Wayside School Beneath the Cloud of Doom (Wayside School #4) - Louis Sachar Page 0,8

a law.

“Do you mention me in the books?” asked Mr. Kidswatter.

“Maybe once or twice,” Louis admitted.

“You don’t say anything bad about me, do you?”

“Ummm . . .” said Louis.

“You should write a chapter about me!” declared Mr. Kidswatter. “Call it ‘The Best Principal Ever!!!’ with three exclamation points.”

“First, you would have to do something that makes you the best principal ever,” Louis explained.

“Like what?”

“Let a kid ring the gong.”

This time, Mr. Kidswatter didn’t snap at Louis. He was thinking about it.

Louis looked up at the gloomy cloud. He hadn’t paid much attention to science, back when he was going to school. He didn’t know it was a Cloud of Doom.

Had he known, he never would have made such a dangerous suggestion to Mr. Kidswatter.

10

Stuck

Everybody has a special talent. Bebe can draw. Joe can stand on his head and sing “Jingle Bells.”

But this story isn’t about Bebe or Joe. It’s about Dana.

Dana can make funny faces.

Just by puffing out one cheek and raising the opposite eyebrow, she can make Jenny and Leslie crack up every time.

Or there’s the one she calls her goofball face. She puts her glasses on upside down. Then she pulls down one corner of her mouth with her pinky finger, while with her other hand, she tugs her earlobe.

When Dameon and Myron saw that one, they laughed so hard they bumped heads.

Even Mrs. Jewls laughs at Dana’s funny faces. “But you need to be careful, Dana,” she warned. “You don’t want your face to get stuck that way.”

Dana wasn’t worried about that. No matter how weirdly she stretched it, her face always bounced back.

But that was before the Cloud of Doom settled over the school. It had been there a week now, even as other clouds drifted past. Each day, it seemed to grow a little bit larger.

Dana and Leslie were on the playground, waiting for Jenny. It was recess, and Jenny went to get “Patches” from Louis.

“Patches” was the ball that Louis had blown up, in more ways than one.

Louis never found all the pieces, and had to cut up an old yellow raincoat to fill in the gaps. Jenny, Leslie, and Dana liked Patches the best, because it was impossible to predict which way it would bounce.

“Hey, Dana, there’s a giant worm on your foot!” said John.

Dana looked down at her sneaker.

“Made you look!” John exclaimed. He and Joe laughed.

“So she looked at her foot?” asked Leslie. “What’s wrong with that?”

“There wasn’t even a worm!” explained Joe.

Dana felt like a big doofus. Why did she always fall for John’s tricks?

She made her Doofus Face.

She closed her right eye, raised her left eyebrow, puffed out her right cheek, and stuck out her tongue.

When John looked at it, he suddenly felt like a big doofus. “Sorry,” he muttered. “It was just a dumb joke.”

He hung his head and walked away. Joe followed.

Dana felt sad for John. She hadn’t meant to call him a doofus. She had just wanted to make him laugh. She liked it when John teased her.

Jenny returned with Patches.

“You missed it!” said Leslie. “Dana got back at John good!”

Jenny turned to Dana. “Why are you calling me a doofus?” she asked.

Dana didn’t realize she was still wearing her Doofus Face. She tried to pull her tongue back in but it wouldn’t budge. Her cheek wouldn’t unpuff. Her right eye remained shut, and her left eyebrow stayed up.

“That’s not nice,” said Jenny.

“Uhhhhh . . .” said Dana.

“Oh my gosh!” exclaimed Leslie. “Is your face stuck?”

Dana nodded. Her Doofus Face moved up and down.

“So you’re not doing it on purpose?” asked Jenny.

Her Doofus Face turned right, then left.

“It’s the Cloud of Doom!” exclaimed Jenny.

Leslie covered her mouth with her hand.

The three girls looked up at the dark and swirling cloud.

“I’ll get Louis,” Leslie said, and hurried away.

She returned with the yard teacher a short while later.

Louis laughed when he saw Dana.

“It’s her Doofus Face,” said Jenny.

“It’s a good one,” said Louis. “I think I like it even better than your Goofball Face.”

“But now her face is stuck that way!” said Leslie.

Louis thought a moment, and then blew his whistle real loud. Jenny and Leslie covered their ears.

Dana’s face remained stuck.

Louis didn’t really expect it to work. He just liked blowing his whistle.

Kids from all over the playground came running at the sound of it.

“What’s up, Louis?” asked Todd.

“Dana’s face is stuck,” Jenny explained.

“Really?” asked Todd. He poked Dana’s puffed-out cheek. It was like poking a rock.

Mr. Kidswatter also heard the whistle. “Out of my way, let