2:
Inside the backpack, Buzz was jostled, banged, and bumped as Andy walked. Occasionally, he would open the zipper slightly and take little peeks outside. Right now, Andy was at the bus stop. He hopped impatiently from foot to the other, making Buzz fall backward onto a bag lunch. He felt something smush and hoped it wasn't Andy's sandwich.
Crawling back to the open zipper, he could see Andy's friend Maxie standing next to him. She had a Packer's cheese hat on and was looking sullen. "I can't believe I got stuck with dairy farmer. Do you know how boring it is to write about milking a cow?"
Another girl whom Buzz didn't know was with them. She had curly black hair held back with a headband and bronze skin. "You better take the hat off before the bus comes," she warned. "Or Ms. Grunch will take it."
Maxie took off the hat but held it close. "She can't take it! It's for my presentation!"
"She won't care," said Andy. "Ms. Grunch will take anything. Yo-yos, water bottles, candy bars…"
"My favorite doll," said the other girl dourly. She sighed. "Two years ago, I brought in my doll for Show and Tell. Ms. Grunch saw it, and even though I had permission from the teacher, she filched it! 'No toys on my bus!' She said. 'You kids are supposed to be learning, not playing!'"
"That stinks," said Andy.
"Ms. Grunch stinks," said Maxie. As the bus rolled forward, she quickly shoved the hat inside her bag. Buzz felt himself jostled again as Andy followed Maxie up the steps.
Buzz pushed himself back. If this Ms. Grunch was as bad as the kids said, he didn't want her to see him. He could see her, however, or at least part of her.
What he could see was a large meaty arm, dotted with liver spots and capped with a short orange sleeve. Her fingers, covered in chipped hot pink nail polish, gripped the steering wheel tightly. Curious, Buzz ducked down so he could look at her face.
She looked kind of like a bulldog, he decided. She had bad teeth that stuck out and covered her upper lip. Her hair was straw blonde, but he could see dark brown roots underneath.
"Hurry up!" she snapped. "What are you waiting for? Come on! Move move move!"
When she wasn't looking, Maxie turned around and pulled down her lower eyelid as she stuck out her tongue. "C'mon Max, don't make her mad," Andy whispered. The two kids took a seat and Buzz's view changed to the floor. Maxie and Andy started a conversation about a movie that was coming out on video, and Buzz gradually felt himself start to get sleepy…
The next thing Buzz knew, he was being grabbed. I wonder how long I slept for, he thought groggily as Andy pulled him out of the bag. Though he was frozen, Buzz scrutinized his surroundings. He had never been in a classroom before.
By Andy's desk was a poster that said, "RESPECT: To treat others fairly and to consider their rights and views." There was also a bulletin board nearby tacked neatly with announcements and a large laminated calendar that could be erased and re-written on. Right now it said "September" and on the current date were the words: "Career Reports Today!"
Andy sat Buzz on his desk facing the front. He silently counted thirty kids and quickly did the math: Thirty kids each giving a five minute report would take about two and a half hours. Well at least he wouldn't be stuck in the bag all day.
Andy's teacher was sitting at her desk. She was a short chubby woman with fiery red hair and coke bottle glasses. Fiery red hair…Buzz thought wistfully. I wonder what Jessie's doing…
"Miranda Alonto, you're first," the teacher said, interrupting his thoughts. The girl from the bus stop got up. She was wearing a chef's toque.
"My report was on being a cook. There are many ways to become a cook, but the best way to go to culinary school, which is a college for chefs…"
Twenty minutes passed before it was Andy's turn. He set Buzz up on a wooden podium and turned to face the class. "The career I chose was astronaut. The first person in space was a Russian named Yuri Gagarin. He was launched on April 12, 1961…"
Halfway through the presentation, Andy suddenly picked up Buzz and handed him to a boy in the first row. "This is what astronauts might look like in the future." Buzz felt himself being passed from hand to hand as the kids examined him, pushed his wings in and out, turned him upside down, and flipped his visor.
Andy finished just as Buzz was passed to the last kid. "Any questions?"
A hand was raised. "What's that thing on the doll's chin?"
"Um," Andy shrugged. "I don't know. A whisker maybe…"
Whisker? It's a dimple! thought Buzz as he was passed back. I…think…
Andy took the Ranger back and carried him to his seat. Maxie, wearing her cheese hat, smiled and gave him the thumbs up. Andy smiled back. Maxie made a motion toward Buzz and Andy handed him to her. He stayed on her desk for the rest of the day.
