Chapter 9 Something Different about Mrs. Jewls

The children returned from Christmas vacation. On each desk were two knitting needles and a hunk of yarn.

"Today we are going to learn how to knit," said

Mrs. Jewls.

She showed the class how it was done. "See, you stick this needle through here, then wrap this around this like this, stick this through this, pull this like this, and then you stick this here. Any questions?"

Everyone stared at her.

"Good," said Mrs. Jewls. "I want everybody to make socks. Okay, get started."

Dameon looked at his knitting needles. He didn't have a clue.

He looked back at Mrs. Jewls. Now, more than ever, he was sure she was somehow different.

She was sitting at her desk, knitting and eating Baloneos. Dameon couldn't remember Mrs. Jewls ever eating a Baloneo before.

A Baloneo was an Oreo cookie, except instead of the white part, there was a round hunk of baloney.

Miss Mush invented them.

"Hey, Mac," whispered Dameon. "Does Mrs. Jewls seem different to you?"

"She's fat," said Mac.

"That's not a nice thing to say," said Dameon.

"I didn't say it to Mrs. Jewls," said Mac. "I didn't go, 'Hey, Mrs. Jewls. You're fat!' "

Mrs. Jewls cleared her throat as she stood up. She walked around the room. "Very nice, D.J.," she said. "You're doing fine, Rondi."

She stopped at Joe's desk.

"Oh, Joe!" she gushed. "Look, everybody, I want you to see Joe's sock!" She held it up. "Isn't it the most beautiful sock you ever saw?"
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It was a great sock. Everybody oohed and

aahed.

Joe was as surprised as anyone. He didn't know he knew how to make socks. But the boy was born to knit.

Mrs. Jewls started to cry. "I love this sock," she sobbed.

"Uh-oh," said Kathy. "I think she's finally

flipped out!"

"I love you, Kathy," said Mrs. Jewls. She looked around the room. "I love all of you."

She put her hand on Kathy's desk. "I love this desk," she said. "I love the blackboard. I love the clock on the wall."

There was a ruler on the floor.

Mrs. Jewls picked it up. "I love this ruler," she declared.

"Hey, that's mine!" said Dana. "But, uh, that's okay, Mrs. Jewls. You can have it."

"I don't want your ruler, Dana," said Mrs. Jewls, handing it to her.

"You want my pair of scissors?" offered Sharie.

"Don't give her anything sharp!" warned Kathy.

Mrs. Jewls wiped away her tears and smiled at the class. "I'm going to miss all of you very much," she said.

"Are you going away?" asked Dameon.

"Yeah, to the loony bin," whispered Kathy.

"Are you sick?" asked Eric Ovens.

"No, I'm not sick," said Mrs. Jewls. "In fact, I'm better than I've ever been." She beamed. "I'm going to have a baby!"

Everyone gasped.

Dameon couldn't believe it! He was so happy he jumped out of his seat and hugged Mrs. Jewls.

She was soon surrounded by all her students, even Kathy, wanting to hug her.

"Today is my last day here," Mrs. Jewls told her students. "My doctor doesn't want me walking up and down thirty flights of stairs every day, I wasn't even supposed to come today, but I just had to say good-bye."

"I thought you were getting fat," said Mac. "But I didn't want to say anything."

"Thank you, Mac," said Mrs. Jewls. "You are very considerate."

"Can I touch your stomach?" asked Stephen.

Mrs. Jewls laughed. "Sure," she said.

The children took turns touching her stomach.

"What are you going to name your baby?" asked Allison.

"I don't know yet," said Mrs. Jewls. "What do you think?"
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"Well, if she's a girl," said Allison, "I think you should name her Rainbow Sunshine."

"That's a nice name," said Mrs. Jewls. "And if

he's a boy?"

"Bucket Head," said Allison. She didn't like

boys.

"If he's a boy, you should name him Jet Rocket!" said Joe.

"Jet Rocket Jewls," mused Mrs. Jewls. "That has a nice ring to it. And what if she's a girl?"

"Cootie Face," said Joe.

Mrs, Jewls laughed. "So let me get this straight," she said. "If he's a boy, I'll name him Bucket Head."

"Right," said Allison and Rondi.

"And if she's a girl, I'll name her Cootie Face."

"Right," said Joe and John.

Dameon laughed. He knew Mrs. Jewls was only joking. At least he hoped she was.

Terrence placed his palm flat against Mrs. Jewls's stomach. "Hey," he exclaimed. "The dude kicked me!"

Suddenly Dameon felt very sad. He was going to miss her a lot! He wiped a tear from his eye. "It's unfair!" he shouted. "We finally come back to Wayside School after being gone for so long. And now you're leaving us!"

"I have to," said Mrs. Jewls.

"I know," whined Dameon. "You have to make sure that you and your baby are healthy. But it still isn't fair!"

"I think you'll like your substitute teacher," said Mrs. Jewls. "I spoke to him over the vacation. He seems like a very nice man."

"A man?" asked Dameon. "Cool!"

They all thought it was pretty neat to have a man teacher.

"Yes," said Mrs. Jewls. "His name is Mr. Gorf."

"Mr. Gorf," muttered Joy as she walked down the stairs to recess. "Did she say Mr. Gorf?"

Maurecia nodded.

Leslie caught up to them. "Did she say Mr.

Gorf?"

"I think so," said Maurecia.

"Do you think-?" Leslie asked.

"I don't know," said Maurecia.

"I hope not," said Joy.

Before Mrs. Jewls ever came to Wayside School, the children had a teacher named Mrs. Gorf. She wasn't very nice.

Even Myron was worried. And Myron had never gotten in trouble in his whole life.

"Mr. Gorf might be a good teacher," said Eric Bacon. "Just because he has the same last name as Mrs. Gorf doesn't mean he'll be horrible."

"That's right," said Eric Ovens. "People with the same name can be different."

"I agree," said Eric Fry.

"There are probably lots of people named Gorf." Dameon said hopefully. "I bet if you looked in the phone book, you'd find ten whole pages of Gorfs."

"Well, I don't know about you, but I'm not coming to school tomorrow," said Joy.

"Me neither," Maurecia agreed.

But the next morning their parents made them all go to school.

Everyone arrived on time. Nobody dared to be late.

But there was no teacher.

Deedee sat down next to Myron. "Is he here?" she whispered.

"Sh!" whispered Myron. He folded his hands on his desk and stared straight ahead.