Page 8

"Oh my goodness…" whispered Sarah.

She could see into a room filled with neon, red light. There were dozens of teachers laughing and dancing in a live performance of "Shoo Fly." Teachers she had never seen smiling, like Mr. Edwards, acted like they were teenagers again. Even one of the lunch ladies, a bit of a grump, managed to crack a smile.

Page 9

Other teachers were standing in groups, conversing over chocolate milk, moving their arms and legs or snapping their fingers awkwardly to the beat of the music. Strobe lights flashed around the room, making all the teachers look as if they were in slow motion. Mr. Martin even put "bunny ears" in front of the light projector to make silly shadows appear on the wall. Everyone laughed. The brick walls were decorated with giant, life-size scribbles and shapeless clay blobs. Waiters in sweatpants waltzed about the room with trays full of Hershey's Kisses. Some teachers seemed to be playing with magnetic letters, while others fought over whose turn it was to play video games.

“What in the world?" Sarah whispered.

Page 10

In the corner of the room were several teachers who were apparently trying to color each other with magic markers! Sarah spotted an old teacher who was sulking because another teacher stepped on his drawing.

"Mr. Nussbaum?" Sarah called out in bewilderment.

All of a sudden, the laughter stopped. The music stopped. Smiles and laughs turned into puzzled looks and concerned expressions. Then, a blaring alarm sounded. Someone yelled, "Intruder!"

Sarah gulped.

Page 11

Sarah blazed back down each hallway as fast as she could. The desperate, clodhopping footsteps of what sounded like a thousand teachers were close behind.

"Cut her off at the elevator!" cried someone within the mob.

Page 12

Sarah knew it was important that no one see her, so she ran even faster. Finally, she came to the elevator and the doors were open. Like a lead ball from a slingshot, Sarah flung herself through the open doors, pressed the button labeled "ground," hid herself from view, and desperately waited for the doors to shut. Unfortunately for Sarah, this was an old elevator. She could hear the mob approaching.

"We've got her!” someone yelled in a wavering and slightly out-of-shape bellow.

Sarah wiped the sweat off her brow and closed her eyes. Please don't let them get me, she thought to herself.

Then, the doors began to close. The mob of teachers, however, was only a few yards away. She could feel the wind of their stampede swirl through her enclosure. "Hurry!" she yelled at the elevator.

Page 13

THUD! THUD! THUTHUD! THUD, THUD, THUD! The doors had shut, and the teachers hadn't had enough time to stop. The rhythmic thudding of crashing teachers against the metal doors was music to Sarah's ears. She imagined what the sight of teachers tumbling one after another into the elevator doors must have look liked. Sarah wondered if they were all in a big pile. She chuckled to herself as the elevator took her back to the first floor.

Page 14

Sarah ran through the school hallways and out the door where her mom was waiting.

"Mom, I'll get my lunchbox tomorrow," she told her mother.

Page 15

Is there really a secret café somewhere in Fairview? Is there a secret code in the elevator that can take you there?

Is it a place where teachers can act like children?

Perhaps you don't think so. However, how can you explain several students’ claims that they've seen Sarah Jones late after school desperately pressing the elevator buttons? Perhaps you've even tried the code and it didn't work.

Don't you think after the Sarah Jones episode, the teachers would have thought to change the code?

What was implied about the lunch lady on page 8?
1. She was happy.
2. She was fair
3. She was unfair
4. She was testy.
What was NOT something the teachers were doing in the secret room?
1. Playing with magnetic letters.
2. Playing Uno
3. Dancing
4. Drinking chocolate milk
What did all of the teachers laugh at in the secret room?
1. The scribbles
2. The bunny ears on the wall
3. The music
4. The magnetic letters
At the end of page 9, Sarah whispered, "What in the world?"

What does this imply?
1. She was angered by something
2. She was puzzled by something
3. She was scared of something
4. She was wondering where something was.
How did Sarah feel when she saw Mr. Nussbaum?
1. Surprised
2. Thrilled
3. Indifferent
4. Disappointed
On page 12, it reads,

"Sarah flung herself through the open doors like a lead ball from a slingshot."

What expression would be similar in meaning to a "lead ball from a slingshot?"
1. A tennis ball from a tennis racket.
2. Water from a water fountain.
3. pellet from a paintball gun
4. siren from a fire engine
On page 12, Sarah is described as waiting "desperately" for the elevator doors to close. Which of the following words could replace the word "desperately" in the sentence and not significantly change the meaning of the sentence?
1. satisfactorily
2. urgently
3. adoringly
4. astonishingly
Which of the following is NOT true?
1. Sarah escaped the mob of teachers
2. No one found out her identity.
3. The teachers crashed into the elevator doors.
4. She wondered what would have happened if the teachers would have seen her.
What happened last?
1. Sarah could feel the wind of the mob approaching her in the elevator
2. Sarah saw Mr.Nussbaum in the secret room.
3. Sarah told her mother that she would get her lunchbox later
4. The elevator doors closed and the teachers crashed into them.
What is FALSE about the secret room for teachers?
1. It was a place where teachers could act like children.
2. It was place where teachers played video games.
3. It was a place that no students were allowed.
4. It was a place where students and teachers collaborated