Hotel For Dogs Read Online Free PDF Page A

concentrated on it so hard at school the next day that he missed three questions on his math quiz. Math had always been easy forBruce, so he was shocked when the teacher called out the grades.
    From his seat in the next row, Jerry Gordon turned and grinned. It was such a pleased grin that Bruce was angrier with himself than ever.
    It had been an unpleasant surprise on the first day of school to find Jerry in the class with him. It had been a shock for Jerry as well.
    “What are you doing here?” he had asked that first morning, when the two boys had found themselves side by side in the same homeroom. “You’re not big enough for middle school.”
    “I was twelve in February,” Bruce told him coldly.
    “Nobody would guess it. You look like you ought to be in kindergarten.”
    “Boys!” Miss Lowry had spoken from the front of the room.
    At the sound of her voice, Jerry’s expression changed completely. Glancing up quickly, he gave the teacher a warm, bright smile.
    “I’m sorry, Miss Lowry. I was just trying to help our new student feel at home.”
    “That was nice of you, Jerry.” Miss Lowry’s stern face softened. “You’re very thoughtful, and Iknow Bruce appreciates it. Let’s save our chatting for the playground and lunchroom, though. Okay?”
    “Sure, Miss Lowry.” Jerry dropped his eyes as though embarrassed. Under his lowered lids he shot Bruce a side glance.
    “Save your chatting for the playground, shrimp, if you can find anybody to chat with,” he whispered, as Miss Lowry turned her attention to a student on the other side of the room. “You’re going to have a hard time finding any buds in this class, I can promise you that.”
    As days went by, the statement had turned out to be more true than Bruce had expected. Jerry Gordon was the leader of the neighborhood gang, which seemed to consist of most of the boys in the seventh grade. On the playground, it was Jerry who chose what games they played and told people which sides they were on, and it was Jerry who organized the after-school activities and conducted special meetings in the basement of his home.
    “What’s with that guy?” Bruce asked Tim Kelly, who sat in front of him in history class. “People jump when he gives orders like he was king of Elmwood.”
    “Nobody wants to make him mad, that’s for sure. If he doesn’t like you, he can make life pretty tough.” Tim had a shock of red hair and the kind of open, freckled face that made Bruce wish he knew him better.
    “Jerry
is
sort of like a king around here,” he continued. “He’s an only kid, and his parents don’t say no to anything. He’s got the whole basement floor of the house for his own. He can have all the guys he wants over there, and nobody ever bothers him.” He laughed. “It’s different at my house. I’ve got three little sisters. Nothing’s private over there.”
    “I’ve got a sister, too,” Bruce said. “She bugs me sometimes, but I’d sure rather have her around than Jerry Gordon.”
    “Oh, he’s not so bad if you don’t cross him,” Tim said. “He can be real charming and nice to people he likes.” He paused. “Of course, when things don’t go his way, that’s different. Like with the kid who used to live in that house down the street from you, the one that’s for sale now.”
    “What about him?” Bruce asked curiously. “What happened?”
    “I hear that Jerry had a run-in with the kid. Idon’t know what it was about; it was before our family moved here. Anyway, from the way I heard it, Jerry made life so miserable for that kid that he got where he wouldn’t go to school. None of the other kids would have anything to do with him for fear of making Jerry mad. Finally, the family moved to a different school district. Before they left, though, the kid’s dad went over and had a showdown with Mr. Gordon and told him how rotten Jerry was.”
    “Wow!” It made Bruce feel good just to imagine that confrontation. “What did Mr.