Read Philip Gets Even (9781597050807) for Free Online Page A

softly.
    “Don’t be funny. This is a serious matter.”
Luckily, Mr. Greif’s secretary appeared at his office door and
beckoned him. He stepped outside to talk to her.
    “We didn’t make any noises,” said Emery. “How
could anybody hear us?”
    “Don’t you get it? Johnny Visco probably sent
one of his friends to say he heard noises. They knew we’d be in
there. They locked us in and then went to tell Mr. Greif they heard
noises so we’d get caught in there.”
    “Oh,” said Emery. “Shall we tell on Johnny
Visco?”
    Philip gave him a long look. “So he can do
more stuff to us? Mr. Greif wouldn’t believe it anyway. I think we
just better keep quiet until he lets us go.”
    Mr. Greif returned. “Okay, you two. For the
next two days come to my office after you eat your lunch. No
playing for either of you. And tomorrow morning I want a full-page
composition from each of you telling me what you did wrong and why
it’s important to follow school rules. And I’ll be expecting a
phone call from one of your parents sometime tomorrow between eight
o’clock and four o’clock. Any questions?”
    Neither boy had a question.
    “Now go back to your class. And take this
note so your teacher knows where you were.”
    Emery took the note and the boys left the
office.
    “Doesn’t even look like his signature,” Emery
mumbled after inspecting the note.
    Philip looked at him. “It doesn’t look like
his signature? You just saw him sign it.”
    “But it doesn’t look like the other
signature.”
    “That was Johnny Visco’s, dummy!”
    “Oh, yeah. This is not being a good day,”
Emery said glumly.
    Their teacher was lining up the class when
the boys reentered the classroom.
    “Where were you two?” she asked.
    Emery handed her the note.
    The teacher made a puzzled face and shook her
head.
    “Copy your homework, pack up,” she said, “and
join us in art.”
    The class left the room and the boys went to
their desks.
    Philip reached inside his desk for his
notebook and pulled out three M & Ms. “Emery.”
    Emery looked inside his desk. “Me, too.” He
pulled out three more M & Ms.
    “Don’t eat them, Emery!”
    “Oh,” he said, taking his hand away from his
mouth. He dropped the candy on the floor and followed Philip out of
the room.
    Ms. Trinetti glared when they entered her
room.
    Emery gave her a little wave of his hand.
    “Yes, hello to both of you. You’re just in
time to hear what I have to say.”
    Philip and Emery took their seats and looked
down, unwilling to meet Ms. Trinetti’s eyes.
    Finally, Ms. Trinetti said, “We had something
of an unsuccessful art show yesterday.”
    The class giggled and Philip and Emery
squirmed.
    “I had hoped to try again at that art
gallery, but it seems they’re booked for the next ten years, or so
they told me.”
    The class laughed again and Philip and Emery
squirmed again.
    “So I’m looking into a few things, and I hope
I’ll have something to announce very soon. The art that you boys
and girls submitted was very well done.”
    The boy who sat behind Philip leaned forward
and whispered, “And tasty, too.”
    The children who heard the whisper
giggled.
    Ms. Trinetti frowned and waited for
quiet.
    “Until then I want everyone to put his and
her art in a safe place. We’ll try again very soon. Now, today, I
have a slide show about the French Impressionists to present to
you.”
    Philip was grateful that slide shows were
presented in the dark because in the dark was exactly where he
wanted to be. He peeked at Emery, who glanced back at him and
rolled his eyes. Then both boys locked their attention on the
screen in the front of the room.
    ~ * ~
    Philip waited for his father to come home
from work so he would have to explain his day in school only once.
He talked as fast as he could so his parents couldn’t question him
and told them how Johnny Visco had tricked him and Emery and gotten
them both into trouble.
    When he finished, his parents could