Read Introducing Serina K., Ph.D. and Future Famous Person Page 11

  Chapter Eleven: May Day

  The next day had the potential of being the best day ever. It was the day that everyone was supposed to bring their items for the time capsule. It was also the last Friday before the end of the school year and the day that the school held its annual May Day activities to celebrate the beginning of summer vacation. Classes are dismissed during May Day for a series of competitions between each class. The competitions included a tug of war, an egg toss, a three-legged race, and a dodgeball tournament for the older kids..

  Autumn and I left for school early enough to stop by Mrs. Barnes’s house to see the puppies before class. Suzy stayed behind to keep Mrs. Barnes and Penny company when we were through admiring the puppies. I was relieved when I saw that Suzy wasn’t going to follow us. With Suzy at Mrs. Barnes house, I wouldn’t have to worry about Mr. Brady calling my dad and I could enjoy the May Day activities.

  Everyone was talking about what the May Day activities and what they had brought for the time capsule when we arrived at our classroom. Serina Mitchell was passing around a card that she had made on her computer for everyone to sign for the time capsule. Greetings from Mrs. Crocker’s class of 2014, the card read with a class picture in the center.

  “Guess what I’m putting in the time capsule,” said Scotty Riggs.

  “What?” I asked.

  “I’m going to put the blue ribbon Jamie and I win when we beat you and Autumn in the three-legged race,” he answered.

  “We’ll see about that,” I said.

  We all stood to acknowledge the National Anthem as usual when the 7:45 bell rang soon thereafter. The song had almost finished playing when I heard the familiar Suzy’s infamous rendition of the famous song.

  “Awwwl,” he sang.

  I looked over to the window in disbelief. Suzy’s head was once again poking through the window. With his mouth wide open and his tongue hanging out, he looked like he was smiling at us. He didn’t howl any more for the duration of the song. I guess he was just letting me know that he had made it to school after all.

  Mrs. Crocker didn’t say anything when the song ended. She simply smiled at me and pointed to the hallway. I had been expecting the trip to Mr. Brady’s office all week. Even though Suzy hadn’t followed us to school all week, I had a feeling that he was going to follow us today. After Mrs. Barnes showed us the puppies, I thought that he might stay at her house all day with Penny. I should have known that he wouldn’t want to miss out on the May Day activities.

  “Hi, Serina,” the receptionist said when I reached the principal’s office. “Mr. Brady is expecting you. Have a seat and he’ll be right with you.”

  Mr. Brady’s door opened before I had chance to sit down.

  “Good morning, Serina,” Mr. Brady said as he motioned for me to come in.

  I sat down in the chair in front of his desk. I didn’t know if Mrs. Barnes had talked to him about Suzy yet or not, but he seemed like he was in a good mood. The best day ever would quickly turn into the worst day ever if he called my dad about Suzy.

  “I take it that Suzy’s been showing off again,” he said closing the door to his office.

  “I don’t know what got into him today,” I said innocently. “This is the first time he’s followed me to school all week.”

  I then told him about Penny and the puppies. Since I wasn’t sure if Mrs. Barnes had talked to him yet or not, I made sure to mention her name as often as possible.

  “He’s been at Mrs. Barnes’s house all week helping her take care of Penny and the puppies,” I said. “Mrs. Barnes seems to be really fond of him,” I added for good measure.

  “I’m fond of him too,” he said. “Suzy’s become a school fixture. I had several people ask me where he’s been all week. We just need to do something about him interrupting the National Anthem. Do you think that you can train him not to howl during the National Anthem by the end of summer vacation?” he asked.

  Yes, Sir,” I said.

  “Good. You’d better catch up with your class now. They should be outside by now. The first May Day game begins in a few minutes,” he said.

  “Thank you for not calling my dad,” I said as I was leaving his office.

  “You’re welcome. By the way, I promised Mrs. Brady the black puppy,” he said winking at me before he closed the door behind me.

  I reminded myself to thank Mrs. Barnes later. She not only convinced Mr. Brady not to call my dad, but she also found one of the puppies a home already. Since Mr. Brady was keeping one of the puppies, I wondered if that would make us related somehow.

  I rejoined the class outside in time for the 50-yard dash. Ellen Cowan from Mr. Kyle’s class won first place easily. She has won it every year since the first grade. Her dad nicknamed her Seabiscuit after the famous racehorse because she can run so fast. She says that she’s going to try out for the Olympics when she is old enough.

  Mr. Bolton’s class won the tug of war contest. I didn’t think it was fair because he has more boys in his class than any other class does. They also have Monty Miller in their class. This is Monty’s second year in the third grade.

  Autumn and I won fourth place in the egg toss. We could have won first place, but the sun blinded me when Autumn tossed the egg a little too high. I looked up and reached to catch it, but the sun was too bright. The egg splattered when it landed on my forehead. Mrs. Crocker gave me a towel to wipe the yolk off that was oozing down my face. I promised Autumn that I would get her back somehow.

  It was finally time for the three-legged race. In the three-legged race, you and your partner must place one leg in a potato sack to form one leg and hop your way to the finish line before the other team. Autumn and I breezed our way to the finals. In the semi-final round, we beat Ellen Cowan and Trisha Pinkley. Ellen is a super fast runner, but she was no match for us in this race. Her potato sack got twisted around her foot causing Trisha and her to trip and fall. We hopped to the finish line while they were still trying to get up.

  The final round pitted Autumn and I against Scotty Riggs and Jamie Taylor after all.

  “Take a look at eggface,” Scotty joked to Jamie as we took our positions at the starting line.

  Jamie laughed and started to say something sarcastic, but thought better of it when he saw Autumn giving him a dirty look.

  I wouldn’t mind winning second place, but I really didn’t want to lose to Scotty and Jamie. Scotty said that he was going to put his ribbon in the time capsule if they beat us. I sure didn’t want people in the future to know that I got beat by that smart aleck.

  We got off to a pretty good lead ahead of them. To their credit, they were really fast. We were hopping as fast as we could when they raced past us. To make matters worse, Suzy had begun chasing us. It would be only a matter of seconds before Scotty and Jamie crossed the finish line.

  Suddenly, Suzy darted past us. A sparrow was flying overhead that sparked his attention. After running past us, he dashed in front of Scotty and Jamie causing them to fall. They probably could have still won the race, but Suzy began licking them in the face while they were trying to get back up.

  Scotty claimed that the race wasn’t fair and that they deserved the blue ribbons for first place. Mr. Brady agreed that the race wasn’t without controversy.

  “I’m sorry, girls, but I can’t give you these first place ribbons. These ribbons belong to the real winner of the three-legged race,” he said as he pinned both blue ribbons to Suzy’s collar.