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Chapter 1
    “I’ve got it! I’ve got it!”
    The football soared right towards Katie Carew. She ran towards the ball, reached out her hands and ... oomph! She missed it completely.
    “You took your eyes off it again,” Katie’s best friend, Jeremy Fox, said, jogging up to her. He pushed his thin wire glasses higher up on his nose and ran his hands through his curly brown hair.
    “I know,” Katie replied simply. What else could she say?
    “Katie, I can’t believe you did that!” Kevin Camilleri shouted across the field. “You lost the whole game for us.”
    Just then George Brennan came charging across the field. He had a big smile on his face. Katie groaned. Of course George was happy. His team had just won the game—thanks to Katie’s fumble!
    “Don’t yell at the secret weapon,” George told Kevin.
    “Secret weapon? Are you kidding?” Kevin asked. “Secret weapons help win games, George.”
    “Exactly,” George agreed. “Katie’s the secret weapon for our team!”
    Katie blinked her eyes tight. She didn’t want George to see her cry.
    “Forget about George,” Jeremy whispered to Katie. “He can’t help being mean. He was just born that way.”
    Katie tried to smile. “Could be,” she said.
    The truth was, Katie wasn’t really sure why George was nasty to everyone in class 3A. Most new kids tried to make friends. Not George. He tried to make enemies.

    Just then, Katie’s other best friend, Suzanne Lock, ran across the playground to them. “Let’s go play on the monkey bars for a while,” she suggested, pulling Katie and Jeremy away from George. “I’ll bet I can hang upside down longer than either of you.”
    Katie stared at Suzanne. Her friend was wearing a skirt! “You’re going to turn upside down in that?” Katie asked.
    “Sure!” Suzanne said, yanking her skirt up to her bellybutton.
    Katie’s mouth flew open.
    Jeremy blushed.
    “It’s okay, you guys,” Suzanne laughed. “See, I’m wearing shorts under here. This way I can wear a skirt and still play.”
    Katie laughed. Leave it to Suzanne to find a way to look pretty and still hang upside down on the jungle gym.
    “Okay! Last one at the monkey bars is a rotten egg,” Katie called as she dashed away.
    Suzanne and Jeremy took off after Katie. Katie held on to her lead, but not for long. Jeremy was the fastest runner in the class. He quickly pulled up next to Katie. Katie took a deep breath. She moved her feet faster than ever. But not fast enough. Jeremy zoomed into the lead.
    Katie frowned. Well, at least she was ahead of Suzanne. Katie turned her head to see just how far behind Suzanne was and ...
    Splat!
    Katie stepped right into a big, wet puddle. Gushy brown mud splashed all over her. Katie stopped running and looked down at her jeans.
    “Oh, no!” she cried out. “What a mess!”
    Katie wasn’t kidding. She was a total mess. There were mud splatters all over her jeans. Her favorite jeans—the ones with the pink and blue flowers embroidered all over them.

    If this were first grade, Katie could have changed into the clean clothes in her cubby. But Katie was in third grade now. Nobody in third grade kept a change of clothes at school. That was for babies. Katie was going to have to wear her mud-stained jeans for the whole rest of the day.
    “Nice one, Carew,” George shouted across the yard. “Check it out, everybody! There’s a Mud Monster in the playground.”
    George stuck his arms straight out and walked around the yard pretending to be Frankenstein. The other kids laughed.
    Katie wanted to cry. This was the worst recess ever. She wished Mrs. Derkman would blow her whistle and make everyone go in to class. Even doing schoolwork had to be better than this!
    “George, go away or I’m gonna tell,” Suzanne warned as she ran over to defend her friend.
    A big smile formed on George’s chubby, round face. “Yeah, like I’m real scared,” he laughed while he pretended to tremble. “What’s Mrs. Jerkman