Quickly the students listed down question they had about their insects. Michael and Jacob wondered how often praying mantises did karate. Veronica and Avery wondered how many animals dung beetles clean up after. The only question Kat had was how long she would have to work with Lily.
“So what else do you want to learn about daddy long legs,” Kat asked Lily.
Lily looked up from their question sheet and smiled coldly. They already had listed several questions. What do they eat? Where do they live? Are they really poisonous? But Lily only wanted to know one answer.
“Why do they make you scream like a little girl?” she asked.
Kat stayed silent. She wasn’t sure she could even tell Lily about her mom. About last summer, when Kat had left the window open during a terrible storm and that’s how the spider got in. If Lily knew that Kat was a murderer, the year would be over. Life would be over.
“Well,” Lily teased. “Is the little pussycat afraid of spiders?”
Kat looked at the clock and counted how many more minutes until the weekend. The end of today couldn’t come soon enough.
“Alright everyone,” Ms. Catarinas called out above the class. “We’re going to take a trip to the library to get started o our research.”
“Can Bob come?” Jacob asked.
“No,” Ms. Catarinas laughed. “He’ll be just fine here. He’s even found an infestation of aphids near the window. He’ll protect our classroom while we’re gone. Grab your things and lets answer our creepy crawly questions.”
The library was one of the greatest places in all of Edgeview Elementary. While Principal Benbrook put a ban on art supplies, he did not put a ban on books. Every shelf in the library overflowed with picture books, chapter books, biographies, autobiographies, and even a full set of autographed Harry Potter books.
“Good morning everyone,” the librarian said as the class walked in. Her name was Mrs. Connors and she had a British accent and a very particular way that she like her library run. The library was her territory and she prowled through it like a lioness.
“Now, I hear that you are all doing projects on insects. Is that right?”
“Yes,” the class said together.
“You will find everything that you need in the 595 section,” Mrs. Connors said before clearing her throat. “And may I remind you that this is a library, not a playground. Understood?”
Mrs. Connors’ eyes drilled into Michael like he was a termite intent on eating her precious stories.
“Yes,” the class repeated again.
As the students went to the shelves, Kat turned to Michael.
“What was that all about?” she asked. “I thought Mrs. Connors was going to burn you to a crisp with the way she looked at you.”
Michael rubbed the back of his head and smiled.
“Yeah, about that. You see, I was kind of banned from the library last year. Jacob and I lost home plate on the kickball field and we kind of used an encyclopedia to replace it.”
“Hey,” Jacob objected. “At least we used the K encyclopedia. We figured when we were done, we could read all about kickball.”
“Instead,” Michael said. “We had to reshelf every book in the library. I still don’t think I’m allowed to get out books. But there is a great piece on killer whales in that encyclopedia.”
Kat laughed. There was a reason that Michael and Jacob were the best part of her class. From the first day of school the boys were happy to have Kat at their table of four. Every day with them was an adventure. Kat wished she could say the same about Lily.
“Let’s get this over with,” Lily grumbled to Kat. “595 point something and we’ll be done.”
The class set to work researching their insects. A steadily rising buzz filled the library. Ms. Catarinas was so proud of her busy bees that she didn’t mind the chatter.
“Children have to talk to learn after all,” she said quietly to herself. As she read over the shoulders of her students, she found out more information that even she didn’t know.
Fireflies give off a cold heat from their lights.
Cockroaches can live nine days without eating.
Dragonflies can fly up to sixty miles an hour
Each of the groups was chattering away except for one: Lily and Kat. The girls sat quietly, writing down answers. Each had their own book and was ignoring the other. After about five minutes, out of the silence, Lily yelped and knocked all of her supplies on the floor.
“Ah!” she shrieked quickly. When she had turned her page, a full spread of a wolf spider stared back at Lily. Kat jumped on her only opportunity.
“Aw, is Lily afraid of a little spider?”
Lily flipped the page quickly and picked her pen back up.
“No,” she sneered. “That picture just took me by surprise. Get back to work Kat!”
Kat snatched Lily’s book and flipped the page back. The face of the spider was furrier than her dream spider and the eyes were bigger. Kat gulped and pushed the fear aside and pushed the book in Lily’s face.
“Lily’s afraid,” she pushed again.
“Kat!” Lily yelled as she got up from her seat. “Put it down! I’ll throw my pen at your head. I’ll do it!”
Kat got up out of her seat and began to move around the table. Other students soon began to take notice.
“It’s just a fuzzy little spider,” Kat continued. She slowly moved the open book closer and closer to Lily. Lily backed away until her back was pressed to a bookshelf.
“Stop it Kat,” Lily yelled again. Her pen was high over her head like it was a deadly weapon. This time most of the class was watching.
“Girls!” Ms. Catarinas called from Jacob and Michael’s table.
Kat heard Ms. Catarinas and ignored her. This was a battle she would have to fight on her own.
“Kat,” Lily warned again. “Put it down or I’ll - ”
Lily never finished her sentence. Kat lunged forward with the spider book and Lily screamed she threw her pen and began to run. Kat managed to duck behind the book and the wolf spider’s face took the blow. Using her kickball strength, Kat began to chase Lily around the library.
Chaos erupted.
Fourth graders cheered as Kat chased Lily. Ms. Catarinas tried to catch Kat as she sprinted past the encyclopedias. Lily ran through the picture books section and began to tip books behind her to trip up Kat. Her plan only half succeed. Mrs. Connors tore after Lily, screaming something her accent about “buggers” and “gits”. As she followed Lily down the picture book aisle, she slid on a few picture books and toppled the whole H section.
More screams went up from the fourth grade. This was the best library time that any of them could remember.
“Looks like we got some more banned library cards,” Michael said to Jacob.
Lily picked up more books as she ran through the library. She threw them at Kat who was using the book as a shield now. A chapter book caught her in the ankle and Kat finally dropped the book. She grabbed her ankle and breathed in hard.
Lily stopped running and turned around to look at Kat.
“Ha ha,” she laughed as she backed up. Her trip wasn’t a long one. Lily’s back hit something solid that stopped her in her tracks. It was too mushy to be a bookcase and far too tall to be a table.
Both Ms. Catarinas and Mrs. Connors were breathing heavily as Lily turned around to see what she had backed into. Principal Benbrook stared down at Lily, his face red and his breath just as heavy as the other teachers.“Young lady, what is the meaning of all this?” he demanded
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