Free This Can't Be Happening at Macdonald Hall by Gordon Korman Page B

that’s very wise,” mumbled Mr. Sturgeon. “You will have to study hard.”
    â€œAnd they will need their sleep,” snapped his wife.
    Bruno and Boots gulped down the rest of their oatmeal, thanked their hostess with touching gratitude and said good-bye. As they crossed the campus in the direction of the dormitories, Bruno mused, “I always wondered if there was a higher authority in this place than The Fish.”
    â€œNow we know,” laughed Boots. “Mrs. Fish. He must be getting heck!”
    * * *
    â€œThat was a terrible thing to do to those children,” Mrs. Sturgeon scolded. “It’s a good thing their mothers couldn’t see them this morning.”
    â€œBut Mildred, those two —”
    â€œI don’t care
what
they’ve done,” she interrupted. “Getting children out of bed at five o’clock in the morning and working them like animals without breakfast!”
    â€œSpeaking of breakfast …” said Mr. Sturgeon hopefully.
    â€œI don’t think you deserve any,” she replied, “but you may have some toast. The boys ate all the porridge.”
    In spite of his annoyance and hunger, Mr. Sturgeon was beginning to feel a little guilty. “Maybe I
was
a little too hard on them, Mildred. I won’t make them pay to replace the dead flowers. And I suppose I can take them off dishwashing duty. After all, it is exam time.”
    â€œThat’s better,” said his wife triumphantly. “Care for a scrambled egg?”

Chapter 11
“Congratulations, Boys”
    Perry Elbert teetered into Dormitory 2, his arms piled high with books. Just in front of his own door, his shoe got caught in a hole in the carpet. Perry hit the floor with a thud, his dozen textbooks landing in twelve consecutive aftershocks.
    The door of room 201 burst open. Bruno emerged howling like a madman. “What’s all the noise out here? Can’t a guy study? Don’t you have any consideration for other people? You can’t go around making such a racket in the halls!”
    Perry was shocked. “At least,” he pointed out, “what
I
drop doesn’t walk away and infest the dorm.”
    Bruno’s door slammed shut. Elmer had retreated to the school library — there was just no room for him in 201 now that Bruno had taken over. Textbooks, papers and charts were spread about on both beds, both desks and a good portion of the floor. Notes on organic chemistry were taped to the bathroom walls so that no time would be wasted. Bruno himself was red-eyed from lack of sleep. Exams were to begin the next day.
    A similar situation prevailed in room 109, minus the mess. In fact, efficiency reigned supreme: George had hired a tutoring service to make sure he was properly prepared. He sat at his keyboard in a sort of trance as a team of professors in Athabaska, Alberta, fed him practice questions via the Internet. George typed in his answers and numbers on the screen indicated his percentage in each course. All but one were first-class marks. George was extremely upset because he had only attained 78% in physics. He was, however, running a 98% in health.
    Boots had also fled to the library. He was more determined than ever to get good marks, because he was convinced that the best day of his life would be the day he could remove himself from the domicile of George Wexford-Smyth III.
    * * *
    As the days passed, the boys discovered something very unusual about the exams: they were easy. Bruno actually knew the answers! For the first time in his academic life he would not have to wait with bated breath for the test results. And Boots, who was generally a better student than Bruno, became confident that this was going to be the best showing he had ever made.
    When Bruno and Boots were once again summoned to the office, they were met by a smiling Mr. Sturgeon who waved them away from the bench and into comfortable visitors’