Cha. 1 The Return of Janet

"I'm so-o-o excited!" Wanda cried, her brightness expressing her happiness. "Who would've believed it?! We made it to high school--all eight of us kids!"

"I never dreamed of having a futuresince the first field trip we went on with Ms. Frizzle," her friend Arnold replied, awe marked in his voice. He had been the last of the boys to change his voice, but he didn't feel more important, like the rest of them did. "But look ... I, Arnold Perlstein, am walk-ing to Walkerville high, without any crutches or surgery scars!"

"Yeah, the cool thing is, all eight of us are sharing the same class," Tim added, poking a pencil over his left ear, dark eyes sparkling in his dark-skinned face.

"Are you kidding?" Ralphie Tennelli shouted, running to catch up with them, already wearing his old, beloved baseball glove, "You mean the most amazing, awesome thing ever happened, and that is: the Friz is back!"

His friends agreed with enthusiasm, as the four of them went along the sidewalk on a fresh, breezy, warm morning. Walkerville High was already in sight, its flag rippling in the mild, dancing breeze. Everything about the weather felt cheerful, fresh, and pleasant.

And why shouldn't it? Summer vacation might be over, but the eight friends were finally being reunited after months of separation. Well, almost. Pheobe and Keesha were coming to school from another side of town, Carlos and D.A. from yet another. But when they all sat in their seats and Ms. Frizzle whirled into the room in an unexpected way like she used to, everything would be perfect. So not even Wanda tried to stop the birds from their lusty singing, or the warm sun from shining.

Meanwhile, Ms. Frizzle disappeared into her famous costume closet to pick just the right thing to wear, as usual. A smile lit up on her face as she glanced down at Liz. "Ah, Liz, don't you just love the sound of distant voices in the halls that you love and know so well?"

Liz climbed on top of a coat rack and her green head nodded.

Ms. Frizzle was really eager to see all of her favorite students again, who, she knew, loved her as much as she loved them.

The first face that she saw, as she peeped through the slight opening of the closet was a pretty, chocolate-skinned face framed by frizzly brown hair done up in a ponytail as much as possible. It belonged to Keesha Franklin, granddaughter of Mrs. Franklin. She was a girl of facts, always wanting to know the truth about things, and mind you, every truthful detail that went with it. She wore stylish jeans, a tight purple T-shirt displaying a splash of cartoons, a thick bracelet, and possessed a determination that could run a thousand miles. She was often a leader in the group.

Following her was a girl with a light-skinned, smooth complexion, kind green eyes, silky, shoulder-length auburn hair, and a soft voice. She was wearing a yellow sweater and red pants, which surprisingly looked good together, and matched her hair color. This was Pheobe Terese, the gentle-hearted, compassionate girl who was never disliked because of her sweet nature ... though her concerns could get annoying on occasions. She had met the other seven when she was transferred to Walkerville Middle School from her old school, but she was as much part of the gang as the others were. Her parents were both working with the environment, and even her 22-year-old brother Phil was. Her best friends were Wanda and Tim.

After her came Arnold Perlstein, the somewhat nerdy, but lovable teenager with red curls and glasses, a miniature of his father. His glasses were no longer odd round ones like they had been in middle school, but small rectangular-shaped ones that matched his face, thanks to his prissy cousin Janet. He claimed that he disliked risky adventures, although he actually liked Ms. Frizzle's field trips--not that he realized that until they were over. And he always tried to make it up to his friends when he made mistakes. His friends could always count on him, and he was often seen with Pheobe and Wanda.

Next came Wanda Li Andre, a wild-spirited, little Asian girl, daughter of a news-reporting woman and sister to a troublesome, but sweet little Asian boy named William. She wore pink lots of the time, and today she wore a pink T-shirt with silver-studded blue jeans, a white belt, and little earrings--and had short, silky black hair framing her adorable little face. Over that she had a hot pink, linen casquette hat positioned at a cutie angle. She was always up to something, and lived for Ms. Frizzle's fieldtrips, being a #1 fan of adventure. She had a knack for getting into trouble, and she got frustrated with her friends if they were "weasely wimps". She always picked Arnold for her partner in any project, even though the two were as different as the day is from the night.

Following Wanda was a tan-faced, black-haired Hispanic boy named Carlos Ramone, the son of a good-natured, attractive man and woman that were popular in the society. He was a slender, growing boy with noticeable good looks. He was ever the soccer player, known to run faster than all of his friends. As usual, a smirk graced his boyish face features, and he was wearing a black-and-gray hoodie sweater, silver necklace and blue jeans. He was always the cheerful guy in the group even when things went wrong, cracking his own, often sarcastic jokes. Rarely had his friends ever seen him panicked. He was actually happy when they were baked into a pie with no way out. He was a friendly guy, and best friends with D.A. and Ralphie.

Then there was Ralphie Tennelli, a baseball fan and the son of Dr. Tennelli, his well-known mother. He rarely got to see his father, who visited only during the holidays. His very best friend was Carlos Ramone, and Keesha Franklin second to it. He was a hefty, strong boy with a slight admitting to chubbiness. His face consisted of light skin that was always colored after a hard work-out or running around the diamond. He had a lot of brown hair and dreamy brown eyes from reading too many comic books and had a wild imagination that could get the whole gang excited. He could be dramatic, and also lazy, at times. But despite the fact that he often argued with a girl, he was a good-natured guy and the gang wouldn't be whole without him.

After him came D.A., short for Dorothy Ann. She was perhaps the smartest student in the class, always going by the book like her mother. But surprisingly, the blond-haired, blue-eyed girl's best friend was Carlos. For all her wisdom and sometimes ignorant attitude to how other people felt, she was actually sensitive and somewhat proud, like Carlos was, which often led to squabbles. She loved her plaid short skirts and soft-colored turtlenecks and was forever wearing them. She also had a little sister to take care of, and despite the fact that she was a very proper, perfect, and most bright student, she had a caring side to her, and often surprised her friends by an impulse of deep affection.

And last, but not least, dark-skinned and thoughtful Tim Jamal entered the noisy classroom. He was the only son in the family, and had two older sisters. He always wore casual stuff, not actually nerdy, but didn't put much effort into looking totally cool. He had dark, round eyes that twinkled whenever an artistic thought entered his mind, which they did often. He could sketch and paint like nobody else in all of Walkerville Middle School, and he was about to find out that he was better than all the high scholars, too. Like D.A. with her research book, he was always carrying a sketchpad and a pencil, that sometimes poised over his left ear. He was good friends with the entire gang, but he was especially friendly when it came to his drawings and artwork.

Ms. Frizzle observed each excited student's entrance with a spirited anticipation to throw open the closet door and scare them with a new and interesting appearance, like she had always done for them last year. But she put a finger to her lips and Liz did the same, both of them knowing that the time to make their presence known was not yet nigh. First, she would delight in hearing the kids converse with each other again.

"Hi, Keesh!" Carlos said when he spied her. "How was summer vacation?"

"It was totally and completely awesome!" Keesha gushed, rolling her eyes for emphasis. She walked over to him and started chattering up a storm. "Grammy took me to see the coolest place on earth--to the Intimidator 305in Virginia! It's the biggest roller coaster I've ever seen, and I'm telling you, my grammy rode on it with me and survived! At first the people in authority thought she had alsymers or something to wanna ride on such a scary thing, but she wouldn't let anyone talk her out of it and although she threw up afterward, she was completely fine! I couldn't believe--"

"Oh yeah ... that's totally cool," Carlos chuckled a bit. "So your grammy had fun, huh? What about ... you?"

"Who, me?" Keesha cried, throwing her hands into the air. "It was like losing gravity and drifting on clouds of cotton candy! I'm telling you, if I hadn't worn a seat belt, I would've hurled across the room." She stopped to catch her breath. "Whew."

"Sounds like I had a better time than you," Arnold ventured, looking thoroughly petrified at the idea of going on such a scary ride. "I stayed down on firm ground with gravity holding me in place and was surrounded by relatives for nearly the whole summer."

"Ugh, I can't imagine that!" Ralphie declared. "You're a safety-freak, you know that, Arnold? I watched baseball games and ate junk food and partied all summer!" He looked completely satisfied with how he spent his summer break.

"Oh, Ralphie, how could you?" Pheobe repeated her usual concern-filled words when she thought somebody or something was being mistreated. "That may slow you down and could be bad for your health, you know."

Ralphie looked a little pissed off. "Hey, Pheobe, my mom is a doctor. Isn't that bad enough?"

"I can't believe she let you eat junk food all summer," Pheobe returned firmly, with disapproval. Then her expression lifted. "I went to see the most interesting zoo. It so incredible how all those baby animals got saved from disasters, and how kind people brought them to zoos to save their lives. Oh, and I learned to play piano." She smiled, tucking a thick lock of auburn hair behind her ear.

"Way to go, Pheebs," Carlos said brightly, leaning against the wall with folded arms. "I'll hear you sometime."

"Who has time to play piano during summer weather?" Wanda exclaimed, looking horrified. "I'm surprised at you, Pheobe!"

"I suppose you did something better?" Pheobe giggled.

"If you call going to California and getting to meet your favorite stars and attend their concerts a number of times a "wow" like I did, then word!" Wanda shouted, dancing across the room and taking a protesting Arnold with her.

"Wait a minute," Ralphie stopped her. "I thought you were going to Asia to visit your dad ... ?"

Wanda stopped dancing and she looked crestfallen all of a sudden. "Yeah, I know ... I was hoping we would. But, umm ... well, it's fine." Her face remained clouded a long time after that.

"What about you, Tim and D.A.?" Carlos asked. "What did you guys do?"

When Tim took down his pencil from his ear and his eyes began to shine, everyone knew what he was going to talk about. "We were in Hawaii for two weeks. I never dreamed there would so much scenery to put down on paper. When you guys come over, I'll show you."

The friends smiled and nodded, then turned to D.A. She looked radiant and energetic as she looked at Carlos. "I went to Europe with my aunt and saw the most magnificent, historical things ever! All the things you ever read about in history are actually out there! It was so exciting. And Ralphie, you should have tasted a European burger." She started laughing.

Ralphie looked doubtful. "I dunno ... what was in it? A load of ketchup and mustard, hiding two fatty burgers inside white bun slices?" He asked hopefully.

"Oh no--and you better not eat that stuff without any greens." D.A. pointed straight at him with her finger. "Because according to my research--"

Her book dropped to the floor when Ms. Frizzle danced out of the closet and into the classroom, looking like a human Christmas tree with her sparkly clothes, bright face and dazzling smile. "Good-morning class!"

"Ms. Frizzle!" they all shouted in unison, then replied, "Good-morning Ms. Frizzle."

Wanda was the first to run over to their teacher and flung her arms around her. "Oh, you're back again!" she squealed. D.A. silently presumed she had too much ice cream in California. "Oh, Ms. Frizzle, you're gorgeous!"

Ms. Frizzle smiled down at the excited little Asian girl endearingly. "Why. thank-you Wanda. I feel gorgeous."

"What did you do during summer break, Ms. Frizzle?" Arnold asked curiously, almost fearfully.

"Oh," Ms. Frizzle began, smiling mysteriously, "this redheaded young lady--"

Just then, the door burst open and an unexpected person came into the room. Her red hair was done very fashionably, her red glasses glittered with tiny rhinestones, her atmosphere killed the fresh air with a cloud of strong perfume, and she wore a sly, superior grin that matched her superior clothes to perfection.

"Hey, everybody," she sang out in her superior voice. "Hi, Ms. Frizzle."

"Janet!" the kids exclaimed in unison.

Janet Perlstein placed her hands on her hips and looked thoroughly disgusted. "I don't like to hear my name abused by so many voices at one time, creating an ugly melody." She set her backpack down beside an empty desk next to D.A., who looked at her in bewilderment. "So," she said in a sassy tone, addressing D.A., "who's gonna get the straight A's now?" She sounded downright pleased with her interrupting presence.

"Good-morning, Janet," Ms. Frizzle said pleasantly, not looking at all surprised to see her there. "So you are joining our class this year. Hmm ... this should be interesting." She chuckled with excitement.

Carlos, Keesha, D.A, and Ralphie turned to glare at Arnold. "Arnold?" Ralphie hissed. "Is there something you forget to tell us earlier?"

Arnold flinched guiltily as his face reddened. "Uh ... yeah," he said, squirming uncomfortably. "I almost forgot."

"You completely forgot!" Wanda scolded quietly with a frown.

"Well, it's like this. Uncle James decided to stay here for another six months after summer break was over, and Janet didn't wanna do home-schooling. So ... "

"So if my dad likes it well enough, we'll just move here," Janet said airily, then sighed. "It's such a boring place. In Los Vegas, there was always exciting stuff to do, and everyone was so much more in class and style!"

"Ok, Janet, but we want peace even if you're in our class this year," Keesha told her.

Janet sighed and examined her perfectly-manicured nails. "Do I need to repeat, the people out here are so, so boring!"

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