Mac raised both arms like a football ref. “Three points!” he declared.
“Terrence!” exclaimed Mrs. Jewls.
“Sorry, the Cloud of Doom made me do it,” said Terrence.
“Mac,” said Mrs. Jewls. “You know better.”
“Cloud of—”
“Enough!” shouted Mrs. Jewls. “I get it. It’s hard with that cloud hanging over us all the time. But you can’t blame it for everything that goes wrong. You have to take responsibility. And that means working extra hard so things don’t go wrong! So, I’m doubling all your homework.”
“That’s not fair!” complained Benjamin.
Mrs. Jewls told Benjamin to write his name on the blackboard under the word DISCIPLINE.
“The Ultimate Test will start Monday,” Mrs. Jewls declared. “It will take three days to complete, and you better be prepared, cloud or no cloud!”
There were lots of groans.
Mrs. Jewls returned to Joy’s desk. She crossed out the B, and this time gave her an F minus.
“Terrence, there’s a broom in the back closet. I want you to pick up the trash basket and sweep the floor. Mac will help you.
“Everyone else, get in line behind Benjamin, and write your names on the blackboard under DISCIPLINE.”
There were more moans and groans as everyone rose from their seats.
“Except you, Todd,” ordered Mrs. Jewls. “You’re the only one who’s been good.”
Todd sat back down. He scratched his head.
“You used to be a nice teacher,” said Rondi as she made her way to the blackboard.
“Why are you so mean?” asked Allison.
Mrs. Jewls just shrugged, and said, “Cloud-a-Doom.”
Above them, the dark cloud continued to churn, as it turned itself inside out again and again. No one hardly noticed it anymore, but it continued to grow larger and more powerful every day.
Lightning flashed inside the cloud, where no one could see it. Thunder boomed where no one could hear it. What happened in the cloud, stayed in the cloud.
For now.
24
The Ultimate Test, Day One
The four Unbreakables met by the flagpole before school. “Don’t worry, Maurecia,” said Joy. “When you get sent back to kindergarten, I will still be your friend.”
“Thanks,” said Maurecia. “I know you’ll do great. Nobody can jump rope like you can.”
“True,” Joy agreed.
“And Ron’s memorized every page in the dictionary,” said Deedee.
Ron smiled. “Joy’s a good speller too,” he pointed out. “You always get a hundred percent on your spelling tests.”
“True,” Joy agreed.
“And one of Deedee’s legs is shorter than the other,” said Maurecia.
Deedee smiled. “Just lucky I guess,” she admitted.
They locked thumbs and pinkies and shouted, “Unbreakable!”
Maurecia glanced up at the Cloud of Doom, then followed her friends into the school building.
“I hope everyone’s ready,” Mrs. Jewls greeted her class. “You just need to remember everything you’ve ever learned in your whole life.”
The children looked nervously around.
The test would last three days. Each day would have several minor tests, and one Major Event. On day one, the Major Event was a spelling bee.
“You mean we have to spell the words out loud?” asked Joy.
“That’s how a spelling bee works,” said Mrs. Jewls.
Joy did a lot better when she could write the words. She was a master of fudge-squiggles. If she didn’t know the letter, she made a fudge-squiggle that could have been any number of letters. Mrs. Jewls always gave her the benefit of the doubt.
All the children stood along the wall as they waited for their turns. If they missed a word, they would have to sit down.
Mac couldn’t spell curious. Leslie missed squawked. Jason went out on confidential.
“Dilly-dally,” said Mrs. Jewls.
“Dilly-dally,” Todd repeated. He got every letter right, but left out the hyphen.
“It’s not even a letter,” he protested, when Mrs. Jewls told him to sit down.
Jenny missed skateboard.
Joy was next.
“Helicopter,” said Mrs. Jewls.
“Helicopter,” Joy repeated. “H-e-l—” She was stuck. She didn’t know if there was one or two l’s, and she didn’t know if the letter after that was an e or an i. If she could have written it, she could have made the perfect fudge-squiggles to cover all the possibilities.
She returned to her seat.
Deedee was eliminated on eliminated. A short leg didn’t help with spelling.
After a while, only three students remained: John, Ron, and Maurecia.
“Spectacle,” said Mrs. Jewls.
“Spectacle,” John repeated. “S-k-e-p-t-i-c-a-l.”
Only Ron and Maurecia remained.
“Orchestra,” said Mrs. Jewls.
Murmurs could be heard around the room. Nobody thought Ron could do it.
“Orchestra,” Ron repeated, and then spelled it perfectly.
“Vacuum,” said Mrs. Jewls.
Maurecia wasn’t sure if there were two c’s and one u, or two u’s and one c, but she guessed right.
Mrs. Jewls closed her dictionary. “Well, that’s all the dictionary words,” she announced. “I guess I’ll have to use words that aren’t in the dictionary.”
It was Ron’s turn.
“Thruppledub,” said Mrs. Jewls.
Ron had memorized the entire dictionary. How was he supposed to spell un-dictionary words? “May I have the definition?” he asked.
“It’s when you count to three, and fall asleep in the middle,” said Mrs. Jewls.
“Oh, that’s easy,” Ron said, then correctly spelled the nonword.
“Fudge-squiggle,” said Mrs. Jewls.
Maurecia spelled it perfectly. She even included the hyphen, having learned from Todd’s earlier mistake.
“Whummph,” said Mrs. Jewls.
Again Ron asked for the definition.
“It’s the sound made by a jump rope as it brushes against the ground,” explained Mrs. Jewls.
Ron gave it his best shot. “W-h-u-m-p-h.”
“I’m sorry, Ron,” said Mrs. Jewls. “There are two m’s in whummph.”
“I win!” Maurecia exclaimed.
The class cheered.
Ron felt cheated. If it’s a made-up word, who gets to decide the number of m’s?
Maurecia’s smile was big and bright.
Ron was not smiling.
25
Jump Rope Arithmetic
On day two, the Major Event was Jump Rope Arithmetic. It is just what you’d expect from the name. The children had to answer arithmetic problems while jumping rope.
They earned one point for each jump of a rope. They could choose either to use one rope, or two at a time. Two ropes were harder, but the points added up more quickly.
If they answered a problem wrong, or tripped over a rope, they were done.
Joy, of course, chose two ropes. This was her special talent, like Joe’s upside-down “Jingle Bells,” or Dana’s funny faces.