered back. “I can’t wait to see what it is.”
“What is it? What is it?” Chloe squealed, bouncing out of her seat. “I just love writing.”
“Sit down, Fancypants,” Max grumbled, “and she’ll tell us.”
“You can’t tell me what to do,” Chloe said, waving her finger at Max. “You’re not the boss of me.”
“Chloe and Max, you are not respecting each other,” said Miss Clark. “You need to speak more kindly to each other.”
“Good luck with that,” Jessie whispered.
“Now, Chloe, please sit down, so I can explain the assignment.”
Chloe smoothed her dress, fluffed her red curls, and sat down.
“Halloween is coming up,” said Miss Clark.
“Yeah, I know!” Max blurted out. “The best holiday ever!”
Miss Clark put her finger to her lips. “This is a listening time, Max.”
Max sank back in his chair.
“I thought it would be fun if you all wrote down some clues about what you’re going to be for Halloween. Then you’ll read them to the class, and we will all try to guess.”
Jessie raised her hand, and Miss Clark called on her. “That does sound like fun!” said Jessie. “Can I help?”
“Good, I’m glad you think so,” said Miss Clark. “And yes, do you want to help me pass out the writing paper?”
“Why does she get to do it?” Chloe whined.
“Because,” said Miss Clark, “she was being a respectful student, and she asked.”
“Hmmmph,” said Chloe, crossing her arms and pouting. “That’s not fair.”
“It’s very fair,” said Miss Clark. “I like to reward good behavior.”
Jessie passed out the paper, and we all got started. Well, everyone except Max, who just sat at his desk tapping his pencil.
“Stop it! Stop it! Stop it!” yelled Chloe. “I can’t think. You are so annoying.”
“No, you are so annoying,” said Max.
“You are!”
“No, you are!”
“All right, enough, you two,” said Miss Clark. “One more word out of either of you and you can both go do your work in the principal’s office.”
They glared at each other and then got to work.
I looked across the room at Josh. I wonder what he’s going to be for Halloween, I thought. I guessed I would find out soon.
Every year I dress up as a shark, since sharks are my favorite animal. I am obsessed with them! Last year I was a hammerhead shark. This year I planned to be a great white shark, so I had to think of some good clues. I put my pencil up to my mouth and started to chew on the eraser.
“Ewww, what are you doing?” whispered Jessie.
“What do you mean?” I whispered back.
“You’re eating the eraser on the pencil!”
“Oh,” I laughed. “I didn’t even realize I was doing that.”
Jessie shook her head. “You’re a ding-dong,” she said, smiling.
I tapped my pencil on my lips and started writing. Before I knew it, I had written six clues.
Miss Clark rang a little bell. “Okay, everybody, writing time is over. Hand me your papers, and I’ll call you up one at a time to read your clues to the class.”
Chloe ran up to the front of the room.
“Yes, Chloe, can I help you?” asked Miss Clark.
“I’m going first,” said Chloe.
“No, I’m sorry, you’re not,” said Miss Clark.
“But I want to,” said Chloe.
“You don’t get to be first just because you want to,” said Miss Clark.
Jessie poked me. “In her world, you do.”
“Please sit down and wait for me to call you up,” Miss Clark said to Chloe.
Chloe slowly walked back to her seat.
“Let’s see,” said Miss Clark. “Freddy, why don’t you go first.”
I walked up to the front of the room, and before I could say anything, Max yelled out, “He’s going to be a shark!”
“How do you know that?” asked Miss Clark. “He hasn’t even read one clue yet.”
“Because he is a shark every year. Boooorrring!” said Max, pretending to yawn.
I started to walk back to my seat.
“Where are you going?” asked Miss Clark.
“Back to my desk.”
“Why?”
“Because Max already guessed mine,” I said with a big sigh.
“No, he didn’t,” said Miss Clark.
I looked at her, puzzled.
“He just guessed a shark. He didn’t guess what kind. I want to know what kind,” said Miss Clark, smiling.
I smiled back and went back to the front of the room. “Okay, here are my clues,” I said, and started reading. “This shark can grow to be twenty feet long and weigh four thousand pounds. It is the largest meat-eating shark. It likes to eat seals. It has hundreds of very sharp teeth. It lives in places like Australia, South Africa, and the United States. It is the only shark that can lift its head out of the water to look for food.”
“Freddy, are you ready to have people guess?”
“Yes,” I said, nodding.
“I know! I know!” Max shouted, waving his hand wildly.
“No calling out, please,” said Miss Clark. “I will choose someone with a quiet hand. Jack, you are sitting quietly.”
“A whale shark?” guessed Jack.
“Nope,” I said.
“Chloe.”
“A dolphin shark?”
“A dolphin shark? Ha, ha, ha! That’s the funniest thing I’ve ever heard,” said Max. “There is no such thing!”
“Yes, there is, Max. You be quiet!” said Chloe. “It’s my turn.”
“Freddy? Is that right?” asked Miss Clark.
“Nope,” I said. “There is no such thing as a dolphin shark.”
“See, I told you,” Max said to Chloe.
“If you two cannot behave, you will not have a turn,” said Miss Clark. “Josh, do you have a guess?”
“A great white shark?”
“Right!” I said, and smiled. “You got it!”
Josh smiled back.
“Josh, would you like to go next?”
“Sure.”
“Oh, wait! Look at the time!” said Miss Clark. “I can’t believe it’s lunchtime already. We’ll have to finish the guessing game after lunch. It will be Josh’s turn. I can’t wait to hear his clues.”
Me either, I thought as I got in line behind him. “Hey, Josh, you want to sit with me and my friend Robbie at lunch?” I asked.
He turned to me and smiled. “Sure,” he said.
“Hey, what’s up?” said Robbie as he sat down next to me at the lunch table. Even though we weren’t in the same class anymore, Robbie and I still ate lunch together every day.
“Not much,” I said.
“Who’s sitting next to you?” Robbie whispered.
“Robbie, this is Josh,” I said. “I asked him if he wanted to eat lunch with us today.”
“That’s cool,” said Robbie. He turned to Josh. “Are you in Freddy’s class?”
“Yeah,” said Josh.
“Is this your first year at this school?”
“Yep.”
“Where are you from?” asked Robbie.
“My family just moved here from California,” said Josh.
“Wow! California!” said Robbie. “That’s far away.”
Josh nodded.
“I always wanted to go to California,” said Robbie, “and go to Disneyland.”
“Disneyland! I want to go to Disneyland,” said Max as he tried to squeeze himself in between Josh and me.
“Go away!” I mumbled.
Max grabbed my shirt. “What did you say, Sharkbreath?”
I gulped. “Nothing,” I whispered.
“Come on, Freddy,” said Jessie, sitting down on the other side of our table. “Tell Max what you really said.”
“Yeah, tell me what you really said,” Max repeated, tightening his grip on my shirt.
I gulped again. I couldn’t get the words to come out of my mouth.
“He said, ‘Go away!’ ” said Jessie.
“Is that what you said?” Max asked me.
I looked at Max, then at Jessie, and then back at Max. I nodded my head.
“Make me!” said Max.
“I’ll make you,” said Jessie as she started to stand up and walk around the table.
Max began to back awa
y.
“That’s right,” said Jessie. “Go find another place to sit.”
Max glared at her, turned, and walked away.
“She’s really brave,” Josh whispered to me.
“I know,” I said. “She’s the only one brave enough to stand up to Max. He used to be the biggest bully in the whole first grade, and now he’s the biggest bully in the whole second grade!”
“That was amazing,” Josh said to Jessie as she sat back down.
“Thanks,” said Jessie, smiling. “Max just thinks he’s all that, but he really isn’t.”
Josh laughed.
“So, Josh,” said Robbie, “have you ever been to Disneyland?”
“Oh yeah. Lots of times.”
“Really?” I said. “You are so lucky!”
“So, why did you move here from California?” asked Robbie.
“My dad got a new job.”
“Do you like it here?” asked Jessie.
“It’s okay,” said Josh, “but I miss the ocean.”
“Did you live near the ocean?” I asked.
“Yeah, I could walk to the beach from my house,” he said, nodding.
“No way!” I said.
“That is so cool,” said Robbie. “Have you ever been surfing?”
“I love to surf,” said Josh. “My dad taught me how. We would go almost every weekend.”
“I am so jealous,” I said. “That sounds like so much fun!”
“It is,” said Josh.
“You even look like a surfer,” said Robbie.
Josh had on a shirt with a surfboard on it, shorts that looked like a swimsuit, and flip-flops.
“You know, you won’t be able to dress like that for very much longer,” said Robbie. “It gets really cold here in the winter.”
“I know,” said Josh. “That’s a bummer.”
“Not really,” I said. “There are lots of fun things to do in the snow. Maybe you can even learn to snowboard. That’s kind of like surfing on snow!”
“That sounds awesome!” said Josh. “Do you snowboard, Freddy?”
I shook my head. “Nope. I wish I did. But I love to go sledding.”
“I’ve never been sledding before,” said Josh.
“Never?” said Jessie.
Josh shook his head. “There wasn’t any snow where I lived.”
