CHAPTER 1

Thirteen minutes and twenty eight seconds. A new record.

It had taken approximately thirteen minutes and twenty eight seconds for the eight students of Ms. Frizzle's class to sit down in their seats as the bell rang, had a morning conversation with their teacher, get her revved up (no pun intended), and board the vibrant yellow bus and be on the street. Arnold had kept count. To be honest, he was impressed. Normally they'd be out in twenty minutes and on the exciting days, even an hour. However, today was different. Ms. Frizzle normally had a twinkle in her eye, but it was a little too excited, if that made any sense. Something told Arnold that today would not be like any other day. The excited murmurs in the contraption barreling down the street at speeds Arnold found frightening grew more frequent. Everyone was curious. Ms. Frizzle hadn't given them a clue on where they were going.

Odd.

It was very odd.

Normally, Ms. Frizzle's odd fashion sense would give it away, sometimes even by moving. It sounded crazy, but it happened.

They'd seen it happen. Multiple times.

But today, Ms. Frizzle was wearing plain grey and black. Even her earrings were just normal black earrings. Nothing sensational, nothing spectacular, exceptional. It was average. Except for that twinkle in her eye. It vibrated with excitement. Liz also seemed quite excited as well. Normally, she'd just be relaxing for a bit on the bus ride, but today, she couldn't sit still. She was constantly running around, to the dashboard, to the rear exit, to the regular exit, onto student shoulders, onto Ms. Frizzle shoulders. Liz knew something was up.

"Okay, class meeting, now!" Ralphie declared.

"Does anyone have any idea where the Friz is taking us?" Keesha inquired.

"Nope," Tim replied.

"No clue," Wanda added.

"If I knew, I'd have made a pun by now," Carlos admitted.

"Well, her clothes aren't helping at all," D.A. said, pointing to the teacher, "normally, she'd have given it away by now."

"Do you think she's upset?" Phoebe asked with concern.

"No chance. The Friz never gets upset," Ralphie shot back, tapping his chin.

"Ms. Frizzle has sprung surprises on us before, but today she's really mixing it up. That's what worries me," Arnold spoke.

Ms. Frizzle knew her students were talking about her and what she was doing. She simply smirked as her black earrings glimmered white. Liz jumped down from her shoulder as she made a left turn.

"Look! She's passing the farm!" Keesha noted.

"That means she's taking us out of town!" D.A. said, trying to piece everything together.

"Doesn't she always?" Tim asked jokingly.

"We're entering uncharted territory and the bus hasn't transformed yet? Now I'm really scared," Arnold muttered and gazed out the window. The bus chugged down the road and passed a sign for a town, something Arnold wasn't able to read. It continued on its path, passing by a comic book shop and turned onto a back road, past a couple houses, one of which a child with a red hat was exiting.

"Huh, that's weird," TJ Detweiler said, confused. "Buses don't pass down here. Must be lost." He tried to shrug it off, but something nagged at him about it. That bus didn't look like it belonged to the district. And it was headed in the opposite direction of the school.

"Hey, Teej!"

TJ whirled around, a grin forming on his face. All thoughts of the bus vanished as Ashley Spinelli (often preferring just "Spinelli") lumbered towards him, her orange beanie perched on her head. "What's up, Spinelli?" he replied.

"The sky," she replied sarcastically. "Are you ready for a day full of nothing but torture?" Spinelli asked.

"Now, why would you say that?" TJ asked as they continued walking.

"It's Ms. Finster. Everything is torture when she's around. Especially since she's our teacher now," Spinelli responded.

"Yeah man, she whomps. Sometimes I wish I could figure out what made her...well, her!"

"You really want to know what's going on behind the scenes in her? Teej, you feeling good?"

"I feel fine, I just wanna know why she's so...so whompish."

"Well, TJ, I'm positive that it has to do with her molecular deoxyribonucleic acid structure," a third voice replied.

Tj jumped four feet and then whirled back around to see his slender friend, Gretchen, grinning at him. "Gretch, don't scare me like that. ANd what is the deoxy-ribeye-nude-lays chips acid thingy you're talking about?"

"Deoxyribonucleic acid, TJ. Better known as DNA. It is what makes up every living thing, like that squirrel or you and me." A squirrel scampered by TJ's foot and ran across the street.

"What are we talking about, gang?" Vince asked, bounding up the street to catch up to the group.

"DNA, apparently," Spinelli responded. The group began walking in the direction of Mikey's house.

"Why are we talking about that again?" Vince asked.

"Well, Spinelli and I were talking about Finster and then I said I wanted to know about what makes up Finster and then Gretch said that she was made up of DNA and now we're here," TJ explained.

"Yeah, you are here at my house," Mikey said, slowly making his way over.

"Not what I meant, Mikey," TJ slapped his forehead, leading the group forward to Gus' house.

"Oh, sorry TJ. What are we talking about?"

"Do I have to explain it again?" TJ exasperatedly asked.

"I'm not doing it," Spinelli raised her arms up in a defensive manner. They turned onto the main road and then came to a stop at the crosswalk and waited for Gus to show up. He appeared on the other side, waved, and then began to cross. He dashed across the street when he tripped and the sound of screeching tired drew the gang's attention to the vibrant yellow bus. TJ looked up in shock. It was the same bus from earlier. He knew it wasn't from this district. And there was something else odd about it, however he couldn't put his finger on it. The bus doors flew open with a squeak and a hiss and a frizzy red haired woman with a bun and a grey dress quickly rushed to Gus' side and knelt beside him. "Oh my goodness, young man, are you alright?"

"I'm fine," Gus began. Then, one look at the woman sent his body into chills. His mouth formed a dopey grin. "You're pretty."

The woman smiled at him. "Thank you." She scanned his body and noticed his ankle was bleeding. "Oh dear, it looks like you're bleeding. Here, let me get that for you, dear." She then turned back around and hollered, "Oh, Liz!"

The green lizard, Liz, quickly ran out of the bus decked out in hospital scrubs and held a first aid kit in her tail. The woman opened the kit and began to tend to Gus' wound. When she had finished, she placed a band-aid with the Walkerville flag logo on it.

A rocket ship bus.

"Gee, thanks, lady!" Gus ecstatically grinned.

"Anytime."

Gus waved his friends over. "You guys, come meet this nice lady! What's your name?" He asked.

"Ms. Frizzle," she responded.

Gus nodded. His friends joined him in the center of the road.

"Great reflexes, Ms. Frizzle," Vince complimented.

"Oh, it was nothing," she replied.

"Fascinating how your bus braked so quickly, without sustaining any damage," Gretchen noted, eyeing the vehicle.

"Well, he's gone through a lot, so he's prepared for anything," Ms. Frizzle replied nonchalantly, winking at Liz.

Gus was about to speak when a bell rang. The group's attention averted to Third Street School about four blocks away, where school was starting. "Oh man, we're going to be late to school! Again!" Gus whined.

"Oh dear, we simply cannot let that happen," Ms. Frizzle declared.

"Does this mean the field trip is cancelled, Ms. Frizzle?" Carlos asked, his head poking out of the bus window.

"Oh, heavens no. We just have to escort these precious students to their school. It is the right thing to do." She stood up and offered her hand out to Gus. "Please, come with me," she said.

"With you?" Gus asked. "With you where?"

"To the bus."