Dave Packer was in the middle of his fourth hour of not talking. He was also in the middle of his social studies class on a Monday morning in the middle of November. And Laketon Elementary School was in the middle of a medium-size town in the middle of New Jersey.
There was a reason Dave was in the middle of his fourth hour of not talking, but this isn’t the time to tell about that. This is the time to tell what he figured out in the middle of his social studies class.
Dave figured out that not talking is extra hard at school. And the reason? Teachers. Because at 11:35 Mrs. Overby clapped her hands and said, “Class—class! Quiet down!”Then she looked at her list and said,“Dave and Lynsey, you’re next.”
So Dave nodded at Lynsey and stood up. It was time to present their report about India.
But giving this report would ruin his experiment. Because Dave was trying to keep his mouth shut all day. He wanted to keep his lips zipped right up to the very end of the day, to not say one single word until the last bell rang at ten after three. And the reason Dave had decided to clam up ...but it still isn’t the time to tell about that. This is the time to tell what he did about the report.
Dave and Lynsey walked to the front of the room. Dave was supposed to begin the presentation by telling about the history of India. He looked down at his index cards, looked up at Mrs. Overby, looked out at the class, and he opened his mouth.
But he didn’t talk.
He coughed. Dave coughed for about ten seconds. Then he wiped his mouth, looked at his index cards again, looked at Mrs. Overby again, looked at the class again, opened his mouth again, and . . . coughed some more. He coughed and coughed and coughed until his face was bright red and he was all bent over.
Lynsey stood there, feeling helpless. Dave hadn’t told her about his experiment, so all she could do was watch—and listen to his horrible coughing. Lynsey’s opinion of Dave had never been high, and it sank lower by the second.