Gary insisted on making every quiz and every test a contest between the two of them—just to prove who was smarter.

Derek never backed away from the challenge—which was probably why Gary never got tired of beating him. Derek could count on one hand the number of times he’d come out ahead, but that didn’t stop him from trying even harder the next time.

On the other hand, when it came to anything involving sports or exercise, Gary usually got a D at best—if not an F. He always acted like it was torture to break a sweat. Last spring, when he’d been forced to play baseball by his mom and wound up on Derek’s team, he’d spent the first three weeks of the season complaining nonstop.

Ms. Terrapin cleared her throat, a signal for the class to quiet down. “Before we move on to sixth-grade work, though, we’re going to test what you’ve already learned. Or at least how much of it you’ve retained over the summer.”

She started passing out test booklets. The kids in front handed them back until they reached the rear of the classroom. Derek noticed that Sam took his reluctantly, with a little shudder of dread.

“As you may know, national standardized tests are coming next spring. They’re very different from what you’ve experienced—and they test everything you’ve ever learned. So naturally they take a lot of time to prepare for.” Another murmur went through the class; a soft ripple of worry.

“So we are giving you a ‘pretest.’ In addition to giving you valuable practice, it will help us measure your current levels of learning. Don’t worry—your scores won’t count this time around. But for those of you who are behind and need more help, we’ll be recommending after-school study and tutoring between now and next spring.”

“Yikes!” said Sam, fidgeting nervously in his seat. “Extra study? Tutoring?”

Gary pretended to yawn. “It’s good to be a genius,” he whispered to Derek. “I get to spend all my extra time playing computer games.”

“The practice exams will be on September twentieth and twenty-first,” said Ms. Terrapin. “One day for English and one day for math. We will be using last year’s tests to practice on. Between now and then we will be reviewing for it. I will expect you to go through these study booklets at home.”

She stood behind her desk, a gleam in her eye. “Now. Principal Parker has offered a special pizza party to the class that does the best. As the world’s biggest pizza fan, I expect my class to bring home the pie!”

That got a big cheer—although there were plenty of nervous looks going around too.

“Je-Ter… pre-pare to be de-feat-ed!” Gary said, using his best sci-fi robot voice.

“Who’s that supposed to sound like?” Derek shot back. “Frankenstein?”