Free I Hate Rules! by Nancy Krulik Page A

forget your homework, you have to do it at recess.”
    George didn’t look so happy anymore. “Mrs. Derkman has too many rules,” he moaned as he got into line.

Chapter 2
    Katie walked into the classroom and hung her jacket on the third hook from the left.
    Then she placed her homework in the bin on Mrs. Derkman’s desk.
    Finally, she sat down at her desk and began to copy the spelling words on the board.
    Katie did the same thing every morning. Mrs. Derkman had very strict rules about how you behaved in her classroom.
    George sniffed at the air as he put away his coat. “ Ooh . Do you have tuna fish again, Manny? Or did you just forget to shower?”
    A few kids chuckled. Mrs. Derkman did not. “If you have a question, George, please raise your hand,” she said.
    George sat down quietly and pulled out his notebook.
    Just then a small piece of paper landed on Katie’s desk. It was a note from Suzanne. Katie read the note and scribbled an answer.
    “Kevin, pass this to Suzanne?” Katie whispered as she folded the paper. Kevin sat between Katie and Suzanne.
    “No way,” he whispered back. “I’m not getting in trouble.”
    Katie frowned, but she understood. Mrs. Derkman didn’t like kids passing notes in class. It wasn’t Kevin’s note. Why should he risk it?
    Katie waited until Mrs. Derkman was looking the other way. Then she tossed the note to Suzanne.
    Katie almost hoped Suzanne wouldn’t write back. If Mrs. Derkman caught the girls writing notes, she was sure to do something mean. Something absolutely horrible. Something . . .

    “Suzanne, give me that note,” Mrs. Derkman ordered.
    Oh no! Mrs. Derkman had seen them.
    Suzanne looked at Katie and bit her lip. She didn’t move. It looked like she was frozen.
    “Suzanne, you heard me.” Mrs. Derkman held out her hand.
    Suzanne stood up. She walked slowly toward the front of the room. All the kids were staring. All except Katie. She couldn’t even look at her.
    “Thank you,” Mrs. Derkman said when Suzanne handed her the note. “Please go back to your seat.”
    Katie breathed a sigh of relief. That wasn’t so bad.
    But Mrs. Derkman wasn’t finished. She opened the note and began to read it . . . out loud!
    “My mother bought me these horrible pink flowery underpants. They’re for babies.” Mrs. Derkman read Suzanne’s words.
    Suzanne buried her head in her arms.

    “Do you have to wear them?” Mrs. Derkman continued, reading Katie’s part of the note.
    “I’m wearing them right now.” Mrs. Derkman said, as she read what Suzanne had just written.
    The teacher looked at Suzanne and Katie. “I don’t think that was so important that it couldn’t wait until lunch. Do you girls?”
    At first no one in the class said anything. Then, a few of the boys started to giggle. Soon, everyone was laughing really hard.

    “Pink flower underpants,” Manny Gonzalez howled. “Real stylin’, Suzanne!”
    “I see England, I see France, I see Suzanne’s flower underpants,” George began to chant.
    Suzanne looked like she was about to cry. “I wish I could hide under a big rock,” she moaned quietly.
    Katie looked up at the ceiling. What if a giant rock really did come falling down? What if it landed right on Suzanne’s head?
    But no rock fell from the sky. In fact, nothing happened at all. Katie breathed a sigh of relief. Suzanne had been lucky. Her wish hadn’t come true.
    Katie knew all about wishes that came true. She knew you had to be careful what you wished for. Not all wishes turned out great.
    It had all started one really bad day. Katie had ruined her favorite jeans and burped in front of the whole class. Katie had wished that she could be anyone but herself.
    There must have been a shooting star flying overhead or something when Katie made her wish because the very next day, a magic wind blew. It was like a tornado that stormed just around Katie. The wind turned Katie into Speedy, the class hamster! That had been awful. Katie had been