The Beast in Ms. Rooney's Room Read Online Free PDF

the picture he had drawn the other day.
    It was a picture of Holly. She was holding their cat, Meow. They were both smiling.
    He reached for his pink eraser.
    “Tut your name on top,” Ms. Rooney said.
    He began to erase the picture so he could use the paper for the test.
    He went a little too hard. Suddenly there was a hole in the paper. Right on top of Meow.
    “Meow,” Richard said under his breath. “Me. Ow.” He wrote his name in while he was waiting for Ms. Rooney to say the first word. M-e, he spelled in his head. Ow. He looked at Matthew and nodded. “
Meow
.”
    “Who is making cat noises back there?” Ms. Rooney asked.
    Why hadn't anyone told him about spelling before? he wondered. It was easy.
    “First word,” Ms. Rooney said. “Along.”
    Along. With his thumb Richard tried to flatten out the hole he had made in his paper.
    Easy. A. Long. Along.
    “Could,” Ms. Rooney said.
    Richard pushed at his teeth. Could. He tried to say it slowly. To find the little words inside.
    There weren't any.
    It was just could.
    He remembered Holly yelling at him last night.
    Was it
c
? Or
k
?
    He knew there was an
l
.
    C-u-l-d.
    It didn't look right.
    Too bad it didn't work out the way Matthew said. It was probably one of those things Mrs. Paris had said. An exception.
    “Backyard,” Ms. Rooney said.
    In front of him Matthew muttered, “Back … yard.”
    Richard looked at Matthew's ears. Back. Yard. Easy. With a bossy
r
. Easy as anything.
    Matthew was right. That baby with the wet-the-bed smell was right.
    He wasn't such a baby.
    He wondered if Matthew hated to wet the bed.
    Just the way he hated his little baby front teeth.
    He gave Matthew a little punch on the back. Then quickly he began to spell backyard.

Chapter 10

    Today was banner day: the day Mr. Mancina would tell them who won.
    Richard's class had tried hard this week.
    Even if they didn't win the banner, they were the best. He knew it.
    “Time for reading,” Ms. Rooney said.
    Quietly they started down the hall.
    Kevin Klein was coming out of the boys' room.
    “Hi,” Richard said. He remembered to whisper. “I've been meaning to tell you. Ms. Rooney didn't really mix her records up.”
    “Whew,” Kevin said. “I was really worried. I thought it was me.”
    “It takes some people a little time to zip into reading,” Richard said. “That's what happened to me.”
    Kevin nodded slowly. “You're a good artist though.”
    “Right,” Richard said. “That's right.”
    He started down the hall and looked back over his shoulder. “Are you going to tell Drake?”
    “That kid can find out for himself,” Kevin said. “Let him ask the teacher if he wants to know.”
    They grinned at each other. Then Richard rushed down the hall to reading.
    He didn't remember the surprise in his desk until he was almost at Mrs. Paris's door.
    “I forgot something,” he told Mrs. Paris. “Can I go back to my room for a minute?”
    “Sure,” Mrs. Paris said. “But try not to take an hour.”
    Richard shook his head. He wanted to get back to reading. Even though they were reading a little skinny baby book, it was kind of interesting. It was all about a kid who got lost in a snowstorm.
    Besides, he was beginning to know a lot of the words. Not all of them. But a lot more than he ever thought he would.
    He started to race down the hall. But then he remembered the banner.
    He slowed down.
    He made believe he was caught in the snowstorm. He closed his eyes and took about ten steps.
    But then he remembered the banner.
    He opened his eyes and hurried into his classroom.
    “Forgot something,” he told Ms. Rooney.
    Richard raced back to his desk. He pulled out his notebook and went into the hall again.
    He stopped at Holly's classroom to wave to her, then bent over the faucet for a quick drink.
    A very quick drink. He didn't want to get into trouble for hanging around in the hall.
    Drake was coming out of the boys' room.
    “Hey, Richard.”
    Richard turned around.