And now we come to... 'Crabby Author'! Anyway, enjoy!

I looked over my homework assignments, the little bit that Phoebe written down due to the short school day from what she told me as I read from the list.

Math

Problems 8, 10, 13, 14 and 16 on page 20, due tomorrow.

Social Studies/History

Read pages 21 to 25, study carefully, Mr. Simmons says there's going to be a quiz on this tomorrow.

English

Bring one of your favorite books over tomorrow and read an excerpt from it to the class. I suspect it's time for Bond. James Bond, to be known to everyone... although it probably isn't that much of a secret. People have been noticing us quoting from the movies we watch. I suspect we're probably doing a book report based on the book... though not entirely sure.

I read through the English assignment Phoebe wrote down twice. I paused as I looked toward my own collection of James Bond books. Was it worth revealing one of my own personal interests?

I shrugged as I selected the very first book by Ian Fleming, Casino Royale. I read it a little bit before I nodded. I think a little effort can be made to read an excerpt out of one of favorite books of all time...

I sighed as I was tempted to read at least the first chapter... but decided to save it until I was at school tomorrow. So I grabbed my history book so that I could start reading from that.

The next day, I was feeling a little better, just enough for me to go to school today. The snow had partially melted and the sun was rising up to try to melt some of it, but we all knew that it would eventually snow again. Anyway, thanks to Mr. Simmons mixing up the classes to an unpredicted schedule, with the exceptions of recess, gym class and lunch, which were always set, we had English first, so I had my favorite book ready to read.

"Rhonda, why don't you come up to the class and read an excerpt of one of your favorite books?" Mr. Simmons called.

"I'll be happy to, Mr. Simmons." I said as I got up to the class and opened a book. "This is an excerpt from Chapter 1 of 'Casino Royale' by Ian Fleming."

And thus, I started reading out loud to the class the excerpt of the book. I did at least three pages of the book, and I think I would have continued on if Mr. Simmons hadn't stopped me.

"Thank you, Rhonda, that was very uniquely you." Mr. Simmons smiled.

"Thank you, Mr. Simmons." I said as everyone applauded. I went to sit back down as everyone else started to take their turns.

Pretty soon, it came down to Arnold as he was reading his excerpt on a book called 'Little House by the Dairy'. I paused, knowing that book a little bit. As soon as Arnold finished, everyone applauded, including myself, politely, of course.

"Wonderful, Arnold. And that was 'Little House by the Dairy', written by..." Mr. Simmons asked.

"My favorite writer, Agatha Caulfield." Arnold smiled as he sat back down.

"Well, now that you've all picked out your favorite writers and read their work to the class, it's time to start on your report." Mr. Simmons smiled.

Everyone of us groaned, except for Phoebe, who was eager to get started.

"Come on, it's just three pages. Who is your favorite writer, what is his or her life like, and what makes him or her special? It's due a week from Monday." Mr. Simmons smiled. "Okay, moving on from English, we're going to go right into science."

I nodded as I paid attention to class.

Over at recess, as me, Gerald, Arnold, Phoebe, Nadine, Lila and Tucker were over near the monkey bars, I turned to them and said, "So, those little author reports... that's certainly something, huh?"

"Indeed." Tucker nodded. "I'm not sure where to begin on our favorite writers."

"The library?" Phoebe rolled her eyes.

"I just never figured you as a Bond fan, Rhonda." Arnold said as he was climbing up next to me.

"I read a few of the books, I guess you can say I'm an avid fan." I explained.

"Hmmm... hey, you know, I have a few books back in the boarding house." Arnold said as he smiled.

"I know. I looked through your room thoroughly at least once or twice and read one of them when you weren't looking." I thought to myself, but actually said, "Oh? Fan of Bond yourself, hm?"

"You might say that..." Arnold blushed. "Hey, if there's a book you don't have, but I do, I'll be happy to loan it to you."

I gave a really big smile, but kept a neutral face as I said, "Thanks, Arnold. I really appreciate that."

"Anyway, for my report, I was thinking about doing something really special." Arnold said.

"What's that?" I asked as we all looked towards him in curiosity.

"Well, I want to find out more about Agatha Caulfield. What makes her tick? And I bet she's a really amazing person." Arnold said.

"You want to do a personal interview with her?" Lila asked. "It's ever so nice you want to do this, but is Agatha Caulfield even... you know... alive?"

"Actually, yes she is." I nodded. "She's living on Elk Island."

Everyone except Nadine and Phoebe paused as they looked at me, Gerald asking, "How do you know that?"

"Well, during that Pig War reenactment thing, looking for a few friends, I saw a house and her face on one of the cameras that was spotted nearby." I explained. "My guess is that after the whole amusement park thing on Elk Island shut down, she moved over to Elk Island either a couple decades after to hide out in obscurity."

"Wait a minute, Rhonda. Most of us have BEEN to Elk Island, some of us twice and Lila has never been." Tucker frowned. "I have not seen any other people living there!"

"Probably because we didn't explore the whole island." Arnold paused. "Hmmm... if what you say is true, Rhonda, then I'll have to meet up with her myself! I can probably go see Sheena's Uncle Earl and ask to give me a lift over there. Maybe he knows specifically where Agatha Caulfield is."

"Arnold, you're a great guy, but you're really stubborn." I sighed. "Besides, she's pretty old from what I've seen, and slightly annoyed by the noises that were caused during the Pig War. I don't know if she'll like guests."

"I got to try anyway." Arnold said as we heard the recess bell ring. As we lined up to go inside, I sighed. That's my buddy-slash-crush, always determined.

Well, whilst Arnold was doing his own method of trying to get Agatha Caulfield to do an interview, I was doing a little more... proper research. Unlike Arnold's favorite author, I was well aware that my favorite author, Ian Fleming, died sometime in the sixties, so I decided to get going on my report.

It wasn't really that hard to do, really. For my first page, I dedicated it to some of Ian Fleming, on who he is and what his childhood was like, citing my sources, of course. Little by little, I decided to do thirty minutes of research each day as I kept going, then see what I can do to write a paper on it.

I didn't really know about Ian's time during World War II, which made me pretty interested. I started reading about that and taking some notes so that way I could have something really interesting to work with. It felt good just researching an author. I realize how hard it is to do for some students, but once you get down to it, it's pretty easy. I know how someone like Olga feels when writing a report.

Pretty soon, about a week past by quickly as our reports were ready. I gave my report the best I could as I read it all. Everyone else read their reports as well, including Arnold. Looks like he managed to at least get an interview with Agatha Caulfield, at least. I didn't want to question him, but from the sound of it, it sounded a little bitter and cold. Well, maybe things'll turn out better.

Anyway, as Nadine, Lila, Phoebe and I were walking out to lunch, Phoebe took a deep breath. "So, the school dance is this weekend, and Arnold's in charge of getting the entertainment."

I stopped short as I turned to her. "What?"

"The school dance for the fourth graders? Don't you remember?" Nadine asked.

I looked at Nadine with a blank stare.

Nadine snapped her fingers. "Oh, right, that was the very first thing we did that morning you were sick. Mr. Simmons announced a school dance, and put Arnold in charge of entertainment. We managed to have you in charge of decorations. And it's a fourth graders only ordeal."

"Oh..." I blinked.

"Yeah, sorry we forgot to tell you. We meant to, but I guess we were ever so busy." Lila said.

"So..." Phoebe smirked. "This is your big opportunity! It's all fourth graders, this is your big chance!"

I paused in shock. "You girls are serious about this?"

Nadine, Lila and Phoebe smiled and nodded.

I was actually shocked, yet surprised at the same time. I could hardly believe it! I know I'm literally re-stating and thinking what Phoebe told me, but... I have an opportunity to ask Arnold out to the school dance!

And there's episode ninety-nine! How do you like it? Anyway, read, review, criticize and suggest, folks! And don't forget to check out and/or make edits to the TVTropes page of this story!