Cha. 4 Janet's Wild Ride

"Yeah, you crushed my mothball," Carlos said sadly, remembering. Then he brightened. "But I guess I owe you a thanks; the Friz had a much better idea."

"Oh, chill, Carlos," Janet muttered. "That was one tiny mothball. You wouldn't have won with it, anyway."

"Well, it was tiny, but it took me all morning just to find it," Carlos defended.

"Yeah, Janet, just admit you did something wrong for once," Keesha insisted in an irritated tone of voice. Her friends cringed. Now there was tension in the air, so before Janet could retort, D.A. spoke up quickly.

"Hey, Carlos, do you think Ms. Frizzle could take us on a field trip inside your trunk?" she giggled, and Pheobe giggled, too.

"Not before we open it!" Carlos replied in a confident voice. "Which we're going to do ... when?"

"I've got homework," D.A. admitted reluctantly. "But I might be free in the evening, if I don't have to babysit my little sister."

"D.A. ... homework?" Wanda sputtered in surprise. "Ralphie and I always get homework, remember?"

"Hey!" Ralphie looked offended as he got up to carry his tray to the trashcan.

"Yeah, well, D.A.'s had a change of soul," Carlos said with a grin. "She's a lot more fun now!"

Now it was D.A.'s turn to glare at her best friend. "Oh yeah? Well, I'm still into books! Only now I'm a normal kid, getting homework now and then! My parents approve."

"Homework?" Janet sassed in an artificially-sweet way. "Oh, you poor thing! Never thought I'd see the day when D.A. couldn't keep up with her studies! Well, I guess I'm the only one going to Harvard!" She sighed with contentment and left the table.

The other kids groaned. But D.A. grabbed Carlos' arm and whispered in his ear, "Janet ... going to Harvard? Cheating never got anyone that far before!"

They both laughed under their breaths, watching her disappear into the crowd of students that were leaving for classes.

Nobody noticed poor Arnold, who had been sitting tensely in his chair, hardly touched a bite, and not made a squeak the whole time. His mind was spinning with fearful, dreadful thoughts. He was still nervously fidgeting. Suppose the principal should call on him any moment and say--

"Attention, students! Whoever put a pebble in my sandwich, report to my office immediately!" came a booming voice over the intercom that same minute.

Arnold jumped. Carlos looked at him quizzically. "Arnold? Are you alright?"

"Y-y-yes," Arnold stammered, turning red in the face. Then he burst out, "What am I gonna do?"

"Well ... " Wanda looked at him disapprovingly. "Finish your salad, for one. And calm down, for another."

"I can't!" Arnold cried, spreading out his hands. "Mr. Patterson wants me to go to his office! I think I'll ... I'll die before I get there!"

"You look like you would," Tim muttered. "Why do you have to go to his office? He asked for the person who put a pebble ... " he trailed off and blinked in astonishment at Arnold. "Y-you?!"

Arnold squeezed his eyes shut and nodded. When he opened them again, he saw seven pairs of disbelieving eyes on him. Nobody wanted to buy it. "Oh, please, don't look at me like that!" Arnold moaned. "I ... "

"Janet," Tim suddenly hissed, his eyes spitting fire. "She got you to do this, didn't she?"

Arnold got up quickly from his chair, looking pale. "I hope ... "

"Do you want me to come with you, Arn?" Wanda asked apologetically. It still didn't want to register in her brain that her timid friend Arnold would do a thing like that! It had to be Janet ... and she was going to punch her lights out!

Arnold shook his head and took a calming breath. "I'll be fine ... I think." Then he shuffled out of the cafeteria.

Wanda turned back to Tim and they exchanged angry looks. Pheobe's eyes were stormy, too. Their eyes all agreed--Janet! "I'm going to kill her," Wanda exploded. "She's such a bully! I can't stand it!"

Carlos, who had looked as shocked as D.A., Keesha, and Ralphie, now suddenly spoke up. "Uh, yeah, Wanda, about that ... um, I think Janet's waiting for that right now. She knows she can get you into the Principal's office, too, if you fight her."

"But revenge!" Ralphie snapped. "It's high time for revenge! Remember, she nearly slammed us into Jupiter's hotspot at one time!"

"Look, Ralphie," Pheobe said softly, looking over at Carlos with admiration in her eyes. "For the second time this year, I think Carlos is right. Fighting Janet ... won't get us anywhere. We just need to be there for Arnold."

Tim laughed. "Wanda, I know how you'd love to tear her to pieces, and it's not like she doesn't deserve it. But I think we all agree that it wouldn't be for the best."

Wanda slumped down in her seat and stuck out her lower lip. "Fine. But Arnold--that weasely wimp!" she spat.

Keesha rolled her eyes and looked at Tim. "Tim, you should talk to Arnold about standing up for himself. I think he needs advice about controlling his horrible cousin."

"And this time, you can't just buckle Arnold on top of Janet, like we did the time we were in space," D.A. sighed.

"Don't worry, guys, Arnold gets our full support," Tim declared, getting up from his seat. "And if Janet doesn't shape up soon ... well, I'm gonna draw a picture of her--and trust me, you don't wanna see it."

The kids laughed. Tim could draw anything, and they knew he could certainly draw an ugly picture, if he wanted to.

"And then give it to Janet and tell her what makes the picture so ugly," Wanda said, determination shining in her eyes.

"Arnold ... what happened?" Wanda demanded in a whisper. She, Pheobe and Tim were waiting for him in the hallway, without hall passes. It was a dangerous thing to do, but Wanda had insisted that it was the right thing to do.

Arnold, looking pale and crestfallen, came trudging up the hall, his eyes purposely avoiding to meet theirs.

"Look, Arn, we won't be disappointed in you," Pheobe assured him, looking into his face. "We know that you don't deserve what you got ... whatever it is you got."

"I'm to spend an hour and a half in detention--for a whole week," Arnold muttered. "He was really upset."

"____ that Janet!" Wanda said between clenched teeth.

Pheobe looked at her quickly and shook her head. Then she put an arm around Arnold. "We'll help you with your homework. Won't we, Tim?"

Tim nodded, poking his favorite pencil over his left ear. "I can almost hear the Friz telling us some smart saying about being there for our friends. She would definitely approve the idea."

Wanda placed her hands on her hips. "Well, who's that arguing with the Friz in the science lab?"

The four friends inched closer to the door and listened. They immediately recognized the voice. "Janet," Arnold whispered, a look of dismay crossing his face. "What's she want?"

" ... but Ms. Frizzle, I don't have any other choice," Janet begged from the other side of the door. "I've got to use the bus. I know how to handle it--remember when I steered it through space? You left me in charge, because you knew I could handle it! Ms. Frizzle! I don't see why--"

"Oh, Janet, did you know that when you're excited, like now, your heartbeat speeds up?" Ms. Frizzle exclaimed rapturously. "That means your blood cells are pumped much faster than usual, to all the parts of your body. Oh my, I miss those days."

The four kids behind the door smiled at each other knowingly. It was the Friz, and they could almost see her clasping her hands together, eyes shut and a content smile on her face as she recalled the field trip her students had, several years ago.

"Ms. Frizzle," Janet said impatiently. "I promise to return the bus in fifteen minutes. Can't you go without it that long? Really, I only need to get ..."

"Alright, Janet," Ms. Frizzle said gently, and her voice not showing a hint of reluctance. "But be sure you return it in fifteen minutes, and be sure you drive her carefully. I want the bus back here as soon as possible."

"Oh, thank-you, Ms. Frizzle," Janet exclaimed. "I promise to be careful! Thank-you so much!"

Pheobe grabbed Wanda's hand, who in turn grabbed Arnold's, who grabbed Tim's. They had to move swiftly, because Janet would come out of the room any minute. When they were around a corner and out of sight, Arnold declared, "Janet lied."

"She what?" Pheobe gasped. They all stopped and stared at him.

"Is she gonna harm the bus?" Wanda demanded.

Arnold shook his head. "I don't think so. But Janet told me she was going to sneak the bus away from Ms. Frizzle somehow and experiment on it."

Relief washed over Wanda's face, and she giggled. "Oh, she's so busted! Only the Friz knows how to completely handle the magic school bus!"

"It might get ugly," Arnold shivered. "And I told her not to; I told her that it wasn't a good idea. But do you think she listened?"

"Arnold ... " Tim shook his head in disbelief. "When I think back to how you said you had her at your place all summer ... I find myself badly needing a drink!"

When Janet had closed the door behind her and left the science lab, Ms. Frizzle smiled down at her expectant Liz. "It's all in your hands, Liz," she said mysteriously. "Take her on an adventure!"

Liz saluted and dropped to all fours, scampering out of the room and sneaking on tip-toe after Janet. When the deceitful girl stepped outside and smiled with satisfaction at the waiting bus, Liz dashed silently past her and into the open bus door. Bus knew when to open the door, and Liz was very welcome. The lizard patted the dashboard as an expression of thankfulness, then wiggled under it. There, she reached over and pressed a hidden button that only she and her red-headed mistress knew about.

"At last, Janet--the bus is in your hands!" Janet shouted, forcing open the door at the driver's side and hopping in. "Now do what you must do in order to be smarter than the Friz herself!" So saying, she pressed the gas pedal and zoomed out of the parking lot gleefully.

While they were gliding smoothly along the highway, Liz waited patiently. Janet spoke up. "Alright, Bus, do your stuff and destroy yourself, like you did that Christmas back in Elementary School!"

She pulled a switch. The next thing she knew, the bus was spinning around like a yellow tornado and she yelled, "Wa-hoo! I destroy you!"

But something was wrong. The problem traced back to the hidden button under the dashboard, where Liz was crouching calmly. The bus turned into a human-like robot! When Janet opened her eyes, she saw a neon sign come out of the ceiling and flash the warning red words: Janet: You lied!

"Oh, uh, shut up!" Janet yelled, hitting the screen. It beeped and flashed in blue letters: Janet: Return the bus!

Now Janet looked helpless. Suddenly, she saw a microphone, and grabbing it, shouted down its neck: "I'm getting rid of this bus, and there's nothing you can do to stop me!"

The neon sign showed Loading ... for a while, the suddenly, in green words, her message came. Janet, I am the bus. I can see what you are doing, and Valerie Frizzle is my driver. Turn around and go back, or things will get worse.

Janet gasped in exasperation. "Who ever heard of a communicating bus!" she screeched, pounding the wheel. "Now destroy yourself or I'll hack you to pieces myself! You're my enemy! I hate you! You make the other kids more popular than me because they always get to ride you! I want you out of my life!"

Suddenly, the bus turned into a gray whirlwind, as Liz pressed the button again. Then she jumped through the gray whirlwind and landed on the sidewalk. She didn't want to experience this. She covered her eyes with her little green fingers.

The next thing Janet knew, was that she was inside a black room, and the lights had gone out. There were no windows, and all around her, she saw words floating: Janet ... return the bus ... Janet, you lied ... Janet, Ms. Frizzle knows ... Janet ... return the bus ... Then, to her horror, she heard voices coming from speakers she couldn't see, and they were chanting the words she was reading all around her. The words were white, and made shadows dance and spin around the room until Janet was dizzy with confusion and fear. In unison, and in many different pitches, they spoke her name; then, they warned her, each voice in a different tempo, and different pitch, all tumbling together.

"Okay! Okay!" Janet gasped, her fingers shaking as she reached out for a wall to steady herself. "I'll do it, I will! Just--just stop talking, all of you!" She didn't know that the bus had been programmed to do this--she thought she was going insane, and her conscience was striking her. Hard.

Suddenly, after she spoke, all the voices lowered and some whispered. Over and over they told her to return the bus, called her name, and reminded her of lying. Thinking she was crazy, Janet nearly fainted. But just then, her finger touched a wall, and she slammed her body against it. Lights flashed and blinked out in her face. Then she found, much to her relief, the steering wheel. But a new fear gripped her now--how could she turn the bus back into ... a bus? How could she get out?

Liz opened his walkey-talkey and pressed the button of triumph. Ms. Frizzle's voice came back through her walkey-talkey almost immediately.

"Good work, Liz! Press the button!"

Liz scampered into the bus through a hole Janet could not see and flew under the dashboard, where the button stood, glowing. She licked her green finger expertly and smashed it against the button. After a whirlwind that knocked Janet to the floor, the girl opened her eyes and blinked in astonishment. The bus was back.

Liz was smiling as she jumped up on the dashboard, looking quite pleased with herself. Trembling, Janet ran to her and scooped her up in her arms. "Oh, Liz!" she panted. "I'm so glad you're here! I felt so--lost! Let's go back to school, shall we?"

Liz bobbed her head, looking triumphant. And Janet returned the bus without another word. Then she went into the science lab, surprised to find the wise teacher there, who in turn looked surprised to see her.

"Why, Janet!" she exclaimed good-naturally. "You were back in ten minutes! I think you shall drive my bus more often. How would you like that?"

"Uh, uh, no thanks, Ms. Frizzle," Janet stammered, her cheeks flaming red. She dropped the keys into the teacher's hands and turned to go. "I ... I like it best when ... when you drive."

"Whatever you say," came Ms. Frizzle's warm reply. And after Janet left, they exchanged a high-five.