To the child's parent,
I'm Valerie Frizzle, and your child has been scheduled to take my Science Class this academic year. I want to congratulate your child on being selected! I can't wait to meet them and share a wonderful year of exploration with them!
Speaking of exploration, I'm actually planning on hosting an adventure trip from Friday, August 5th to Sunday, August 7th, and I want to invite your child and their classmates on this trip. Your child will have a lot of fun on this trip as they get to meet their classmates and prepare to spend this academic year together. I hope to see your child soon!
Sincerely, Ms. Frizzle
June 30th, 12:00 P.M, Classroom
After proofreading the letters, Liz, Ms. Frizzle's pet lizard, walked back to Ms. Frizzle. Once Ms. Frizzle saw her, Liz gave her a smile and a reassuring nod.
"Thank you for proofreading my letters Liz! Now can you take these letters to Mr. Ruhle and have him send them to the post office?".
Liz eagerly nodded and ran into the hallway. Once Liz left, Ms. Frizzle got out of her chair and stretched for a moment.
"Oh Liz, always being an adorable friend", Ms. Frizzle said to herself. She has taken care of Liz since they met and has always enjoyed her company. When Liz began to use her anthropomorphic abilities, she was happy to use these abilities to her advantage by having her do some of her job related tasks such as grading papers. However, Ms. Frizzle started to feel bad for Liz once she realized that she always left Liz behind to do her menial jobs while she went on field trips with her students. But this year wouldn't be the same. She was going to make sure that Liz had a larger role in her class this year.
"I hope that you have fun meeting our new friends and joining us in class this year", she thought to herself as she looked out the window. With this goal in mind, she knew that this upcoming year had the potential to be the most successful year of her teaching career.
August 5th, 7:30 P.M, School Bus
Once the sun set, cars containing Ms. Frizzle's students and their families started to enter the lot. From there, the representing members of the Perlstein, Ramon, Ann, Li, Franklin, Tennelli, and Terese families began to walk towards the bus. Inside the bus, Ms. Frizzle and Liz were finishing up their preparations for the trip.
"How do I look Liz?".
Liz looked at her outfit. She was wearing a green button up t-shirt that looked like leaves and was covered with logs, fire pits, and marshmallows. She also had on brown shorts that looked like tree bark along with red knee-high socks and red walking shoes to go along with the rest of her outfit. Liz gave her two thumbs up, signaling that she really liked her outfit.
"Why thank you Liz", she said as they began to look outside the windows of the bus. The duo began to smile as they saw all seven students that were invited (and some of their relatives) walking towards them. However, their smiles were soon replaced with confused looks once they saw an eighth family walking towards the other seven families.
"Liz", Ms. Frizzle asked, "can you double check the roster?".
Once she heard her request, Liz ran to the back of the bus and got the student list, which earned her a few pats on the head when she got back. When they checked the roster, they realized that there were only seven names on the list.
"Interesting", Ms. Frizzle said to herself. "I guess we'll be having an extra student this year". She then looked at her watch and realized that it was time to begin the trip.
"Are you ready Liz?". Liz responded by happily jumping and resting on her right shoulder. Both of them were prepared for the year that awaited them.
7:45 P.M, School Parking Lot
"Good evening class!"
"Good evening", the parents and students said back to her.
"My name is Valerie Frizzle, but you can just refer to me as Ms. Frizzle. Welcome to Walkerville Elementary! I'm happy that all of you decided to join Liz and I on our trip this year, and I can't wait to spend time with each and every one of you!". The students cheered in excitement. "Before we take off, I'm going to take attendance. When I call your name, please come towards the bus. Is everything clear?".
The crowd nodded their heads.
"Great, then let's begin!". The crowd cheered again as Ms. Frizzle got her clipboard out.
"Phoebe Terese".
A brunette haired girl wearing a red dress and a yellow shirt began to make her way towards the duo with her father right behind her.
"It's nice to meet you Phoebe". "It's nice to meet you too Ms. Frizzle". While Phoebe was shaking Ms. Frizzle's hand, she noticed something on her right shoulder.
"Ms. Frizzle, is that a lizard on your shoulder?". "Why yes Phoebe, it is a lizard! Her name is Liz, would you like to introduce yourself?".
"Absolutely!". She then turned her attention towards Liz. "Hi Liz, I'm Phoebe. It's nice to meet you", she said as she pointed her arm towards her. Liz responded by walking under her arm, which gave Phoebe the chance to pet her.
"Awww", Phoebe whispered as she petted Liz. During this moment, Liz couldn't stop smiling. After the heartwarming moment, Phoebe walked back towards her father.
"Next is Arnold Perlstein".
A young boy in glasses, a yellow and white striped golf shirt, and jeans slowly made his way towards the duo.
"So you must be Arnold?".
"Y-y-yeah", Arnold nervously responded.
"Is something wrong?". Ms. Frizzle was aware of the fact that some of her students may not be as adventurous as she was. If she had one of those students this year, she knew that it would take some time for them to get used to her teaching style and would possible have to work with them one on one at some point in the future.
"He he, I'm not that worried. I'm just a little anxious, that's all".
Sensing his discomfort, Mrs. Perlstein walked towards her son. "It'll be all right Ms. Frizzle, this will be his first trip without his father or I going as chaperones, which is what has him concerned".
"That is absolutely wonderful", Ms. Frizzle said in excitement. "It's always wonderful when children go on their first trips on their own. And don't worry, I'll make sure that Arnold stays safe during the trip".
"Why thank you Ms. Frizzle", Mrs. Perlstein responded. "However, I don't think that Arnold will need to be protected. After all, a camping trip can't be dangerous, right?".
The group shared a laugh after she finished her sentence. Once the commotion died down, the Perlstein's walked towards the bus where the Terese family was waiting.
"Carlos Ramon".
Another young boy practically jogged his way towards Ms. Frizzle and Liz. His outfit consisted of a blue sweatshirt and red sweatpants.
"Well greetings Ms. Frizzle", the boy said.
"Greeting Carlos, it's nice to meet you", she said as they shook hands. Once they finished their handshake, Carlos noticed Liz's presence.
"Wait, who is this?".
"That would be Liz, my pet lizard and dear friend", Ms. Frizzle replied back.
"Oh hi Liz", Carlos said as he introduced himself to the lizard. "May I ask you a question Liz?". Liz nodded as Ms. Frizzle eagerly awaited to see what Carlos would ask. "With your presence and the way Ms. Frizzle is dressed, are you two celebrating Green Day?".
"They must be Carlos", Mr. Ramon said as he walked up to them. "After all, they're on top of the charts". The three humans began to giggle at the Ramon's pun. "Well Mr. Ramon", Ms. Frizzle joked back, "the students just keep adding up".
The group began to laugh again as they gave each other fist bumps. Afterwards, the Ramon's went towards the bus and Ms. Frizzle looked at her clipboard again.
"Wanda Li".
A girl in a pink shirt, red jacket, and pants matching the jacket in color made her way towards Ms. Frizzle.
"Hi Ms. Frizzle!".
"Hi Wanda, nice to meet you", she replied as they shook hands.
"I would also like you to meet Ms. Li and my brother William". At this moment, the two people in question walked towards Wanda.
"William looks so adorable!", Ms. Frizzle declared as she looked at William. "I've always wanted to have my own child, it just seems like an amazing experience to go through".
"It certainly is", commented Ms. Li. "However, parenting also has its own challenges, and William can certainly be hard to take care of at times".
Ms. Frizzle simply nodded her head. At that moment, something began to leave a bad odor, and it wasn't pleasant.
"Oh dear", Ms. Li said, "it may be time to check William's diaper. Come on Wanda", she said as they went away from the crowd to get his diaper changed. Ms. Frizzle couldn't help but to chuckle to herself as she saw the Li's breathing more air when they joined the parents who were checked in.
"Keesha Franklin".
The girl walking towards her had on a dark purple shirt with a blue stripe, purple shorts, and blue stockings.
"Ms. Frizzle?".
"Yes Keesha?".
"Why did you want to meet us before school started back? I'm not saying that I wanted to stay home, but teachers don't normally schedule events with their students before the school year begins".
"Well Keesha, I can't exactly explain that to you right now as it would only confuse you. But I can say that this will not be your normal science class. With that in mind, I figured that I would use this trip as a way to prepare you and your classmates to what we will be doing in our class this year. Besides, introducing ourselves now gives us more time to study the wonders of science!".
"Hmm, that is an interesting way to think about it". Satisfied with her answer, Keesha and her family joined the other families by the bus.
"Ralphie Tennelli".
This boy had on a green shirt with the letter 'R' and sweatpants in matching colors (except darker). Upon seeing him, Ms. Frizzle remembered seeing him around the school.
"Excuse me Ralphie, but do you happen to play any sports?".
"I sure do Ms. Frizzle! I'm even an official member of the school's soccer and baseball teams".
"I knew I recognized you from somewhere! Congratulations on making the team!".
"Thanks!", he replied. "Unfortunately, science is my least favorite subject to learn about. Just reading about science is enough to make me sick". He even shuddered as he finished the sentence.
"Oh don't worry Ralphie, I'll make sure to change your opinion by this time next year", Ms. Frizzle said as she tapped his shoulder and encouraged him to join the group of those who've been checked in. Afterwards, she continued to take attendance.
"Dorothy Ann".
As the only girl left, she was pretty easy to identify. Her outfit consisted of a plain purple shirt and a bright blue skirt. While she was walking towards Ms. Frizzle, she accidentally dropped her backpack and the materials that were in there.
When the materials dropped, Ms. Frizzle started to make her way towards Dorothy. "Here, I can put those material back in your bag for you".
"Why thank you Ms. Frizzle".
"No problem Dorothy". While she was picking up her materials, Ms. Frizzle noticed a certain book that caught her attention.
"Is that 'My Research' by Joanna Cole?".
"Yes it is Ms. Frizzle! Do you have a copy of it as well?".
"Of course I do! The way she writes makes it easy for anyone to understand what she is talking about, and her work goes along with my lessons very well. I'm glad to see a student that is interested in her education".
"And I'm glad to have a teacher that also enjoys teaching just as much. Ms. Frizzle, I think I'm going to enjoy your class this year".
"I'm going to enjoy having you as a student as well", Ms. Frizzle responded as they shook hands. Once the Ann family was out of sight, Ms. Frizzle turned her attention towards the new family.
"That marks the end of my attendance list! If anyone's name hasn't been called, then they may come up at this time".
The final group made their way towards her, with a boy in a blue and green polo shirt and dark blue jeans leading the group.
"Hi Ms. Frizzle! I'm Tim, and this is my father".
"Why hello Tim, it's nice to meet you! I'm sorry for not having you on my list of students".
"It's not your fault", Tim's dad replied. "The teacher that Tim was supposed to have for science this year had to move away from Walkerville and unexpectedly quit her job at the school. After Mr. Ruhle became aware of our situation, he told us that he would place Tim in your class this year. While he was making those arrangements, he told us about your trip and suggested that Tim should join his classmates on the trip, which is how we got here".
"Ah, so that explains why Tim wasn't on my list", Ms. Frizzle thought to herself. "Well, it's good that you two were able to get those issues fixed. Thank you for informing me about this issue, and I'll make sure that Tim is added to my roster!".
"No problem Ms. Frizzle", Tim's dad said. "I also want to thank you for allowing Tim to go on the trip on short notice".
Ms. Frizzle and Liz nodded as the duo went to join the rest of the group. Once they turned towards the bus, they noticed that everyone was checked in.
"May I have everyone's attention?", Ms. Frizzle asked. The crowd instantly went silent when she finished her sentence.
"Now that I've taken care of the attendance, it's time for us to begin our journey". The crowd cheered at her statement, as the students were ready to go as well. "If anyone needs to use the restroom or get anything that they want to bring on the trip, now would be the time to do so. Once you're ready to go, the people who aren't going on the field trip will be allowed to leave. Does everyone understand what to do?".
The crowd nodded and began to spread out. Once this occurred, Ms. Frizzle and Liz opened the bus and allowed the parents to put their kids baggage in the back of the bus. Once everything was packed, the kids went to their parents and gave them goodbye hugs. While this was going on, Ms. Frizzle and Liz were watching them from the driver's seat of the bus.
"This will certainly be an amazing trip", Ms. Frizzle said to Liz as she nuzzled Liz's cheek. They were the only ones that were aware of the opportunities that this trip would provide—for now that is.
Thank you for reading this part of my fic! Even though I've been a member for a long time, this is my first time writing fan-fiction, so feedback would be greatly appreciated. I hope to see you reading future chapters when they're uploaded!