Chapter Three

Before Bedtime

Hours had passed, and Calvin and Hobbes were still working on the homework. Calvin was finishing up with an assignment when his mom called from downstairs, "Calvin! Dinner!"

"All right, I'm free," Calvin grinned. "And I finished my homework. Two birds with one stone! See you after dinner, Hobbes." He left the room.

Downstairs during dinner, Calvin told his dad what happened. "Hey Dad, did you hear the bad news?"

"Calvin, how could you be suspended?" Dad asked in disbelief. "You're only in the first grade."

"I don't know," Calvin said. "Now I can't watch TV on the one day off from school that's not a holiday or sick day, or during summer vacation."

"Calvin, this isn't a joke!" Dad insisted. "I hope you learned something from all that's happened today, because if it keeps up, you could be expelled, or even sent to juvenile hall."

Calvin thought about that. "Wow, I never thought of it that way."

"Calvin," Mom explained, "do you see why I took your TV privileges away until you go back to school? And why you're not going outside until you finish all of your work?"

"Yes, but I got better at it today," Calvin answered. Then he turned to his dad. "Guess what, Dad? Mom showed me a trick with my fingers on how to add and subtract, such as four fingers and eight fingers equal twelve."

Mom smiled. She chuckled, "He even had 'Hobbes' help him out with the fingers. I'll check the rest of your work tomorrow once you're done with it, before you go outside, if you do."

Calvin got an idea. "Hey, since I don't have school tomorrow, maybe I can stay up late and work on some of tomorrow's class work? Since I'll have nothing to do and all."

Mom thought a bit. "Well, all right. But not too late, all right?"

"All right," Calvin agreed. Then he asked his dad, "Hey Dad, does being suspended build character?"

"Of course not," Dad said. "Serving a punishment without TV and with doing work all day builds character."

"OK, that was too easy," Calvin said to himself.

The phone rang, and Mom got up to answer it, saying "I'll get it."

Once she left the dining room, Dad asked, "Calvin, why is it so hard for you to behave in school? I know you don't like school, but I know you like to learn. I mean, you liked the method to help you learn arithmetic, and you like to read about dinosaurs. Don't they even teach you about dinosaurs in class?"

"No, they don't teach us about dinosaurs, and they don't teach math the way Mom does," Calvin explained.

"Well," Dad pointed out, "there's always spelling, which is one of your best subjects."

"That's true…" Calvin noted.

…

A while later, back in Calvin's room, Calvin and Hobbes were getting ready to hit the books again.

"Well Hobbes," Calvin said, "we can stay up a bit past our bedtime, if we do the homework."

"How late are we staying up?" Hobbes asked.

"Mom says we can stay up until 8:30."

Hobbes thought about something. "Hey, I'm wondering. I know it's winter, but what you did to Susie, does this count as something for G.R.O.S.S.?"

Calvin sat in his desk chair. "We'll discuss it next time we go out in the snow, whether it's tomorrow or the day after, when I get home from school." He noticed Hobbes staring out their window. "Hobbes, what are you doing looking at Susie's house?"

"You can see into Susie's bathroom," Hobbes observed. Then he recoiled a bit. "Whoa, I wouldn't look right now. She's taking a bath."

"EWWWWWWWW!" Calvin winced. "Definitely slimy! All right, let's get back to the homework."

"Let's start with the spelling," Hobbes said. They opened Calvin's spelling book, and Hobbes quizzed Calvin. "Now, I before E, except after what letter?"

Calvin thought a bit. "C!" he answered.

"Very good," Hobbes said. "Unless sounded as…"

"A, like in 'neighbor' and 'weigh!'" Calvin grinned.

"Gee, you're pretty good at this," Hobbes noticed.

"Thanks," Calvin said. "It's not that fun, but I am pleased with how good I am with spelling."

"Well, I have noticed you have quite the vocabulary," Hobbes pointed out.

"Uh-huh," Calvin agreed.

…

Soon it was almost 8:30. Calvin had finished his spelling assignment, and was reading something for English. Calvin's mom opened the door to his room…

"All right, Calvin," Mom said. "It's almost bedtime."

"OK," Calvin said. "I'm almost done with this chapter, and then I'll hit the hay."

Mom beamed. "I'm glad you are taking this so well." She left.

Once Calvin finished reading the chapter, he put the book on his desk with the rest of his work, and changed into his pajamas and brushed his teeth. As he climbed into bed, he told Hobbes, "You know Hobbes, maybe I am learning something else from all this besides the work for school."

"You mean that you should apply yourself more to the schoolwork?" Hobbes guessed.

"Well that," Calvin explained, "and I shouldn't try to get Moe or Susie or anyone else at school. But what about Moe trying to get me?"

"Well, maybe you should tell a teacher or the principal," Hobbes suggested.

"Hmm, I didn't know that," Calvin said. "I'll have to remember that for next time."

"If there is a next time," Hobbes pointed out.