Mrs. Jewls rang her cowbell. "I would like you to meet Mark Miller," she said. "He and his family just moved here all the way from Magadonia!"
Everybody stared at the new kid.
He stood at the front of the room. His knees were shaking.
He hated having to stand in front of the class. It was as if Mrs. Jewls had brought him in for show-and-tell. He felt like some kind of weirdo. He just wanted to sit at a desk and be like everybody else.
But worst of all, his name wasn't Mark Miller.
He was Benjamin Nushmutt. And he had moved from Hempleton, not Magadonia.
But he was too scared to mention that to Mrs. Jewls. He was afraid to correct a teacher.
"Why don't you tell the class a little bit about yourself, Mark?" suggested Mrs. Jewls.
Benjamin didn't know what to say. He wished he really was Mark Miller. Mark Miller wouldn't be scared, he thought. He'd probably have lots to say. Everyone would like him. Nobody would think Mark Miller was weird.
"Well, I guess we'd better find you a place to sit," said Mrs. Jewls.
She put him at the empty desk between Todd and Bebe.
"Hi, Mark," said Todd. "I'm Todd. You'll like Mrs. Jewls. She's the nicest teacher in the school."
"Todd, no talking," said Mrs. Jewls. "Go write your name on the blackboard under the word DISCIPLINE."
"Hi, Mark," said Bebe. "I'm Bebe Gunn."
"Hi," Benjamin said quietly.
He decided he'd have to tell Mrs. Jewls his real name at recess. He cringed. He didn't know why, but for some reason he had trouble saying his own name.
"And what's your name, little boy?" an adult would ask him.
"Benjamin Nushmutt," he'd answer.
"What?"
"BENjamin NUSHmutt."
"What?"
"Ben-Ja-Min Nush-Mutt."
"What?"
"BenjaMIN NushMUTT!"
"What?"
"Benjamin Nushmutt."
"Oh, nice to meet you, Benjamin."
He never knew what it was that made the person suddenly understand.
When the bell rang for recess, everyone charged out of the room. Benjamin slowly walked to Mrs. Jewls's desk. Somehow, he had to tell her.
Mrs. Jewls was sorting papers. "Oh, hello, Mark," she said. "How are you enjoying the class so far?"
"Fine," said Benjamin.
"Good, I'm glad to hear that," said Mrs. Jewls.
Benjamin shrugged, then walked out of the room. If I had told her my name, she would have thought I was weird for not telling her sooner, he realized.
He stood at the top of the stairs and looked down. Recess was only ten minutes long. It didn't seem worth it to go all the way down and then come all the way back up. He didn't have any friends down there anyway.
He had never been more unhappy in his whole life.
He sat on the top step. "Mark Miller," he said out
loud. It was an easy name to say. Mark Miller probably would have made lots of friends by now, he thought.
Suddenly he heard a low rumble. Then the stairs began to shake. It felt like an earthquake! This whole stupid school is going to fall over, he thought. He put his head between his knees.
The rumbling got worse. I'm going to die and nobody will even know who I am, he worried. The new kid. Mark Miller. The weirdo!
But it wasn't an earthquake. It was just all the kids running back up the stairs.
"Hey, Mark, why are you sitting that way?" asked Deedee.
"You look funny," said Ron.
Benjamin looked up.
"How come you weren't at recess?" asked Jason. "We looked everywhere for you."
"Couldn't you find the playground?" asked Calvin.
"It's just straight down," said Bebe. "You can't miss it."
"But don't go in the basement," warned Sharie. "Whatever you do, don't go in the basement."
"Well go down together at lunch," said Todd. "That way you won't get lost."
Benjamin smiled. He was glad everyone seemed to like him. Or at least they liked Mark Miller. He wondered if they'd like Benjamin Nushmutt too.
"The bell has rung!" said Mrs. Jewls, standing in the doorway. "Now, everyone get inside." She made Todd put a check next to his name on the board for being late.
Mrs. Jewls handed a stack of work sheets to Dameon and asked him to pass them out to the rest of the class.
Benjamin looked at his work sheet. At the top right corner there was a place to put his name. He didn't know which name to put there, Mark Miller or Benjamin Nushmutt.
He left it blank and started working on the first problem.
Louis, the yard teacher, entered the room carrying a white paper sack. "Benjamin forgot his lunch," he said. "His mother just brought it."
"Who?" asked Mrs. Jewls.
"Benjamin," said Louis.
"There's no Benjamin in my class," said Mrs. Jewls.
"Are you sure?" asked Louis. "It looks like a good lunch."
"I know the names of the children in my class!" Mrs. Jewls said indignantly.
"Well, I'll just leave it here until I figure this out," said Louis. He left the lunch on Mrs. Jewls's desk and walked out of the room.
Benjamin frowned. He looked at the white paper sack on Mrs. Jewls's desk. He couldn't tell Mrs. Jewls
11
his real name now. She'd think he was making it up just to get a free lunch.
He wrote Mark Miller at the top of his work sheet.
But one of these days, he knew, he'd have to tell her his real name.