Chapter 1
PPP
âDudes, hereâs a spelling lesson,â I told my friends. âHow do you spell excitement ?â
Belzer scratched his head. âDoes it start with an X ?â
I patted him on the back. âNice try.â
Belzer grinned his lopsided grin. âIt was a lucky guess,â he said.
âYo, Belzer,â Feenman said. âDo big noses run in your family?â
âIâve heard that joke,â Belzer said.
Feenman grinned. âWhoâs joking ?â
âGive it a rest,â I said. I pulled Feenman, Crench,Belzer, Nosebleed, and Billy the Brain into the Common Room. â This is how you spell excitement, â I said.
Thatâs me, see. Iâm Bernie Bridges. Some people call me Grandmaster Dude, King of All the Fourth Graders. But Iâd never say anything like that. Iâm waaay too modest.
But when I have news, I have NEWS. Thatâs why I dragged all my guys into the Common Room. Itâs a big room with couches and chairs, a TV, and a game table. Itâs like our living room.
You probably go home every day after school. But Rotten School is a boarding school. That means we live here, in a dorm. Itâs actually a falling down, old house called Rotten House. Itâs the best dorm on campusâmainly because Bernie B. lives here.
Oops. There I go, being modest again!
My friend Beast was chewing a couch cushion. It took three guys to pull him away.
Beast is a good guy. But weâre not sure if heâs really human. Heâs too hairy to be a human. And last week he got caught chewing his initials into a tree trunk.
I like him. But I keep my fingers away from his mouth.
I stood at the head of the game table. âDudes, I know youâre wondering why I invited you here,â I said.
Crench rolled his eyes. âBernie, we know why,â he said. âYou want to have a poker game tonight. But we canât.â
âWeâre broke,â Feenman said. âYou already took all our money. I swear!â
I made a spitting sound. âForget poker games,â I said. âThatâs small potatoes. Iâve got something BIG. Something exciting with a capital X !â
Now I had their attention. I pulled open my school blazer so they could see my T-shirt.
They all stared at it. Belzer sounded out the letters.
âBernie, whatâs your problem?â Nosebleed asked. âWhy does that say PPP on it?â
Beast tossed his head back and hee-hawed. â P-P-P . Get it? Get it?â
Crench tugged the front of my shirt. âIf you have to go pee-pee, why wear a shirt about it?â
I pushed his hands away. âCrench, what did I tell you about trying to make a joke?
Do you want to strain your brain for life?â
âWell, what does PPP stand for?â Billy the Brain asked.
YES! I even stumped the class brainiac!
âIâll tell you,â I said.
But itâll take a whole chapter to explain it. Keep reading, everyoneâ¦.
Chapter 2
DROOLING
I tapped the letters on my shirt. â PPP stands for Preppy Prep Prep,â I said. âYou guys heard of it?â
Belzer scratched his greasy hair. âYou mean you donât have to go pee-pee?â
âPreppy Prep Prep,â I repeated.
âThat snooty prep school across town?â Billy asked.
I flashed him two thumbs-up. âYou got it, ace. You heard about this school, right? Itâs wall-to-wall rich kids. They have servants to carry their fat wallets for them!â
Beast hee-hawed again. â P-P-P . Get it?â
âI heard about that school,â Crench said. âThe kids all have butlers to dress them in the morning.â
âThey drive to class on Ferrari motor scooters,â Feenman said. âEvery room has a Jacuzzi. And they have steaks every day for lunch and dinner!â
âI heard they have steaks for breakfast, too!â I said. âTheyâre filthy rich! Filthy rich!