Judy Moody Goes to College - Megan Mcdonald [2]
“This is it,” said Dad. “Grace Brewster Murray Hopper Hall.”
They wound their way upstairs and down long hallways to a door that said MATH LAB.
“Here we are!” said Dad.
A girl with green eyes and a messy ponytail greeted them. “You must be the Moodys.”
“I’m Richard Moody, and this is my daughter, Judy,” said Dad.
“Hi, I’m Chloe. Chloe Canfield. My friends call me C-squared, since my name has two Cs and I go to CC. You know, C to the second power, ’cause I’m into math?”
“That’s funny,” said Dad, shaking her hand.
“I don’t get it,” said Judy.
“It’s algebra,” Chloe said.
“Algebra? Didn’t anybody tell you? I’m only in third grade.”
Chloe laughed. “It just means when you multiply something by itself, you say it’s squared, or to the second power.”
“Oh, yeah. If I’m in a mood, like a double bad mood, then it’s called a bad mood squared, right?”
“That’s right. Moody to the second power,” said Chloe. Dad bit his lip.
“Rounding off, squaring stuff, and big powers — yikes!” said Judy.
“That’s what I’m here for,” said Chloe. “Math is everywhere. Math is a fact of life. You’ll see. It’ll be fun.”
“I don’t know.” Judy saw flash cards on the table. Where there were flash cards, triangle cats and macaroni could not be far behind.
“You’ll be fine,” said Dad, smoothing the top of Judy’s hair. But Judy wasn’t so sure. “I’ll be back in an hour to pick you up.”
“That’s sixty whole minutes!” Judy cried.
“Yep. Three thousand six hundred seconds.” Chloe led Judy over to an area where a table was piled with sponge blocks, color tiles, and (oh, no!) jars of counting bears and beads. For a split second, Judy had thought college was going to be cool. But this was baby college.
She, Judy Moody, was in a mood. Not a good mood. A bad mood squared. Moody to the power of ten million.
“This is Investigation Station,” said Chloe.
Investigation Station was probably just another name for Homework Station.
“What looks good?” Chloe asked, pointing to shelves against the walls stuffed with games.
“You mean we get to play a game and I get to pick and we don’t have to count jelly beans in a jar?”
“I knew if I made you paper — you know, fill out work sheets — you’d freak. I thought you’d be all over playing a game. Then we’d be crucial.”
“Kru-shul?”
“You know. Good. Awesome.”
“Oh, you mean rare. Let’s play the Game of Life. It has a way-cool spinner.”
“Rad,” said Chloe. She stuck the box under her arm. “Let’s go.”
“Go where? Aren’t we already there? On Investigation Station?”
“I know a better place to study math. It’s called Coffee Catz.”
Judy followed Chloe into the college coffee shop. Yum! It smelled like just-baked cookies and was packed with college kids reading, studying, and madly typing into laptops.
Chloe ordered a tall, skinny, nonfat, wet, extra-foam, no-whip latte with a double shot of vanilla (aka fancy-schmancy coffee drink), and Judy ordered a hot chocolate in a bowl. Chloe gave Judy a ten-dollar bill, and Judy got to pay like a grown-up and count the change. There was enough change to buy a candy cell phone at the counter.
At a window seat, Chloe spread out the board and Judy helped her snap in the mountains, bridges, and buildings. Chloe gave Judy a car to drive (around the board, that is). “I love this game, because it’s like life. You get to go to college and make money and buy a house.”
“Rare,” said Judy. “I already know I want to be a doctor.”
“For serious?” Chloe asked. “In the game or in life?”
“Both,” said Judy.
“So, you’re premed. That’s what they call it before you go to medical school. Or in your case, pre-premed.”
“Premed squared,” said Judy.
“One of my peeps wants to be a doctor,” said Chloe.
“Peeps?”
“One of my friends. You know, if you’re going to go to college, you’re gonna have to learn to talk college.”
“For serious?” Judy asked.
“Zing! You got me there,” said Chloe, laughing.
In the Game of Life, Judy got to be the banker. “My little brother, Stink, ALWAYS gets to be banker,