RULE 1 Do Not Groan Loudly When Asked To Recite Poetry B-R-R-R-R-R-R-R-R-R-R-RINNNNGGGGGGGG-G-G G The school bell screeched in Jake’s ear and he leapt out of the chair with a yelp It’s a new school not a shark tank he told himself sitting once more But then again what if his teacher was an old dragon What if he didn’t make any friends What if The office door burst open and the secretary bustled out I’ll take you to the principal now dear Oops be careful Jake found himself being propelled through a stream of noisy students that had erupted from nowhere Minutes later the hallway was empty again The secretary stopped outside a door On it was a sign that read MRS BLUNT in large angry letters Underneath in smaller slightly annoyed letters it said Principal Wait here said the secretary The principal will be out shortly
A row of chairs stood along the wall and Jake perched on one A man sat at the other end his knees nearly grazing his ears He wore black-rimmed glasses and was tapping a rhythm on his knee MUPPETS he exclaimed suddenly Jake jumped The man chuckled Sorry I’ve been trying to work out what that rhythm was and it just struck me it’s the theme from The Muppet Show He looked at Jake over his glasses Seeing the principal Are you in trouble No It’s my first day said Jake Ah I’m a new to the school too Name’s Hyde And you are Jake Jones Delighted to meet you Jake Jones Are you nervous Jake lied No
Me neither said Mr Hyde He was blushing How scary can the principal be anyway She won’t bite will she Heh-heh Mr Hyde had gone very red indeed His face was flushed and even his ears were scarlet And it even looked like was he starting to glow Jake wondered If I was nervous continued Mr Hyde I would just tap a rhythm on my knee Like this Mr Hyde drummed his fingers up and down gently on his leg Tap-tap-tappity-tap Jake rubbed his eyes and looked at Mr Hyde again He was a bit pink but he wasn’t glowing Suddenly the principal’s door burst open and Mr Hyde started tapping his knee furiously MR HYDE COME IN a harsh voice commanded Mr Hyde took a deep breath stood up and ducked in through the door It clanged shut Jake stared at the closed door Had Mr Hyde actually glowed He shook his head He must have imagined it People don’t glow Before Jake had time to think about this the door opened again Mr Hyde shuffled out followed by a dark-haired woman in a suit She saw Jake and frowned Oh yes The new boy This is your teacher Mr Hyde Now let’s get you both to class Mrs Blunt marched them out into a courtyard with a huge pile of rocks in the middle She stopped by the rocks and patted one of them fondly This is my Rockery All the building work is done by students who earn three Sad Faces A Sad Face is given for breaking one of the School Rules Jake’s eyes met Mr Hyde’s The rocks looked very heavy Our discipline is first-rate Mrs Blunt continued leading them into a hallway her heels clicking on the hard floor I hope you will keep 5B in order Mr Hyde They can
be lively Jake heard the sound of chatter getting louder and louder As they rounded a corner he saw a gaggle of students outside a classroom door There was pushing shoving and loud giggling Mrs Blunt one of the girls whispered The children scurried into line and the hubbub faded One boy dropped his lunch box and several cookies rolled across the hallway He bent to pick them up MCCRUMB roared Mrs Blunt The boy groaned Maaaa’am but got back in line Class 5B Anyone wishing to work on the Rockery continue talking If not go in sit down and do not utter a sound Mrs Blunt ordered The class trooped in Mrs Blunt stopped the cookie-dropper Barnaby McCrumb I believe you have two Sad Faces One more and I will see you at the Rockery Understand Yeeeessss ma’am Barnaby responded Mrs Blunt glared at Barnaby but waved him into the silent classroom and marched Jake and Mr Hyde to the front 5B meet Jake Jones said Mrs Blunt Twenty-five pairs of eyes fixed on Jake
