Disclaimer: Arthur is copyright to Marc Brown

BRRRRRRRRIIINNNNNNGGGGG!!!

Arthur opened his eyes and grabbed his glasses. 7:00 am. Time to get ready for school. HIGH SCHOOL! Finally, fourteen year old Arthur Read was "grown up". Not that being in middle school wasn't grown-up, but it still wasn't high school. There'll be new kids to talk to, new teachers, new schedule, new everything. He had been looking forward to this day for ages. He slowly got up, washed up and got dressed.

As he was about to go down the stairs, he heard his ten year old sister singing around her room. "Who rules the school? We rule the school! We rule the school!" she was singing. Yes, DW was in fifth grade this year, the highest grade at Lakewood.

"Just wait until you start middle school!" Arthur mumbled as he walked downstairs.

"Good morning, Arthur!" said his mother. Glad to see that you're ready. Now, I have to get to work early today, so I'd like you to take DW and Kate to school. And make sure Kate gets settled in first grade.

"Awww MOM!!!"

"Arthur…"

"All right. But why can't DW make sure Kate settles? They go to the same school! Central High is further away, and I have to meet Buster! I haven't seen him all summer."

"You can meet Buster later." said Mr. Read, who was at the stove making pancakes.

"We rule the school! I rule the school!" a voice came. DW was downstairs and ready.

"DW, honey" said Mrs. Read, "Arthur will take you and Kate to school."

"But I want to go to school myself!!! I'm in the oldest grade now! All my friends go to school by themselves! Besides, I got to go to school myself last year!" whined the fifth grader.

"Honey, this is Kate's first day of full-day school. I want someone to make sure everything's okay. You know that I took her to and from school all year last year."

"OK. Can I go to school myself tomorrow?"

"Not until Kate is settled. Maybe later this month."

DW was visibly disappointed, although Kate, who had just appeared in the kitchen was not. She couldn't wait to be in "real school". After an entire year of playing, she'll finally get a real desk and real work. All those years of watching her older siblings doing homework were over!

Arthur arrived at Lakewood with Kate and DW. As soon as DW saw her friends, she ran towards them, as if she couldn't wait to get away. Arthur went into the building to find the first grade class that Kate was in. Room 101.

"Hi, I'm Miss O'Hara, and you must be Kate Read." Miss O'Hara was a very young, brown hare-woman. This must be her first year teaching, Arthur thought. She seems nervous. However, Miss O'Hara's classroom was very organized and definitely just like the first grade Arthur remembered. The desks were set neatly in groups of four, with pencils, crayons, rulers and erasers set in the middle. The flag was next to the teacher's desk. There were activities in the cubbies at the corner. The only difference was the computers. They, of course, have been upgraded to more powerful machines. However, everything else remained the same.

"Kate, be good, OK? Mom will be picking you up this afternoon. I have to get going."

Arthur rushed out of Lakewood Elementary and ran all the way to Central High School, where Buster, his best friend since he could remember was waiting at the bike racks.

"Hey, what took you so long?" asked the rabbit boy.

"I had to take my sisters to school. I got out as quickly as I could. Sorry, okay?"

"That's all right. Hey, did I tell you that the girl I met in Edmonton is coming to Central?"

"Girl?"

"Yeah, Anne. She's that girl over there, talking to Fern."

Anne, a cat girl with blonde hair was talking to Fern and Sue Ellen by the steps of the school's entrance.

"Ohhh, she's cute!" said Arthur

"Hey, I saw her first. And besides, you I KNOW you like Francine!"

"There's NOTHING going on between me and Francine! There wasn't anything in elementary school, nothing in middle school, and nothing now. There'll never be anything, OK?"

"Yeah, OK."

"OK what?" asked a bear boy.

It was The Brain. While he was certainly a very bright kid, bright enough to skip a grade, or even two grades, he chose to stick with his class. He will, however, be taking enriched classes in science, math and computers.

"OK nothing. Buster was just talking about the new girl."

"What new girl?"

"That new girl." Buster said, pointing to the blonde deer girl talking to Fern and Sue Ellen

"Anne from Edmonton, Alberta."

"Ahhh, Edmonton. Home of West Edmonton Mall, the largest mall in the world."

"I bet Muffy'll like that." Arthur said

"Hey, where's Muffy, anyway?" wondered Buster as the boys were walking into the building.

"Didn't you hear?" a familiar voice asked. It was Francine, who at age 14 was not as sporty as she used to be. Her hair was longer now, and was pinned back in a ponytail like her sister, Catherine. However, her clothes were still a little on the tomboyish side. She still wouldn't be caught dead in a dress, although she did wear some make-up.

"Hear what?" asked Arthur

"Hear that she got de-waitlisted."

"De-waitlisted where?"

"Ridfield Hall."

Ridfield Hall was a girls' boarding school two hours outside of Elwood City. It was a very old school, and had been educating girls for over 125 years. Muffy will be a five night boarder there, according to Francine, meaning that she'll be spending most weekends at home.

"You'll see her on Saturday. She's having a party at her place."

By the time the kids were settled in their homeroom, word had spread that Muffy wasn't coming to Central.

"I heard that her father donated an entire wing to the school just so Muffy could be de-listed" a cat-girl named Jenn said.

"No, I heard that it was because of Mr. Crosswire's mother. She's on the board of directors. There's no other way for Muffy to get in. She isn't THAT smart."

Amid the gossip, the kids asked each other about their schedule. It turned out that they'll all be in the same English and History classes. For English, they'll have Miss Chen, who, according to Francine, is "very nice." According to their schedules, their history teacher is their homeroom teacher, Mrs. Crawford.

"Yeah, she's OK. All you have to do is get her to talk about her childhood in a hippie colony. That way, we can get some sleep….at least that's what my sister said." That was Amanda, squirrel girl who joined the gang when they were in middle school. Amanda's sister, Elizabeth, two years ahead and has been telling Amanda about high school, for the past few years. Amanda was more in touch with life at Central than Francine, whose sister is seven years older. Catherine was in college now and was living with her sorority sisters.

Someone walked in the door. It wasn't who they were expecting at all. It wasn't Mrs. Crawford, but Mr. Ratburn!!!

"Ehhemmm" he said, clearing his throat "Mrs. Crawford has decided to go part time this year. She and Mr. Crawford just adopted a baby girl from China and would like to spend more time with her. I will be taking her homeroom and two history classes…"

Will the gang be able to survive another round of The Rat? Stay tuned to find out…