Ugh, gross! Her hand was probably covered with germs.

“Mmm,” she said, “those peanut butter and jelly sandwiches look really good.”

“We’re not hungry,” Michael told Mrs. Cooney. “We’re afraid of getting germs.”

“That’s too bad,” Mrs. Cooney replied. “Those sandwiches sure look tasty. It would be a shame if they went to waste.”

“You can have my sandwich,” said Emily. “I don’t want it.”

“Sure!” Mrs. Cooney said. Then she picked up Emily’s sandwich and took a big bite out of it.

“Ugh!” we all shouted. “Gross!”

“Now you have germs in your mouth!” shouted Alexia.

“That’s true,” said Mrs. Cooney after she finished chewing, “but you kids ran out of my office so fast, I didn’t have the chance to finish what I was saying.”

“What were you going to say?” asked Andrea.

“I wanted to tell you that most germs won’t harm you,” said Mrs. Cooney. “Some germs are good germs.”

“Good germs?” we all asked.

“Sure!” said Mrs. Cooney. “There are millions of them.”

“The good germs should have a war with the bad germs,” I said, “and they should kill them all. It would be a germ war.”

“Well, they sort of do that, A.J.,” said Mrs. Cooney. “The good germs help us digest our food, absorb nutrients, and fight disease. In fact, we couldn’t live without them. Germs are our friends.”

Wow, it would be weird to have a germ as your friend. Germs are so small. What would you do together? I don’t think I could play video games with a germ. And I don’t think germs know how to ride a skateboard or play football.

“Are there really good germs, Mrs. Cooney?” asked Andrea.

“Sure,” she replied. “Go ahead and eat your sandwiches. You’ll be fine. Hurry up! Lunch is almost over.”

After talking with Mrs. Cooney, I felt a lot better. We all wolfed down our sandwiches quickly. I finished mine just before the bell rang.

BRING! BRING! BRING!

It was time to go back to class.

We all rushed down the hall to tell Miss Daisy the news about the good germs.

8. You Can’t Be Too Careful

When we got to our class, the weirdest thing in the history of the world happened. Miss Daisy was sitting in Mr. Cooper’s chair.

Well, that’s not the weird part. People sit in chairs all the time. The weird part is what Miss Daisy was wearing.

It wasn’t her regular clothes. She was wearing a bright-yellow baggy suit that covered her whole body. She even had on one of those gas mask things and thick, rubber gloves. She looked like some kind of weird astronaut or a deep-sea diver.

“Miss Daisy! What’s that you’re wearing?” asked Alexia.

“It’s a hazmat suit,” she replied.

Hazmat suit? I never heard of a hazmat suit. Nobody ever heard of a hazmat suit.