Kickoff! Read Free Page A

had tokeep stopping himself from nodding off, to avoid making a fool of himself.
    Maybe it was the big breakfast Mom made us, he thought. Big meals always had a way of making him sleepy. Or maybe it was just that Mr. Vaughn was so boring!
    Tiki couldn’t wait for the bell to ring. When it finally did, he took off at full speed, running down the hallway and dodging the other kids in his way. He held his book bag like a football, and pretended he was the great Walter Payton, dodging defenders as he raced for the end zone.
    â€œHey! Watch it!” yelled one kid after Tiki passed him by, nearly knocking him into the wall.
    â€œSlow down there!” called a teacher who was acting as hall monitor. Tiki did, but only for a minute.
    He got to history class just in time to grab a seat in the back row, all the way in the corner. Then he took a minute to catch his breath as the other seats began to fill up.
    The front rows were taken up by the brainy kids—most of them girls—who always raised their hands for every question. Tiki didn’t care. It seemed to him that they were less interested in learning new things than they were in showing off what they already knew.
    Tiki usually knew the right answers, no matter what the class. But he almost never raised his hand. He didn’t want to risk being wrong. If you were wrong, everybody thought you were stupid. Even if they didn’t laugh in class, they would behind your back.
    History class wound up being not too bad—it was his favorite subject, after all, and the teacher was a nice lady, Ms. Walker, who didn’t give them any homework because it was the first day of school. But Tiki could tell that once things got going, she’d be giving out plenty of work.
    As soon as the bell rang, he did another magnificent job of open-field running to get to science class, and grabbed another prized seat in the back row. The class slowly filled with kids—hey, there was Adam! Tiki’s mood started to brighten. He’d always liked science—and whoever the teacher was, he or she had to be better than Mr. Vaughn!
    The late bell rang, and a second later, the teacher walked in. He had a beard that was starting to go gray, and a shock of dark hair on top of his head that went in all directions. “Hello, everyone,” he said. “My name is Sam Wheeler, but you can call me . . . Mr. Wheeler.”
    The kids laughed, and Tiki started to relax. Mr. Wheeler had a sense of humor, and that could only be good.
    â€œFirst, I want everyone to stand up,” Mr. Wheeler said. When the kids were all standing, he continued, “Okay, everyone in the two back rows, switch seats with the two front rows.”
    A loud groan went up from all the kids in the rows he’d mentioned. “I’ve found that it’s best to get the slackers up front right away,” said Mr. Wheeler. “That way, theycan’t get away with sleeping through class ! And you kids in the front, take a break, will you? I already know you know the answers.”
    Whoa, thought Tiki, as he shuffled miserably up to the front row. This guy must be some kind of mind reader.
    Mr. Wheeler started talking about the topics they’d be covering that year in Science. But the whole time he was talking, he kept scanning the class. He had the face of a hawk, or an eagle—yeah, that was it, Tiki thought. An eagle—that nose, those eyes . . . Mr. Wheeler could have been the school mascot!
    His eyes drilled right into you. Tiki was terrified of those eyes—especially after Mr. Wheeler spotted Adam whispering to the kid next to him. Mr. Wheeler crumpled a piece of paper into a hard little ball, raised his right hand, and fired!
    The paper ball hit Adam right between the shoulders. “Hey! Pay attention!” Mr. Wheeler said.
    Adam turned around, his face beet red. The whole class laughed their heads off. It wasn’t like anyone thought it