We coming to the end of this story, only 10 more chapters and an epilogue, but as I've said, there's a sequel called Three Amigos in Love that takes place four years after this one ends.

Meanwhile, here are two of those chapters.

Chapter 105. TEACHER, TEACHER

Gretchen

Ruth and I get off the school bus together and head to our new schoolroom. We'd

found out that many of our friends were in our new class, including Tommy,

Elizabeth and Nelson, but David was in the other fifth grade class along with

Randy, who I'd gotten to know better playing softball.

Of course, we were all going to miss Audra. Ruth and I had gotten used to her

absence on the school bus last Spring. But I sat next to her ever since I

came to Willow Grove school almost a year ago.

Before we even reach the room, Elizabeth comes hurrying along. Elizabeth never

ran. She was too proper, I guess. But she could sure walk quickly. We hadn't

seen her for a while. She and her family had spent the last three weeks back

in England visiting their family.

"How was your trip?" Ruth asks her.

"Very good," she replies. "We saw my Gram, and my uncle Lionel and his family.

His daughter is a year younger than we are, and his son is Gareth's age."

"Did you hear about Audra?" I ask.

"No," she replies, her forehead creasing with concern.

"Oh, it's nothing bad. It's just that Nancy and Marty are buying Emily's old

house, so she'll be going to school with Em!" I tell her.

"Oh! But we'll still see them both, won't we? We'll still have our sleepovers?"

she asks.

I nod vigorously. "Yes, of course."

We enter the classroom with some kids we know from our fourth grade class, and

some we don't. We find three seats together, right in front of Tommy and Nelson. I notice there's no teacher at the front of the room.

"Where's Prune..., I mean Mrs. Pruitt?" I ask the boys. They shrug, and

Elizabeth asks, "Is that our teacher?"

A couple of minutes later, a familiar woman enters. It's Mrs. Bean.

"Good morning class," she greets us. "I know many of you were expecting Mrs.

Pruitt to be your teacher this year. She informed the school board a few weeks

ago that she's decided to retire."

Those who had heard about Mrs. Pruitt smile.

"The board has asked me to teach this class. Mrs. Papadopoulus, the assistant

principal will teach my fourth grade class this year," Mrs. Bean continues.

A few of us grin. I'd cheer, but don't think that's appropriate.

"OK, first order of business, seating," Mrs. Bean says, looking around the room.

"I see a lot of familiar faces, and I notice that most of you are sitting with

your friends. But I think it's time you each got to know some other students

who weren't in your class before. So, I'm going to arbitrarily assign seats.

Please stand."

We all stand up.

"Anyone who's name begins with 'A', please come forward." Adam and Amy from last year's class walk to the front of the room. The teacher tells them to take the first two seats in the first row, and to clearly say their names so that

everyone will know who they are. We all expect that she'll ask for 'B's next.

but she surprises us. "Any 'Z's?" She goes back and forth through the alphabet

like that: A, Z, B, Y, and so forth. I wind up siting in the middle of the

second row between Tara and a girl I don't know named Faith. Tommy's on the

other side of Tara.

This is going to be an interesting school year.

Audra

Nancy drops me off in front of my new school. I tell her I'll find my way,

pretending to be very calm, but I don't think I've been so nervous ever before.

I look around to see if I see anyone I know. I don't know that many kids that

go to this school, but there's Calene! I feel a little better.

I walk towards her and she sees me coming. She smiles and says, "Hi, I'm so glad

you're going to our school this year." I feel even better.

We walk into the building and towards our classroom. "I heard we may have a man

teacher this year," I say.

She nods. "I heard that too."

We enter the room and immediately see Emily and NingFang. There are two empty

seats next to them, so that's where we sit.

The man at the front of the room doesn't look like a teacher. OK, I guess, since all of my teachers have been women so far, that was obvious. But there's

something about him that makes him seem less teacherish (if that's a word) than

Mrs. Bean or my third grade teacher, Mrs. Cioffi. He's wearing jeans and a

bright yellow shirt with a navy and yellow striped tie. His red hair is very

curly and wild.

Once everyone is seated, the man smiles at us. "Good morning class. My name is

Mr. Conway." He has an accent, sort of like Elizabeth's, or Dr. Chase's, but

not quite. I wonder if he's British or Australian. But somehow I'm beginning to

relax.

"I'll allow you to stay in the seats you've selected for now, but at some time

during this year we'll be making some changes," he says. "There's a lot for you

to learn during the next year. Think of it as an adventure that we're embarking

on together. How many of you have ever traveled to another country or even

moved from one place to another?"

Several children raise their hands, including Emily. Slowly, I raise mine too.

"Then you know the kinds of things you feel, the excitement and anxiety, well

I'd like you to focus on the excitement part," he says.

This is going to be an interesting school year.

Chapter 106. MOTHER KNOWS BEST

Tommy

Dad's helping me with my homework. We have a lot more than last year, and it's getting harder. But if I have to read anymore about American History, I think I'll scream.

"Dad, what are we doing for my birthday this year?" I ask.

He smiles at me. "Did you want to go to a ballgame again, like last year?"

"Well, it was more than a ballgame," I point out. We'd gone to a Yankee game with Gretchen and her parents and Emily and her mom, and then spent the rest of the weekend in New York. We'd gone to the Museum of Natural History and FAO Schwartz, and ate New York pizza and other good stuff. "That was lots of fun." But did I want to do that again? Both Gretchen and Em had parties at G&G for their birthdays. That would be fun too.

Dad notices that I can't decide. "Let's see what your mom suggests."

"OK," I agree, grinning at him. My mom sometimes has the greatest suggestions.

Like the idea she finally came up with for Fathers' Day this year. It was such

a good idea that Gretchen and Scott got one for their dads too.

"Do you think we can do something special for Dad for Fathers' Day," I asked

her.

"We always do or get something special for him," she replied.

"Yeah, but what should we get him this year?" I insisted.

"Well, he liked the cookbook and the DVD on French cooking last year. Do you

think we should get him one on some other kind of cuisine?"

I was sure he'd like that, but I really wanted to do something different. "I'll

think about it," I told her and went to my room to message Gretchen.

Slugger: Gretchen, what're U doing 4 your dad this year?

Kiddo: 4 Fathers' Day? I haven't really thought about it. It's our 1st Fathers'

Day together, so it's gotta B spectacular!

Slugger: Last year we got Dad a cooking DVD.

Kiddo: I bet he loved it! But my dad doesn't like to cook so much.

Slugger: I want 2 do something else this year.

Kiddo: How bout getting him Halo 9?

Slugger: I don't know.

Kiddo: Y not?

Slugger: My dad doesn't like video games like yours.

Kiddo: Yeah, you're right.

Slugger: Who else can I ask?

Gretchen: How bout Nelson? Or maybe Scott?

Slugger: OK, I'll call them.

Nelson wasn't home, so I called Scott. "Hi Scott, it's Tommy, Tommy Wilson." I didn't know how many Tommies he knew. "Um, Gretchen suggested I ask

you for an idea of something I can get my dad for Fathers' Day."

Once I said it, I felt strange asking him. But Scott understood what I was

asking and why. "Well, I'm getting my dad a new handheld. The one he has is

ancient!" Scott said. "The new ones do everything but stand up and beg."

"OK. That's a good idea," I said. "I'll ask my mom what she thinks." I also

thought I'd tell Gretchen about it, so I texted her again.

Slugger: Scott's getting his dad a new handheld.

Gretchen: That's a gd idea, but I think my dad got a new 1 recently.

Slugger: Well, I think maybe I'll get my dad 1.

Gretchen: What does your mom suggest?

Slugger: She didn't have any ideas. Oh, w8, she's calling me. Gotta go.

I found Mom in the office. She'd just pulled something up on the computer. It

was a three-D camera.

"That's so cool! Even better than a new handheld!" I exclaimed.

"Is that what you were thinking about?" she asked.

"Yeah. It was Scott's suggestion," I told her.

"If you want to get him one of these, we'd better order it fast," Mom said.

After we did, I messaged Gretchen about what we'd ordered.

Kiddo: That's a gr8 idea!

Slugger: Yeah, I'll send U the link.

Kiddo: I'll get my mom 2 order 1, too. Maybe we should tell Scott!

Slugger: I'll do that now.

I picked up the phone and called Scott back. "Hey, Scott. It's Tommy again. I

decided to get my dad a 3D camera."

"Oh, that's a cool idea, even better than a handheld."

"I know. Gretchen's getting one for her dad, too."

"Was it her idea?" he asked.

"No, my mom's," I said grinning. "My mom has LOTS of good ideas."