“I have a fun writing assignment for you all today,” said my teacher, Miss Clark.

Miss Clark was new to Lincoln Elementary. She seemed really young, and I thought she was very pretty. She had long, shiny blond hair and bright blue eyes, and she smelled good, too.

“She always has fun things for us to do,” Jessie whispered to me.

“I know,” I whispered back. “I can’t wait to see what it is.”

“What is it? What is it?” Chloe squealed, bouncing out of her seat. “I just love writing.”

“Sit down, Fancypants,” Max grumbled, “and she’ll tell us.”

“You can’t tell me what to do,” Chloe said, waving her finger at Max. “You’re not the boss of me.”

“Chloe and Max, you are not respecting each other,” said Miss Clark. “You need to speak more kindly to each other.”

“Good luck with that,” Jessie whispered.

“Now, Chloe, please sit down, so I can explain the assignment.”

Chloe smoothed her dress, fluffed her red curls, and sat down.

“Halloween is coming up,” said Miss Clark.

“Yeah, I know!” Max blurted out. “The best holiday ever!”

Miss Clark put her finger to her lips. “This is a listening time, Max.”

Max sank back in his chair.

“I thought it would be fun if you all wrote down some clues about what you’re going to be for Halloween. Then you’ll read them to the class, and we will all try to guess.”

Jessie raised her hand, and Miss Clark called on her. “That does sound like fun!” said Jessie. “Can I help?”

“Good, I’m glad you think so,” said Miss Clark. “And yes, do you want to help me pass out the writing paper?”

“Why does she get to do it?” Chloe whined.

“Because,” said Miss Clark, “she was being a respectful student, and she asked.”

“Hmmmph,” said Chloe, crossing her arms and pouting. “That’s not fair.”

“It’s very fair,” said Miss Clark. “I like to reward good behavior.”

Jessie passed out the paper, and we all got started. Well, everyone except Max, who just sat at his desk tapping his pencil.

“Stop it! Stop it! Stop it!” yelled Chloe. “I can’t think. You are so annoying.”

“No, you are so annoying,” said Max.

“You are!”

“No, you are!”

“All right, enough, you two,” said Miss Clark. “One more word out of either of you and you can both go do your work in the principal’s office.”

They glared at each other and then got to work.

I looked across the room at Josh. I wonder what he’s going to be for Halloween, I thought. I guessed I would find out soon.

Every year I dress up as a shark, since sharks are my favorite animal. I am obsessed with them! Last year I was a hammerhead shark. This year I planned to be a great white shark, so I had to think of some good clues. I put my pencil up to my mouth and started to chew on the eraser.

“Ewww, what are you doing?” whispered Jessie.

“What do you mean?” I whispered back.

“You’re eating the eraser on the pencil!”

“Oh,” I laughed. “I didn’t even realize I was doing that.”

Jessie shook her head. “You’re a ding-dong,” she said, smiling.

I tapped my pencil on my lips and started writing. Before I knew it, I had written six clues.

Miss Clark rang a little bell. “Okay, everybody, writing time is over. Hand me your papers, and I’ll call you up one at a time to read your clues to the class.”

Chloe ran up to the front of the room.

“Yes, Chloe, can I help you?” asked Miss Clark.

“I’m going first,” said Chloe.

“No, I’m sorry, you’re not,” said Miss Clark.

“But I want to,” said Chloe.

“You don’t get to be first just because you want to,” said Miss Clark.

Jessie poked me. “In her world, you do.”

“Please sit down and wait for me to call you up,” Miss Clark said to Chloe.

Chloe slowly walked back to her seat.

“Let’s see,” said Miss Clark. “Freddy, why don’t you go first.”

I walked up to the front of the room, and before I could say anything, Max yelled out, “He’s going to be a shark!”

“How do you know that?” asked Miss Clark. “He hasn’t even read one clue yet.”

“Because he is a shark every year. Boooorrring!” said Max, pretending to yawn.

I started to walk back to my seat.

“Where are you going?” asked Miss Clark.

“Back to my desk.”

“Why?”

“Because Max already guessed mine,” I said with a big sigh.

“No, he didn’t,” said Miss Clark.

I looked at her, puzzled.

“He just guessed a shark. He didn’t guess what kind. I want to know what kind,” said Miss Clark, smiling.

I smiled back and went back to the front of the room. “Okay, here are my clues,” I said, and started reading. “This shark can grow to be twenty feet long and weigh four thousand pounds. It is the largest meat-eating shark. It likes to eat seals. It has hundreds of very sharp teeth. It lives in places like Australia, South Africa, and the United States. It is the only shark that can lift its head out of the water to look for food.”

“Freddy, are you ready to have people guess?”

“Yes,” I said, nodding.

“I know! I know!” Max shouted, waving his hand wildly.

“No calling out, please,” said Miss Clark. “I will choose someone with a quiet hand. Jack, you are sitting quietly.”

“A whale shark?” guessed Jack.

“Nope,” I said.

“Chloe.”

“A dolphin shark?”

“A dolphin shark? Ha, ha, ha! That’s the funniest thing I’ve ever heard,” said Max. “There is no such thing!”

“Yes, there is, Max. You be quiet!” said Chloe. “It’s my turn.”

“Freddy? Is that right?” asked Miss Clark.

“Nope,” I said. “There is no such thing as a dolphin shark.”

“See, I told you,” Max said to Chloe.

“If you two cannot behave, you will not have a turn,” said Miss Clark. “Josh, do you have a guess?”

“A great white shark?”

“Right!” I said, and smiled. “You got it!”

Josh smiled back.

“Josh, would you like to go next?”

“Sure.”

“Oh, wait! Look at the time!” said Miss Clark. “I can’t believe it’s lunchtime already. We’ll have to finish the guessing game after lunch. It will be Josh’s turn. I can’t wait to hear his clues.”

Me either, I thought as I got in line behind him. “Hey, Josh, you want to sit with me and my friend Robbie at lunch?” I asked.

He turned to me and smiled. “Sure,” he said.