Impostolu was guarding the door, waiting to slam it shut on any latecomers. Right then Annie Kratzer walked in with a big smile. It didn’t matter when she showed up because she was a straight-A student and didn’t have to take the final. She just came to help proctor the test.

And what a complete disaster that was. Annie was the prettiest girl in our school . . . by a mile. Math was hard enough without having the smartest, prettiest girl in the school watching me bomb the test.

I glanced up at the clock again. The second hand was moving at warp speed. With two seconds to go before the bell, Impostolu flung the door shut and . . . CRASH! Bones wedged his battleship-size Chucky T sneaker in the doorway, and the impact sent his papers flying everywhere. Impostolu opened the door to find Bones hopping on one foot, trying to pick up all his papers.

She looked at him, whipped out her tiny notebook, and announced his penalty like a robot. “That will be . . . neg-a-tive . . . eight points . . . off the final exam grade . . . Mr. Martin.” She slammed the dot onto the “i” in Martin.

Eight points?! Where did she get that number?! That was just stupid. But Bones wasn’t even fazed. He picked up the last of his mess and hobbled in with a big smile on his face.

He sat down next to me and said, “You know what, Lump, one more second and I would’ve made it.” Then he laughed.

Classic Bones.

Challenge Question!

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