“Nothing,” Dad said. “I guess I was just as silly when I was your age.” He reached out and ruffled my hair the way he does when he talks about the good old days. Then he headed downstairs. I followed him into the kitchen.

My little sister Kaylee was already there. I sat, and we started to eat. But every time I said something, they all groaned and rolled their eyes up at the ceiling. Except Kaylee. She kept giggling.

I bent under the table and looked at Buster, my dog, who was waiting for me to slip him a treat.

Buster panted. That was a relief. “At leash my own dog doesn’t groan at me,” I whispered as I patted him.

Buster groaned.

Maybe it was really a yawn, but it sure sounded like a groan. I dropped a piece of pot roast on the floor for him anyhow.

After dinner, when we’d finished clearing the table, Kaylee came over to me, grinned, and said, “You’re funny, Logan. Just like my cartoons.”

“Thanks,” I said, although I wasn’t sure it was a compliment. But she was the only one who wasn’t groaning at me, so I figured I’d better take whatever nice words I could get.

And it turned out the problem followed me to school. I had trouble right away the next day. First thing after morning announcements, we had language arts, which is a fancy way to say English. There was a woman standing up front with Mr. Vernack. She was short and thin with a friendly face and long, black hair. “Class,” Mr.Vernack said, “this is Ms. Glott. Say hello.”

“Hello, Ms. Glott,” we all said.

“She’ll be joining our class for the next month as a student teacher,” Mr.Vernack told us.

“I’m thrilled to be here,” Ms. Glott said, giving us a big smile that made her look even friendlier.

“You’ll find we have some very clever students,” Mr. Vernack said. “And I don’t think there will be any problems while you are here.” He glanced at Benedict as he said that. “Now, let’s get to work.”

He pointed to the vocabulary list on the board. “Logan, the first word is isolate. Can you use it in a sentence?”

“Sure,” I said. “I’m sorry isolate getting here.”

Everyone started laughing. Everyone except Mr. Vernack. He frowned and gave me the next word. Justice.

“Justice I was leaving home, my dog got loose.”

Mr. Vernack’s frown grew so big, his eyes became slits. He said one word: “Decide.”

“My dog chased a cat around decide of my house.”

“Logan, is this some kind of joke?” Mr. Vernack asked.

“No, Mister Vernack. I was jest doing wit you asked.” I clamped my mouth shut. Nothing seemed to be coming out right.