We’re going too be late He and James carefully placed the wheelchair in the van I don’t care if we are late James said He hated that he was repeating the sixth grade because he got into serious trouble stealing last year He knew plenty of boys who had repeated a grade or not even graduated high school but he regretted that he was one of them Greg fi nally joined them in the van Grandpa Greg began I thought about it and I don’t want to skip to the sixth grade James was twelve and the thought of his younger cousin in the same grade as him gave him a stomachache He felt that his friends were laughing behind his back 6
Nonsense Grandpa said smiling You’re just nervous You worked very hard last year and you were able to advance to the sixth grade You don’t think that’s a good thing It is Greg shrugged But I’m only eleven and the other kids will be bigger and the work will be harder Don’t be such a crybaby James told Greg He placed his hands behind his head and leaned back on the headrest Besides it’s not so bad James couldn’t understand why Greg wasn’t happy Yeah because you’re repeating the sixth grade April called from the passenger seat It will probably seem like a breeze She started to laugh And Greg is in your grade It must be 7
embarrassing to repeat a grade but also to have your younger cousin skip and be in your classes You must really be stupid Alright you two Grandpa warned As soon as Grandpa pulled up alongside the school James hopped out without a word James noticed that his friends weren’t waiting for him by the front steps James brushed past Greg as they went inside They passed the metal detectors and headed to their class James swaggered inside the classroom and noticed Moochie sitting in the corner Moochie smiled and pointed to an empty seat right beside him As James came nearer he noticed that Moochie looked nervous 8
Man I can’t believe we have the same history teacher Moochie hissed in James’s ear I heard Ms Clemens is hard Yeah James nodded She’s always trying to get us to study and learn She says it’s important and makes our lives enjoyable blah blah blah Don’t worry He patted Moochie on the back Then he wondered what would happen if Moochie got better grades than he did Okay class Ms Clemens raised her hand to warn the students to quiet down As sixth graders you will be graduating this year In addition you will be taking an important nationwide test She paced back and forth between the desks That does not include what we will be covering in my class I believe that 9
