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Mr. Scary stared at her. He said to please stop saying punctual.

After that, May took the attendance sheet. And she skipped to the door.

“Don't worry, Room One. I will get this attendance sheet to the office all safe and sound,” she said real loud. “Then everyone who isn't here will get reported to the principal. And that's exactly what they deserve.”

Mr. Scary did a sigh. “Please, May. Just go, okay?” he said.

May did a wave. Then she hurried out the door.

After she was gone, I roamed my eyes around the room. All of the children had their homework papers out but me.

My insides felt sickish again. ’Cause pretty soon Mr. Scary would find out that I didn't do my assignment.

I swallowed real hard.

My eyes kept on roaming around.

And then what do you know? They roamed over to May's desk.

And surprise, surprise!

I saw her homework paper sitting there!

It was right out in plain view, I mean!

My heart pounded and pounded at that sight. ’Cause my brain was getting an idea, that's why.

I tapped on my chin very thinking.

Then, quiet as a mouse, I pulled May's paper a little closer. And I copied what it said.

After I got done, I breathed in relief.

’Cause now I had a homework paper!

I smiled to just myself.

Then I closed my eyes.

And I whispered thank you to May for letting me borrow her homework.

May got back from the office.

She stood at the door and waved again.

“I did it, everyone! I got the attendance sheet to the office. Just like I promised.”

She looked at Mr. Scary. “It went very well, too,” she said. “There were no problems I couldn't handle.”

Mr. Scary raised his eyes from what he was doing.

“Okay … well, thank you, May. You can take your seat now, please,” he said.

But May kept right on talking.

“At first, I didn't know where to put it. But then the secretary told me to put it in the wire basket. So I followed her directions perfectly,” she said.

Mr. Scary pointed at her seat. “Excellent,” he said. “Now please sit down, okay?”

May didn't pay attention again.

“When I was in kindergarten, I got an E+ for following directions,” she said. “E+ is better than excellent. The plus sign means extra, extra excellent.”

Just then, Mr. Scary stood up. And he took May's hand. And he walked her to her seat.

As soon as he went back to his desk, I strained my brain for something nice to say to her. ’Cause I was still happy at May for leaving her homework out.

Finally, I tapped on her arm. And I smiled.

“Welcome back, madam,” I said real friendly.

May did a frown at me. “What kind of crack was that?” she said.

I just looked at her.

Friendly does not come natural to us, I think.

Pretty soon, Mr. Scary stood up at his desk. Then he walked to the board and he wrote these words:

This weekend, one thing I did for fun was …

“Okay, everyone,” he said. “For your homework over the weekend, I asked you to complete that sentence, remember?”

Room One nodded.

“Good,” said Mr. Scary. “Because this morning, I'd like for each of you to read your homework paper to the class. That way we'll find out what our classmates do for enjoyment. Doesn't that sound fun?”

Room One nodded again. Even if it doesn't sound fun, you still have to nod.

Mr. Scary smiled. “We'll go up and down each row until everyone gets a turn.”

He pointed at Lucille. “Lucille, why don't you start us off?” he said.

Lucille sits in the first row by the window. Last year, me and her were bestest friends. But this year, we're just regular.

Lucille stood up and fluffed herself. Then she picked up her paper. And she started to read.

“This weekend, one thing I did for fun was … my richie nanna took me to her expensive beauty salon. And both of us got manicures and pedicures.”

Mr. Scary looked surprised at that news.

“You got a pedicure, Lucille? Wow! That's pretty fancy stuff, isn't it?” he said.

Lucille shrugged. “For some people, maybe,” she said.

She looked down and kept on reading. “Also, we each got a papaya-fruit facial. And Nanna got an herbal body wrap. Plus