Disclaimer: Arthur is copyright to Marc Brown

Note: Sorry it took so long to get the new chapter up. I had a very busy Christmas!

The kids began to settle in the history classroom, and for those who've had Mr. Ratburn before, waiting for the worst.

"Hey Brain!" whispered Arthur, "How much homework do you think we're going to get this year?"

"Hmmm, according to the student handbook, ninth graders are supposed to get about two hours of homework a day, total. I'd say that Mr. Ratburn will give the equivalent of what we're supposed to study. So, an additional two or so hours!"

Buster overheard Brain, and looked like he was going to scream. He certainly isn't happy about that! The kids sat nervously, waiting for Mr. Ratburn. Where was he? It looks like he's late. Tick-tock, goes the clock.

Anne sat with Francine, at the back. Anne was nervous. All day long, other students had been telling her about how horrible Mr. Ratburn is. She'll have to judge for herself, of course.

"Hey, it's going to be okay!" Francine said to Anne "He's hard, but you learn a lot."

"I don't know. I've had bad teachers before. Last year, my history teacher made our class write a 15 paged paper on Canadian Confederation."

"Canadian con-what?"

"Confederation. Canada became a country on July 1, 1867. It was created after several conferences, and was approved really quickly by British Parliament. That was in March of that year, and the delegates went back to Canada to prepare everything for the union on July 1. At first, Canada was made up only of Ontario, Quebec, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia. Other provinces didn't join until later on. My home province, Alberta, joined Confederation in 1905."

"Cool…tell us more!" Maria, a cat girl, wanted to know

Just as Anne was about to continue, Mr. Ratburn walked in. The students straightened themselves up.

"Good afternoon, class," he said, "welcome to World History I. I promise that this year will be excellent. We will be covering topics of the ancient worlds until the sixteenth century. I do hope that you will continue with World History II, either next year or the year after when we will learn about everything from the 1500s until today."

The kids groaned. Knowing all about Ratburn, they didn't want to have him for another year. Oh well, at least in high school, you didn't have to see him for the entire day.

"I have up here, the text book you will be using this year. I expect that you'll be using other sources as well, for the four papers you have to write. I'll be passing out the course outline, which will detail each and every unit we'll be studying and what I expect you to do for the units."

"Whoa! A unit on Greek and Roman culture!" whispered Arthur

"I know a lot about Greece!" said Buster, "I was there last spring."

Mr. Ratburn continued.

"As you can see, there'll be two major tests, one after every other unit. The June final will cover the units in the tests, as well as unit five. As with standard, the final will be an hour and a half long."

"Mr. Ratburn, for the essays, can we do presentations instead?" asked George. George has a learning disability, dyslexia, and has been allowed to do alternative projects for some of his classes.

"George, please speak to me after class about your arrangements. We do have to work something out."

George was now worried. What if he had to research just like everyone else? He knew that he had to eventually write papers like all other students, that is, if he wants to go to college. Professors don't always want their students to do things "differently", from what he has been told. He knew that eventually, he would have to write regular papers and take finals, just like everyone else. He didn't know what to do or say to Ratburn afterwards. He felt miserable

Ratburn continued to explain to the class the details of the coming year.

"As you can see, you have a paper due in two weeks. I suggest that you get started on it right away. I want all sources cited properly, as found in your student handbooks. Please read chapter 1 and answer the questions at the end. The answers must be in sentence form. I'd like it on my desk next class. See you next time."

Arthur leapt out of his seat and ran to the door. Buster had already left; he couldn't stand another minute of Ratburn.

"Arthur!" Francine shouted "We're all meeting at Justin's Juice Bar in twenty minutes. Want to come?"

"I'd like to, but I have to take my sisters home, and perhaps baby-sit. Sorry."

Arthur went over to Lakewood to meet DW and Kate. DW was late. Where was she, anyway? Did she disappear? Kate had already left class and was waiting with Arthur at the door. Kate had no idea where DW was, but maybe the Tibbles do.

"Hey Timmy, Tommy, do you guys know where DW is? Is she at the Sugar Bowl?"

"Nope!" said Timmy

"The Sugar Bowl is under renovation!" said Tommy

"So where is she?"

"We don't know" they said in unison

"Aww, come on, guys. You HAVE to know!"

"I don't know, maybe Tommy knows!"

"Guys, stop being immature. You're acting like four year olds!"

"No we're not." Shouted Timmy

"Yes you are!"

The Tibbles. Still trouble after all those years. Arthur decided to ask someone else, maybe Penny, DW's friend since third grade. But Penny wasn't sure either. Annie Laurie said she saw DW with Kimberly and Stephanie about ten minutes ago, and that they were talking about going to Stephanie's house to hang out. However, Annie Laurie didn't have the phone number. What should Arthur do? His mom had given him a cell phone so he could contact her if there was an emergency. Should he call her? Why did DW just leave like that?

"Hey!" a voice shouted

"DW!! Where on EARTH were you?"

"I was calling Mom. I asked her if I could go to Stephanie's and she said yes. She also said that you had to go home with Kate and stay there. You can't hang out. How was your first day of school?"

Sorry so lame. I promise that there'll be more Arthur in high school stuff coming soon. I'm going back to school on Wednesday and won't have as much time to write.