Allison was still on the nineteenth story.
The desks were arranged in clusters of four. Allison sat at a cluster with a girl named Virginia, a boy named Nick, and a boy named Ray.
But Virginia looked old enough to be her mother. And Nick looked like he should be in high school. Ray was a couple of years younger than Allison.
"Miss Zarves is a wonderful teacher," said Virginia in a singsong voice. "She's the nicest teacher I ever had."
112
"She's the only teacher you ever had," said Nick.
"So? She's still nice," said Virginia. "I've always gotten all A's."
"Aren't you a little old to be going to school?" Allison asked her.
"You're never to old to learn," said Virginia.
"No one ever leaves Miss Zarves's class," said Nick. "How long have you been here, Virginia?"
Virginia thought a moment. "Thirty-two wonderful years."
"I've been here nine years," said Nick.
"But she always gives us good grades," said Virginia.
"That's true," Nick agreed. "I've gotten all A's since I've been here too."
"Me too," said Ray. "And sometimes I answer all the problems wrong on purpose!"
"Where were you before you came here?" Allison asked him.
"I went to, um, I was ..." Ray shook his head. "That's funny-I don't remember."
"I don't remember where I came from either," said Virginia.
"Well, I do!" said Allison. "I was in . . ." But suddenly she couldn't remember either. Then it came to her. "Mrs. Jewls's class! And Rondi was in the class, and Jason, and Dana, and Todd ..."
She named every member of the class, including all three Erics. She didn't want to forget where she
113
came from. If I forget where I came from, I might never get back, she thought.
"Did you say there was a girl named Bebe Gunn?" asked Ray.
"Yes," said Allison. "Bebe's a very good artist."
"My last name is Gunn, too," said Ray. "I wonder if we're related."
"Ray, no talking please," said Miss Zarves. "Now, everyone please take out a pencil and some paper. I want you to write all the numbers from zero to a million in alphabetical order."
"From zero to a million?" asked Allison. She couldn't believe it.
"Don't worry," said Virginia. "If you run out of paper, Miss Zarves has more in the closet."
Allison stared at her in horror. "But it will take over a hundred years," she said.
"So?" asked Virginia. "What's your hurry?"
Allison started to work. It was bad enough having to write down all the numbers from zero to a million, but she couldn't imagine how she'd ever put them in alphabetical order.
One came before two.
Three came after one, but before two.
Four came before one.
Five came before four.
Six came after one, but before three.
"Don't worry," said Virginia. "Even if you miss a
114
few, Miss Zarves will give you an A when you finish."
Seven came after one and before six.
Eight came first. Allison couldn't think of any number that would come before eight, so she wrote it down. She also knew zero would come last, if she ever got that far. By then she'd be older than Virginia.
Ill talk to Louis at recess, she thought. He'll save me.
"When's recess?" she asked.
"There is no recess," said Ray. "We're not allowed out of the classroom."
"What about if you have to go to the bathroom?"
"What's a bathroom?" asked Virginia.
"We don't eat, either," said Nick. "We just work all the time."
"But we never have homework," Virginia said cheerfully.
"That's because we never go home," said Nick. "We get a two-minute break every eleven hours."
"But don't worry," said Virginia. "Miss Zarves always gives us good grades."
Miss Zarves walked around the room checking everybody's work. "Excellent, Ray!" she said. "Very good, Virginia. You're doing wonderfully, Allison. You get an A for the day."
Big deal! thought Allison. She had to figure out some way out of there. It was clear that Virginia, Nick, and Ray were all too far gone to help her.
115
"Are there any other new kids in the class?" she asked.
"Ben's new," said Nick. He pointed Ben out to her.
Ben appeared to be about Allison's age. She was glad about that. When the two-minute break came, she went over and talked to him.
"Are you Ben?" she asked.
"No," he said.
"Oh," said Allison. "I was looking for Ben."
"That's me," said the boy.
"But you just said-"
"My name's Mark Miller," said the boy. "But for some reason everybody calls me Benjamin Nushmutt."
"There's a Mark Miller in my class!" exclaimed Allison.
"I know, that's me," said Mark. "I'm Mark Miller."
"No, I mean my other class," said Allison.
"What other class?"
Allison thought a moment. "I don't remember. ..." she said.
After putting numbers in alphabetical order for eleven hours, her brain had turned into spaghetti.
"Time's up," said Miss Zarves. "Everyone back to work."