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sneak around the school offices, listening in on conversations? Not likely. Did he have a ring of spies in the school administration? Even less likely. But somehow he always knew what was going to happen before it happened.
    “So, tell us, Big Guy,” said Queenie McBear, poking her on-again, off-again boyfriend in the stomach, “what’s it about?”
    “Swimming pool,” said Too-Tall matter-of-factly.
    “A swimming pool?” said Queenie. “You mean here at school?”
    Too-Tall nodded.
    “They’re gonna build a swimming pool?” said Barry.
    Too-Tall nodded again. “And you know what that means,” he said.
    “Swimming classes!” said Brother Bear.
    “Maybe even a swimming team!” added Sister Bear.
    “Oh, my …,” said Ferdy Factual, putting a hand to his mouth. He looked worried.

    That made Too-Tall chuckle. He had guessed that the new pool would cause great excitement among the student body—and great anxiety among the students about their bodies. Especially students like Nerdy Ferdy. There was a school joke that Ferdy was a thirty-eight-pound weakling, and twenty pounds of that was his brain.

    Skuzz couldn’t wait to add to Ferdy’s anxiety. “And the classes are gonna be code!” he said.
    “Of course they’ll be cold,” said Barry. “Unless they give us a heated pool, that is.”
    “Don’t pay no attention to Skuzz,” said Too-Tall. “He’s an idiot.” He popped his deputy on the shoulder with a big fist. “You don’t say it code , moron! It’s coed . Co-ed. It means boys and girls together. Get it?”
    “I know what it means,” said Skuzz. “I just don’t know how to say it.”
    “If I had a nickel for every thing you don’t know,” said Too-Tall, “I’d be richer than Squire Grizzly.”
    “Gee, I’d better get a bathing suit,” said Ferdy to no one in particular.
    “Now, don’t panic, little guy,” said Too-Tall. “Everybody’s gotta wear school-issue black bathing suits.”
    “Oh, no!” gasped Queenie. “I wouldn’t be caught dead in a school-issue black bathing suit!”
    “Whaddya mean?” said Too-Tall. “You’d look good in a black bathing suit.”
    Queenie blushed in spite of herself. “Gee, thanks,” she said. “But school-issue? They probably look like the suits my mother wears.”
    Too-Tall shrugged. “I’ve seen your mother in a bathing suit,” he said, “and she don’t look half bad.”
    “That’s enough, you big oaf!” snapped Queenie. “You can flirt with me all you like, but how dare you flirt with my mother! ” She stuck her nose in the air and stalked off.
    Too-Tall looked puzzled. “Hey, what gives, Queen? Your mother ain’t even here!” He looked at his gang. “What was I supposed to say? That her mother’s ugly?”
    “No, boss,” said Vinnie.
    “Of course not,” said Smirk.
    “She’s just a fickle girl,” added Skuzz.

    “Skuzz, dear,” said Bonnie Brown, “a guy who can’t pronounce ‘coed’ shouldn’t use big words like ‘fickle.’”
    “Hey,” said Too-Tall, “if I’d thought this pool thing would start a spat like this, I wouldn’t have brought it up in the first place.”
    Now Queenie came slinking back. “I’m sorry, Big Guy,” she cooed. “I know you didn’t mean it. So, who’s gonna be the swimming teacher?”
    “Now I ain’t tellin’ ya,” said Too-Tall.
    Queenie grabbed Too-Tall’s left arm and twisted it.
    “Not even if you twist my arm,” said Too-Tall.
    Queenie twisted a little harder, but then stopped because the bell had just rung to start the school day.



Chapter 2
    “Why, When I Was in School …”
    As usual, Too-Tall turned out to be right. Before classes started, there was a special announcement over the loudspeaker from Mr. Honeycomb, the principal. And it was indeed about the construction of an indoor swimming pool, to be completed in less than two weeks. The announcement closed with some details about swimming classes and tryouts for the new swimming team.
    By the