Number One Kid Read Free Page B

Wipe yourself off.”
    Mitchell took his raincoat. “Thanks.”
    “It was in the lunchroom. Under a table.” Ms. Katz sighed. “Everyone was stepping on it.”
    He remembered now. He had left it there at lunchtime.
    Ms. Katz leaned forward. “I lose things, too. My gloves, my umbrella.”
    She grinned at Mitchell. Then she hurried away.
    He went into the boys’ room.
    Trevor was looking at himself in the mirror. “Eeeee
-yah!
” he yelled.
    Mitchell ducked out again. He had a terrible feeling about the mask.
    He shivered. He wrapped his raincoataround him. He was soaking wet and freezing.
    He sat on the bottom step.
    Peter Petway came down the stairs.
    Mitchell hid his face. He certainly looked like a loser. He was covered with mud. And pizza sauce.
    Peter jumped over him and ran off.
    Then Mitchell thought about Angel.
    Sometimes she surprised him.
    She was worried about him.
    That made him feel pretty good.
    He sat up straight. Maybe he wasn’t such a loser after all.

CHAPTER 7
FRIDAY
    L ast day of the week. Great!
    Today the Afternoon Center kids were going swimming.
    Mitchell had found his bathing suit before school. It was under his bed, still damp from the end of the summer.
    It had a ton of sand in it.
    He held it up to his nose. What a smell.
    He hoped no one would notice.
    He had forgotten his best lunch, too. A ham sandwich with enough lettuce for a rabbit.
    Sumiko lent him money for hot lunch.
    It was the worst lunch in the world: meat chunks in glue.
    At last, the bell rang. The loudspeaker blared. “Time for swimming.”
    They headed for the bus line.
    Mitchell let Habib cut in front of him.
    Habib let Destiny cut in front of him.
    Sumiko cut in front of Destiny.
    And some kid stepped in between Destiny and Sumiko. Mitchell thought his name might be Charlie.

    Mitchell turned. Peter Petway was near the end of the line.
    “Let’s get moving,” Peter said.
    Mitchell hoped Peter didn’t know he had started all that cutting.
    The bus pulled up. The kids packed in like meat chunks in glue.
    Angel and Yolanda sat in front of Mitchell and Habib. “What’s that smell?” Yolanda asked.
    “Someone’s wet bathing suit,” Angel said. “Eew.”
    Mitchell took his bathing suit bag off his lap. He sat on it.
    He watched Angel practice swimming in her seat. “Here I come, prize,” she said. She wiggled her arms.
    Mitchell crossed his fingers. Maybe there were two prizes for swimming.
    He wiggled his arms.
    At last, they were there.
    The boys went to one locker room. The girls went to another. Lockers banged. Everyone changed.
    “Something smells around here,” a boy said.
    Mitchell didn’t look up. It sounded like Peter Petway.
    Mitchell raced out of the locker room.
    He couldn’t wait to get into the pool. It would wash away the smell of his bathing suit. It would get rid of that ton of sand.
    “Great suit,” Yolanda was telling Mr. Oakley.
    Mitchell blinked. Mr. Oakley’s bathing suit had zigzags. It came down to his knobby knees.
    Sumiko wore a red bathing suit. Mitchell’s favorite color.
    Mitchell slid into the pool. “Yeow!” he yelled. It was up to his knees, and freezing.
    They had to stay at the shallow end until they passed a swimming test.
    Mitchell had to swim about a hundred miles to pass. He’d probably sink any minute.
    But Mr. Oakley blew his whistle. “A-one effort, Mitchell,” he said. “You passed.”
    Mitchell floated along, catching his breath. Then he went down to the bottom. He pretended he was a stingray.
    He opened his eyes.
    What were all those tan dots?
    He shot up. His mouth was filled with water. So was his nose.
    He tried to breathe.
    Then he spotted Angel.
    She had sunk to the bottom, too.
    She might not be a stingray. She might be drowning.
    He grabbed her mouse tail hair. He yanked hard.
    She came up sputtering. She waded away.
    Mr. Oakley blew his whistle. “No ducking, pushing, or pulling, guys,” he called. “Safety first.”
    Mitchell began to swim