First Day, Worst Day Read online

  1

  Dares and Doable Dares

  We’re going to have to do homework!” eight-year-old Joe Hardy groaned. He was walking down a shady Bayport street on the first day of school.

  Frank, Joe’s nine-year-old brother, smiled. “You don’t have to worry,” Frank said as he kicked a rock down the sidewalk. “You always get good grades.”

  “That was at our old school,” Joe said glumly.

  The Hardy family had moved to Bayport over the summer. Frank and Joe had spent several weeks exploring their new hometown. They’d even made new friends—including Chet Morton.

  Chet waved at the Hardy brothers from the corner of his street. He munched on a doughnut as he waited. Beside him stood his seven-year-old sister, Iola.

  “Hey, Joe,” Chet said with his mouth full. “Hi, Frank.”

  “Are you ready to meet your new teachers?” Iola asked.

  Frank nodded as everyone started down the street together. “I’m sure Mrs. Burton will be nice,” he said.

  Chet and Frank had already figured out that they were in the same fourth-grade class. Their teacher’s name was Mrs. Burton.

  Joe was a year younger than the other boys. He was in Mrs. Adair’s third-grade class with Mike Mendez, another one of the boys’ new friends.

  “Well, I’m not taking any chances,” Chet said. He pulled a shiny red apple out of his jacket pocket. “I brought Mrs. Burton a present.”

  “An apple for the teacher?” Joe made a face. “Whose idea was that? Your grandmother’s?”

  “Not exactly.” Chet laughed. “Here, take a bite.” He turned the apple around and waved it in Joe’s face.

  Joe jumped back. A slimy-looking worm was crawling out of the apple. Joe leaned forward to look at it more closely. The worm and apple were both made of plastic.

  Frank laughed. “I dare you to give that to Mrs. Burton!”

  Chet slipped the apple back into his pocket. “Maybe next week. I don’t want to get into trouble on the first day.”

  Frank, Joe, Chet, and Iola turned into the school yard. Bayport Elementary was a low, modern building, with trees all around and a large playground behind it. The school had classes from kindergarten through the sixth grade.

  “ ’Bye,” Iola called as she ran to join a group of her second-grade friends. A lot of kids were standing outside, waiting for school to start. A few younger kids were hugging their parents and crying. A group of older kids was playing tag. Everyone else was yelling or talking. It was noisy.

  Joe nudged Frank. “What’s Tanya doing?”

  The boys knew Tanya Wilkins from karate class. The dark-haired girl was standing with a friend in the middle of the playground. Both girls were staring up at the sky.

  “I don’t know,” Frank said. “Why don’t you ask her?”

  Joe made a face. “I don’t like girls.”

  “Sounds like you’re afraid of them,” Chet said.

  “Am not!” Joe said quickly.

  “Joe’s scared of Tanya,” Chet said in a singsong voice.

  “I am not! And I’ll prove it.” Joe stomped over to the girls. “Hey, Tanya, what are you looking at?” he said.

  Tanya kept looking up. “I’m looking at the sky. The newspaper said a balloon race is passing over Bayport this morning.”

  Joe looked up, too. “I don’t see any balloons.”

  “They’re not supposed to be here for half an hour,” Tanya said with a sigh. “Why can’t school start a little later?”

  “Why can’t school start tomorrow?” Tanya’s friend said. “Or next week? Or never?”

  “Um, I don’t know,” Joe said. “See you!”

  Joe ran back to Frank and Chet. He didn’t want too many kids to see him talking to a couple of girls. If they did, he figured he might never make friends at Bayport Elementary.

  “They’re looking for hot-air balloons,” Joe reported to Frank and Chet. “There’s supposed to be a race starting in half an hour.”

  Chet opened his lunch bag and pulled out a handful of jelly beans. He threw one into the air. He was about to catch the jelly bean in his mouth when someone bumped into him.

  “Hey!” Chet spun around. “You made me drop . . . ” His voice trailed off when he realized who had bumped into him.

  It was Zack Jackson, the bully of Bayport. Zack’s dark hair stuck up in sharp spikes. As usual, his arms were covered with rub-on tattoos. Zack was always looking for a chance to fight. He even fought with his own friends!

  Zack wasn’t paying any attention to Chet and the Hardys. He was poking a small, dark-haired boy in the chest. The boy was shorter than Joe.

  “Come on, chicken,” Zack said. “I dare you to pull the fire alarm.”

  The other boy frowned and scuffed his sneaker on the ground. “Darers go first,” he mumbled.

  “Who’s that kid?” Joe asked. “I’ve never seen him with Zack before.”

  “Tony Prito,” Chet explained. “He lives near you guys. He’s tough but not mean like Zack.”

  “Do you think he’ll pull the fire alarm?” Frank’s eyes were wide.

  “I don’t think Tony would do anything that stupid,” Chet said. “If he got caught, he’d be in big trouble.”

  Just then the bell rang. A woman carrying a clipboard came out of the building. She blew a whistle and everyone grew quiet.

  “Hello, students,” the woman called. “I’m Ms. Vaughn, your principal. Welcome to Bayport Elementary. Now I need each of you to line up with your class. You should know the number of your classroom. Please look for the line on the ground with that number painted on it.”

  “Come on!” Chet pulled Frank toward their class.

  “See you at recess,” Frank called to Joe.

  “Later!” Joe called back.

  Joe knew Mrs. Adair’s class was in Room 112. He looked down at the ground. Yellow numbers were painted next to some lines. Joe found the line with the number 112 and stood next to it.

  Mrs. Adair was standing at the head of the line. She had a long blond ponytail and a friendly smile.

  Joe noticed that Tony Prito was in line in front of him.

  “Hi!” Mike Mendez walked up to Joe. “What do you think of Bayport Elementary?”

  Joe laughed. “So far all I’ve seen is the playground. But it’s really nice.”

  “Okay, class, follow me!” Mrs. Adair called.

  Joe and Mike walked together. Mrs. Adair led the way into a brightly lit classroom where the desks were arranged in neat rows.

  “Find the desk with your name on it,” Mrs. Adair told the class.

  Joe walked down the rows until he found his desk. His name was written in blue marker on a piece of paper. The paper was taped to the right-hand corner of the desk.

  Good, Joe thought as he slipped into his seat. I’m glad I’m not in front. Joe didn’t like sitting close to teachers. Even nice teachers like Mrs. Adair.

  After everyone sat down, Joe glanced to his right. A girl was sitting at the next desk. Another girl was sitting on Joe’s left. Mike was way up near the front. At least there’s a boy sitting in front of me, Joe thought.

  Mrs. Adair took attendance. She wrote her name on the board. She explained that during class students weren’t allowed in the hallway without a pass.

  “Please raise your hand whenever you need to use the bathroom,” she said.

  Tony immediately raised his hand. “May I go to the bathroom?” he asked.

  “Sure,” Mrs. Adair said. She held out the bathroom pass. Tony got it and hurried out the door.

  “We’re going to begin with some reading,” Mrs. Adair said. She picked up a stack of books.

  Just then a loud bell began to clang in the hallway.

&n
bsp; Oh, no! Joe thought. That’s the fire alarm!

  2

  Tony’s in Trouble

  Mrs. Adair hesitated for a moment. Then she put the reading books down on her desk. “Line up quickly, children. We have to go outside.”

  Joe got up and stood in line. Mike was up near the front.

  A boy wearing a bright blue shirt was standing in front of Joe. He was tall and wore silver-framed glasses. The boy had the desk right in front of Joe’s. Joe remembered his name from attendance. It was Malcolm.

  “This must be a drill,” Malcolm said.

  “I don’t think so,” Joe said. “Mrs. Adair seems really surprised.”

  “Quiet, please!” Mrs. Adair called. She led the class out onto the front lawn of the building.

  Outside, Joe blinked in the sunlight. He looked at the school building. He noticed that there were no flames and no smoke.

  Mrs. Adair was talking to another teacher. Joe couldn’t hear what they were saying, but they both kept shaking their heads and shrugging.

  Classes were still streaming out of the building. Joe spotted Frank and Chet. They came out of the building just after a teacher who had curly brown hair. That must be Mrs. Burton, Joe thought.

  Just then Joe heard Tanya shout across the playground, “Ooh—look at the balloons. They’re so pretty!”

  Joe glanced up. Three brightly colored hot-air balloons were slowly drifting across the sky. Neat, Joe thought.

  “Here come the fire trucks!” Malcolm announced.

  Joe heard the waa-waa-waa of the sirens, too. He turned toward the street just in time to see three bright red fire trucks turn into the school driveway. Firefighters hopped out of the truck and rushed toward the building.

  A younger boy who was standing with another class began to jump up and down. Joe noticed that the boy was standing with Iola.

  “Malcolm, what are the firefighters doing now?” the boy asked. “Can you see them?”

  “That’s my cousin Brad,” Malcolm explained to Joe. “He’s seven. He’s in Ms. Goodwin’s second-grade class.”

  Malcolm stood on his tiptoes, so that he could get a better view. “They just went inside,” he reported.

  “Firefighters are so cool,” Brad said as he and Iola walked over. “I can’t wait until I grow up. I’m going to be the best firefighter ever!”

  “The firefighters are coming out,” Iola said.

  Everyone watched as the firefighters clumped out the door in their heavy boots. One of them stopped to talk to Ms. Vaughn. Then the firefighters headed for their truck.

  “I told you it was a drill,” Malcolm said.

  Brad shook his head. “Firefighters don’t come if it’s just a drill. I’ll bet somebody pulled the alarm.”

  Maybe it was Zack, Joe thought. He could have pulled the alarm. Or Tony could have done it.

  Tony! Joe realized that Tony had the perfect chance. Tony was out of the room when the alarm rang. Mrs. Adair had given him the bathroom pass.

  • • •

  Twenty minutes later Mrs. Adair’s class was settled back in their room. A girl named Keiko was reading out loud.

  “Mrs. Adair, the principal’s here!” Malcolm called.

  Joe glanced up. He saw Ms. Vaughn walk into the classroom. The class instantly grew quiet.

  “Hello, Mrs. Adair,” Ms. Vaughn said. “May I talk to your class for a moment?”

  “Of course,” Mrs. Adair said. She walked to one side of the room.

  Ms. Vaughn leaned back against the teacher’s desk. She looked out over the class.

  “Someone in this school pulled the fire alarm this morning,” Ms. Vaughn said with a frown. “Now, I’m sure all of you know that pulling the fire alarm is extremely dangerous.”

  “But none of my students did it,” Mrs. Adair said. “They were all right here in class.”

  “Except for Tony,” Joe mumbled. He didn’t realize he had spoken out loud. Ms. Vaughn give him a sharp look. Then she looked at Tony.

  “Tony, where were you when the alarm went off?” Ms. Vaughn asked.

  Tony turned pale. Then he turned bright red. “I was in the bathroom, but—”

  “Yes, that’s true,” Mrs. Adair said. “Tony asked permission to go to the bathroom about a minute before the alarm went off.”

  Malcolm turned around and gave Joe an angry look. “Tattletale,” he whispered.

  “I didn’t mean to tell,” Joe whispered back. He slid down farther in his seat. Joe wished he could take back what he had said. But it was too late for that now.

  “I didn’t pull the alarm,” Tony told the principal. “Cross my heart.”

  Ms. Vaughn looked thoughtful.

  Please believe him, Joe thought. Pretty, pretty please! He didn’t want his classmates to think he was a tattletale. He was sure everyone would forget all about it—but only if Tony didn’t get in trouble.

  Two girls near the front were whispering.

  Ms. Vaughn turned to them. “Debbie, Liz, do you have something to add?”

  The girls looked at each other.

  “On the playground this morning,” Debbie said quietly, “I heard somebody dare Tony to pull the fire alarm.”

  “I heard it, too,” Liz added.

  Ms. Vaughn frowned and shook her head. She motioned to Tony. “Tony, please come with me. I’d like to speak with you in the office. Mrs. Adair, thank you for letting me talk to your class.”

  Joe bit his lip as he watched Tony follow Ms. Vaughn out of the classroom. Tony is in big trouble, Joe thought. And it’s all my fault!

  3

  The Clues Brothers to the Rescue

  Tony came back into the room about ten minutes later. He quietly slipped into his seat. But as soon as Mrs. Adair wasn’t looking, Tony turned around and gave Joe an angry look.

  He looks mad, Joe thought unhappily. I guess that means he got into trouble.

  A boy named Kevin finished reading.

  Tony took his turn. Then Mrs. Adair collected the reading books.

  “Good news,” Mrs. Adair said with a smile. “It’s time for recess. Let’s line up.”

  Joe and Mike got in line together. Malcolm was right in front of them.

  “Let’s play dodgeball,” Mike suggested.

  “Sounds good to me,” Joe agreed. “Do you want to play?” he asked Malcolm.

  “Not if you’re playing,” Malcolm said.

  Joe blinked. “Why not?”

  “Because I don’t play with tattletales,” Malcolm said.

  Joe felt his face get hot. He knew he was blushing.

  The line started to move. Joe hurried after Malcolm. “I’m not a tattletale!”

  Malcolm snorted. “Of course you’re not,” he said.

  Joe slowed down. His throat felt tight. Uh-oh, Joe thought. I’m never going to make friends at Bayport Elementary now!

  “Forget him,” Mike said.

  “Okay,” Joe said. But he couldn’t just forget what happened.

  When the boys got outside, they saw Frank and Chet.

  Frank waved to them. “Joe! Mike! Come on, we’re going to play dodgeball.”

  “All right!” Joe swallowed the lump in his throat and ran toward his brother.

  Mike was right behind him.

  “Chet already got into trouble,” Frank told the others while they waited for the game to start. “Mrs. Burton got mad at him for chewing gum.”

  “Only it wasn’t gum,” Chet said. “It was potato chips. Hey, here comes Tony.”

  Joe spun around just in time to see Tony reach out and push him as hard as he could. Joe felt himself fly through the air. He landed on his backside. He immediately jumped to his feet and pushed Tony back.

  “Fight!” someone called. A group of kids started to gather around.

  Tony bunched his hands into fists. He stepped forward. “Come on,” he said to Joe.

  Joe raised his fists.

  “Whoa!” Frank stepped between Joe and Tony. He held them apart.
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br />   Chet held down Joe’s arms. “Why are you guys fighting?” he asked.

  Tony struggled to break free. “Thanks to Joe’s big mouth, Ms. Vaughn thinks I pulled the fire alarm!” he yelled. “And I didn’t!”

  “Prove it,” Joe said to Tony.

  “I didn’t have time to get to the fire alarm,” Tony said. “The fire alarm is all the way down the hall from Mrs. Adair’s room.”

  Chet nodded. “Down by the cafeteria.”

  “That’s right.” Tony nodded. “It would take me at least a minute to get there. But I was only out of the room for about twenty seconds. I barely got to the bathroom, which is much closer.”

  Joe thought about Tony’s explanation. “You could have run,” he said.

  “Not that fast,” Chet said. “Trust me. I know exactly how long it takes to get to the cafeteria.”

  “I didn’t do anything,” Tony said, “but Ms. Vaughn is going to call my parents. And I have to spend three lunches in the Time Out room. I won’t get to play dodgeball after lunch for three whole days!”

  “I’m sorry, Tony,” Joe said. “I just said you were out of the room. And I didn’t even mean to say that. It just slipped out.”

  “Why don’t you tell Ms. Vaughn what you told us?” Frank asked Tony. “You know—about not being out of your classroom long enough to pull the alarm.”

  “I tried,” Tony said. “But Ms. Vaughn wouldn’t believe me. She thinks I’m a troublemaker because I got caught fighting last year.”

  “I wish I could get you out of trouble,” Joe told Tony.

  Frank looked at his brother. “Maybe we can.”

  “How?” Joe asked.

  “We could find out who really pulled the alarm,” Frank said.

  “Great idea!” Chet said. “The Clues Brothers to the rescue!”

  Tony looked puzzled.

  “Who are the Clues Brothers?” Malcolm asked.

  Frank smiled at Malcolm. “The Clues Brothers are me and my brother. I’m Frank Hardy. Joe’s my younger brother. The two of us solve mysteries.”

  “They’re the best detectives in the world,” Chet said.

  “Or at least in Bayport,” Joe said.

  “I named them the Clues Brothers,” Mike said proudly.