Ashley Funicello Spinelli, if you were smart, you would just call her Spinelli, was the toughest kid on the playground. She was mighty tough for a fourth grader and it was wrong to mess with her. Whether calling her a girl, calling her a shorty, anything that could tick her off. Especially by her birth name...Ashley... Four annoying witchy girls shared that name in her school and she never once wanted to be them, not once, not ever, she hated them as much as she hated the school tattler, Randall Weems. Today was a seemingly normal school day, she went into Miss Grotke's room and sat at her desk. Luckily for her, she shared her class with her best friends.
Leader boy, TJ, future pro athlete, Vince, genius girl, Gretchen, new kid, but lovable, Gus, and slighty melodramatic Mikey. Some things changed recently, but it was still decent, and she was relieved that snippy old Miss Finster was out-of-town for a while during school to visit relatives. Spinelli anxiously waited for Miss Grotke, although no one knew it, she really looked up to her teacher, they really connected.
"Spinelli, please come to the principal's office, Spinelli..." the intercom rang.
Spinelli looked up and slightly jolted in her desk. Why was she called to the office? She hadn't done anything yet today, she even let this annoying boy who was harassing her on the bus get a break. Today just felt too perfect, then this happened. She looked around her classmates, shrugged and walked out of the classroom. Spinelli walked out and glared once she saw Randall in the hallways, who seemed lost without Miss Finster there with him.
"What'dya tell Prickly, weenie?" Spinelli snorted at the boy.
"What?" Randall just now noticed her. "I didn't do nuthin'!"
"Yeah, right, you snitched me for doing somethin', didn't ya?"
"Spinelli, I haven't done anything!"
The tomboy growled, grabbing him by his collar. "I bet you did... You stay here, I'll deal with you later..." she dropped the boy and went into the principal's office as instructed. "You wanted to see me, sir?"
"Yes, Miss Spinelli, come in," Prickly gestured her to come closer to his desk. Once she did, he continued speaking. "Now, I know how much you wanted it, so you're finally going to become an exchange student."
"What!" Spinelli's eyes widened. "I never said I wanted to be any exchange student..."
"That's funny, your parents and I talked during Parents Night and they said that you always wanted to be one."
"I'll kill those two and flee the country..." Spinelli grumbled under her breath, shaking her tiny fists. She then spoke up, still not ready for this. "When do I leave?"
"In a week or so, I want you to be on your best behavior for your new friends and family."
"New family? You mean my parents won't be there with me?"
"No, Spinelli, exchange students spend time with a host family and interact with the kids in their new school. Whatya say?"
Spinelli glowered at him and muttered aggressively again. "This whomps..."
"You may leave now."
Spinelli left the room, staring at the floor. What was she going to tell her friends and what kind of strange place was she going to? She would indeed tell them what's what, but would she be able to handle it? She was a pretty strong young girl, but this might be too much for her. She looked at the pamphlet for her future home for a while away from Third Street School. It wasn't a foreign country, but it seemed to be a secluded island in the middle of nowhere.
"It's a whole new sandbox..." Spinelli murmured as she went back to Miss Grotke's class and went to tell everyone about the exchange program.