"There. I told you so," Jimmy said loudly to the girl standing next to him.
"Don't start a fight about it, Jimmy," said Mrs. Stogbuchner, who was now at the back of the line. "Let's walk inside quietly. No running!" she called, as Jimmy started rushing off.
In just a few minutes, Baartock found himself sitting right next to Jason, at one of the low tables in the classroom. Mrs. Stogbuchner, standing in front of the classroom was saying, "We have someone new in class." Everybody was looking around. "Baartock, please stand up. This is his first day."
Baartock stood up, but he was embarrassed. Now everybody knew this was his first day, he'd never be able to scare anybody. He was still standing, when Mrs. Stogbuchner said, "You may sit down now, Baartock."
Jason reached up and pulled Baartock back onto his chair. A couple of children at the next table were giggling, and several others were whispering something and pointing at him. Baartock felt uncomfortable. He wasn't really too interested in the papers that were passed around. But he got interested in making the marks on the paper, when Jason helped him color the worksheet. There were so many bright colors. He got so interested in coloring that he didn't pay any attention to anything else. It didn't seem very long before Mrs. Stogbuchner said, "It's time to get everything put away now."
Jason whispered to him, "Where do you live?"
"That way," said Baartock, pointing. That was the way a troll would give directions. Just point in the direction you were supposed to go, and then walk until you got there. In spite of everything that had happened today, he knew just exactly where his home was. He had been so busy, he hadn't thought about it until now. "Want to go home," he said.
"We all get to go home in just a few minutes, Baartock," said Mrs. Stogbuchner, who had been walking around making sure that everything was put away. "Everybody sits down quietly and waits for the bell."
Baartock started to ask Jason, "What's bell?" But he only got to say "What's . . .."
Mrs. Stogbuchner was still standing behind him. "Baartock, in this classroom, 'wait quietly' means 'no talking'."