by Kristen Otte
“Yes, you did,” she said.
“I don’t know what you are talking about. I need to get to class.” I took my class schedule out of my pocket. Art was next. I turned around and threaded my way through the crowd. But as I hurried away, I realized I was going the wrong way, so I spun around again. The hallway traffic had disappeared, and that wasn’t a good sign. I sprinted down the hallway and crossed into the doorway of my art class as the bell rang. The only open seat was in the front row.
I survived the next few classes and lunch without embarrassing myself or causing any trouble. I only had one more class left in the day—history. I hurried around the building and entered the classroom. The teacher was a short, older lady with white hair down to her shoulders.
“Name?” she asked.
“Charlie Baker,” I said.
“Front row, front seat.” She motioned to the seat in front of her. I groaned. I didn’t know why all the teachers today assigned seats based on our last names but called us by our first names. It didn’t make sense to me. Maya, with the last name Bennett, was in the seat behind me.
I turned around and gazed across the faces to see Caden and Jordan in the middle of the classroom. When I tried to focus on their thoughts, I couldn’t pick either one out from among the sea of thoughts and voices in the room. I needed more training, but Dad didn’t want me to use my ability here. He didn’t know that reading the minds of my classmates might be necessary for me to survive middle school on Earth.
Mrs. Roberts strolled to the front of the room, and the voices quieted. I concentrated on her mind. A fat orange-and-white cat entered my mind. I did it! Wait a second. That can’t be right. I concentrated on her mind again. Still the cat! I channeled further to learn the cat’s name was Meowser. Oh, pug. The bell rang, and her thoughts cleared.
“Today we start to learn the heart of American history. We start with the first settlers to come to the United States. Can anyone tell me who they were?”
A hand shot into the air in the front row three seats to my right.
“Yes, Erin?”
A girl with glasses and dark hair smiled. “The Pilgrims.”
“Ahh. That’s a common misconception.”
What is a misconception?
“The pilgrims arrived not long after this first colony. Anyone else?”
I stared into Mrs. Roberts’s eyes and found the answer. I raised my hand.
“Yes, Charlie?”
“Jamestown,” I said.
A warm smile broke across her face. “Very good,” she said.
Erin turned and looked at me with wide eyes.
“Charlie, do you know when Jamestown was founded?”
“1607,” I said. Maybe school wouldn’t be so hard after all.
“Yes, that is correct. Okay, class. Open your books. We are going to learn more about Jamestown.” Mrs. Roberts walked to her desk, grabbed a stack of papers, and handed them to the class. We spent the rest of the time filling out the handout while Mrs. Roberts sat at her desk, probably thinking about her cat. I couldn’t tell because once the work was passed out, I focused all my energy on getting it done before class ended.
When the bell rang, I followed my classmates out of the room to our lockers. I filled my backpack with the books I needed, slammed the locker door shut, and turned around. Caden leaned against the gray lockers with his arms crossed.
“So, you’re a smart guy?” he said.
“Not really,” I stammered.
“You just had to show you were the smartest on the first day of school.”
Did he want me to agree with him? Quick. Think.
“Yes,” I said.
His face scrunched. He took a step closer so I could feel his stinky-feet breath on my face. The combination of his bad breath and the anger pulsing from him made me look away.
“Nerds aren’t welcome in this school,” he said. He lunged forward, shoving me into the lockers. My head swung back and hit the locker.
“Ow!” I said. I rubbed the back of my head as he walked away.
Maya approached her locker, entered her combination, and opened it.
“You should stay away from Caden. He’s trouble,” Maya said. I took a step to the left.
“He’s finding me,” I said, opening my own locker.
“That’s even worse.”
“Yeah. I don’t know what I did.”
“You’re new. He did the same thing to me last year when I moved to Silver Lake,” Maya said. She shut her locker and flung her backpack over her right shoulder.
“So how did you get him to leave you alone?” I asked.
“You moved here.”
I squinted at her. “What?”
“He’s got someone new to pick on.”
“Oh.”
Better you than me.
“What do you mean?” I asked. She squinted at me. Wait, did she say that? No. That was her thought.
“I need to go,” she said and hurried away. Lickity split, I did it again. I sighed and followed the crowd of students out of the building, but I walked home alone. My first day of middle school had not gone well, and I had no idea how to make tomorrow better.
Charlie Baker is the new kid at school, and he’s from outer space. Can he keep his big secret? Alien Kid is an exciting middle grade series for ages 9 and up that love to laugh.
Afterword
When I speak to classrooms filled with students, I am often asked how and why I started writing the Zelda books. I love answering that question because the Zelda books were never “supposed” to be anything more than a few funny short stories that I wrote to practice my craft. But, after writing a few stories based loosely off the antics of my real life Zelda, I couldn’t stop writing. The stories flowed through my fingers on to the keyboard. Soon after, The Adventures of Zelda: A Pug Tale was published.
The early reader response was better than expected. I kept writing and by book three, it was clear that young readers enjoyed reading about a stubborn, adventurous pug.
The most rewarding part for me are the messages and emails I receive from parents thanking me for writing a book that their son or daughter wants to read. I know the Zelda books aren’t for every kid, but I’m glad that some kids discover their love of reading from the series.
Five books into the series, I have decided to give Zelda (and Peach) an indefinite break to focus on a few other writing projects. With all of her success, Zelda is becoming a bit of a diva, so she needs some time off to get back to her normal pug life.
While Zelda enjoys some time off, I am writing a new kids’ book series in the next year, along with continuing to write young adult fiction. At this point, I don’t know when I will return to writing in the Zelda Pug series. However, we are all very thankful for the support from our fans so far. Thank you!
Acknowledgments
Thank you for choosing to spend your time with a book. I couldn’t do this without you.
Reviews are a huge encouragement to authors. If you have a few minutes, head over to Amazon, Goodreads or your favorite online retailer and write a few sentences about the book. If you want to know when my next book is coming out and receive a free PDF copy of Batpeach, sign up for my email list.
Thank you to my editor, Candace Johnson, for always fitting Zelda into her schedule. Thanks to Michael McFarland for his amazing artwork.
Thanks to my mom, dad, stepdad, sister, and my extended family and friends for their constant encouragement.
Thanks to the real Zelda and Peach for allowing me to write stories about them.
Brian, I couldn’t do this without your support. I love you.
John 14:12
About the Author
Author Kristen Otte writes funny books for kids that parents can trust. She is also known to write books for teens. Most of the time Kristen is chasing someone around her house–her son, her dogs, even her husband. If she isn’t doing that, she is probably writing, reading, or enjoying the outdoors.
Learn more about Kristen and Zelda at
www.kristenotte.com
[email protected]
Series By Kristen Otte
The Adventures of Zelda is a laugh-out-loud chapter book series about a pug who has an appetite for adventure for ages 7 and up.
The Adventures of Zelda: A Pug Tale
The Adventures of Zelda: The Second Saga
The Adventures of Zelda: Pug and Peach
The Adventures of Zelda: The Four Seasons
The Adventures of Zelda: The One & Only Pug
Charlie Baker is the new kid at school, and he’s from outer space. Can he keep his big secret? Alien Kid is an exciting middle grade series for ages 9 and up that love to laugh.
Alien Kid
Alien Kid 2 (Coming Fall 2017)
Eastbrook is a contemporary young adult series focused on teenagers trying to find their way with family, friends, and sports for ages 13 and up.
The Perfect Smile (Eastbrook 0.5)
The Photograph (Eastbrook 1)
The Evolution of Lillie Gable (Eastbrook 2)
Hi Peach!
