• Choose a category
• All
• Classic-Fiction

Ivy slammed into a kid. “Excuse me,” she gasped.

“Watch out!” yelled a teacher as they pounded by. “No running in the aquarium!”

They couldn’t stop. The squid was back there, waiting for them. They had to get out.

They tore up a dark hallway filled with sardines and down a dark hallway filled with jellyfish.

They flashed past the sharks, past the penguins, past the alligator pit, and exploded through the heavy golden doors into the outside world.

Air instead of water. Light instead of darkness. People instead of fish.

They were safe.

For a moment, they stood there, panting and gasping. I love light, thought Bean. I love air. I love this white marble patio—

“BEAN! IVY! WHERE ON EARTH HAVE YOU BEEN?” Ms. Aruba-Tate rushed toward them with her arms open. “Did you get lost? We were looking everywhere! Oh dear, I was so worried!” She gathered them up in a giant hug. “Oh dear,” she said, “oh, honeys!”

Ivy and Bean let themselves be hugged. It felt nice, after that squid, to be hugged.

“We’re okay,” said Bean.

“We got lost,” Ivy said quickly. That was kind of true.

“Oh, sweeties!” Ms. Aruba-Tate hugged them again. “Why didn’t you go to one of the guards? Didn’t I tell you to go to a guard if you got lost?”

“There weren’t any guards,” said Bean. That was completely true.

Now the rest of Ms. Aruba-Tate’s class was clustering around.

“There you are!” said Emma. “See, Ms. Aruba-Tate, I told you they weren’t dead.”

“We got to see the eels and you didn’t,” said Eric. “They’re hecka gross.”

“I can’t believe you got lost,” said Vanessa. “Where’d you go?”

“Into a part of the aquarium that no one has ever seen before,” said Ivy.

“There was this squid with eyes this big,” said Bean, holding her hands apart.

“You’re making that up,” said Vanessa.

“We’re not!” said Ivy. “There were white worms and this mouth with teeth—”

“Girls!” interrupted Ms. Aruba-Tate. She looked very serious. “Girls, are you telling me that you were wandering around the aquarium having a good time? That you didn’t even try to find us?”

Ivy and Bean looked at each other. “Um,” said Bean.

“We were trying to find you, Ms. Aruba-Tate,” said Ivy. “We just happened to see a few worms and things while we were trying.”

“Ivy and Bean, I am very disappointed in you,” Ms. Aruba-Tate began. “Our class has discussed safety rules many times, and I was counting on you being mature enough to understand that a field trip is an educational experience, not an excuse for bad behavior.”

All the way to the bus Ms. Aruba-Tate talked about disappointment and safety and bad behavior. Ivy and Bean nodded. They said she was right and they were wrong. They said they were sorry.

She was going to have to tell their parents, Ms. Aruba-Tate said.

Ivy and Bean nodded. They knew she had to.

They also knew that their parents were going to be mad. And that they were going to get in trouble.

But Ivy and Bean didn’t care as long as each of them could hold one of Ms. Aruba-Tate’s hands on the bus ride home. As long as they never had to go back to that aquarium and see that squid again in their whole lives.

SQUIDARINAS

They were right. Bean’s mother was mad. “This is not what I expect from you, Bernice Blue. When you go on a trip of any kind, I expect you to listen to the grown-up in charge. This is something we’ve discussed a thousand times.” Bean’s mother folded her arms and glared at Bean.

Bean could tell she was supposed to say something. “I’m sorry,” she said.

“I should think so!” said her mother. She glared some more. “Well! We’ll talk about the consequences this evening when Daddy comes home. In the meantime, both of you go upstairs and try on your ballet costumes. And I don’t want to hear any complaining!”

Bean and Ivy walked quietly upstairs. Quietly they closed the door to Bean’s room. “Whew,” said Ivy. “That was a close one.”

“It’s not over yet,” said Bean. “Your mom still has to get mad.”

“I know,” said Ivy. “But at least none of them found out about the running-away part.”

“We’ve got to get rid