A Bad Case of the Sillies

— Narration

Illustrated by Tim Heitz

"**A Bad Case of the Sillies**" is the first part of the nineteenth chapter of *Wayside School Is Falling Down*.

## Synopsis

Allison gets stuck on the nineteenth story after everyone stops paying attention to her.

## Plot

This chapter opens with Allison walking upstairs five minutes before the bell rings, liking it better that way because otherwise, she'd have to deal with a thousand kids rushing upstairs to get to class. As she walks by the eighteenth and twentieth stories, she wonders why the lack of the nineteenth story doesn't just place Mrs. Jewls's class on the twenty-ninth floor. Suddenly, she hears Ron and Deedee rushing upstairs. She tries to lean across the wall, but they end up rushing into her anyway, knocking her down three stairs and tearing her windbreaker. They continue upstairs, not noticing Allison. Allison believes they are silly, rushing up the stairs and getting too tired before the day starts. She feels that way about everyone in Mrs. Jewls's class, even her best friend Rondi, and especially Jason, who is always teasing her.

When she enters Mrs. Jewls's class, she tells Ron and Deedee that they could've said they were sorry, takes her seat, and folds her hands. Jason walks into class carrying a bowl with his new pet goldfish inside. Jason claims that he named his goldfish "Shark," to make it feel important, and Mrs. Jewls has him place it on top of the coat closet. However, he ends up tipping the bowl over and swallowing the goldfish, causing the class to go crazy. Mrs. Jewls remarks everyone has a bad case of the sillies, and takes role call.

She then asks who's absent, and Rondi remarks Allison is absent. Allison points out she's there, but for some reason, no one can see her. Mrs. Jewls marks her absent, and has Dameon take the roll card to the office. Allison stands up and says she's not absent, but Mrs. Jewls doesn't notice her. She then walks up to her desk, and asks again. Mrs. Jewls doesn't notice again, instead noticing Terrence whispering to Jenny. As Mrs. Jewls has Terrence tell the class what he said to Jenny, Allison continues trying to get attention, screaming in front of the class, and hoping someone will see and hear her, but no one does. She tries staring at Jason, even sticking her tongue out, but all that gets her is Jason's nose on her tongue. She rushes down to the twenty-ninth floor and asks all the students on that floor, but no one responds. She continues down to the twenty-eighth and continues rushing until anyone would notice her, shouting anything that comes to her head. She pretends to shout as a fish market vendor, when suddenly, a teacher notices her, saying everyone in her class couldn't hear due to her shouting. Allison explains that something is wrong with Mrs. Jewls's class, and the teacher invites her to her own classroom. She introduces Allison to the class, saying she'll be joining, and introduces herself as Miss Zarves, welcoming Allison to the nineteenth story.

## Characters

* Allison
* Miss Zarves
* Ron
* Deedee
* Mrs. Jewls
* Rondi
* Jason
* Eric Fry
* Dameon
* Terrence
* Jenny

## Trivia

* This is the first physical appearance of Miss Zarves. She is mentioned previously in "Calvin," "Miss Zarves," and "A Package for Mrs. Jewls," but doesn't appear.
* A pun is involved in the chapter numbers for this chapter, "A Wonderful Teacher," and "Forever Is Never." All three are chapter nineteen, as the plot involves a student getting stuck on the nineteenth story. Similarly, the reader is stuck on the nineteenth story when reading these three chapters.
* In this chapter, it is stated Allison sits behind Eric Fry. However, in "A Story with a Disappointing Ending," Eric Fry sits next to Paul, who is revealed to sit in the back row of the classroom in "Paul."
* Editions of *Wayside School Is Falling Down* with Joel Schick's illustrations have this chapter share an illustration with "A Wonderful Teacher" and "Forever is Never." This is true of no other editions.

## Gallery

Joel Schick illustrationAdam McCauley illustration
### Foreign editions

Peter Allen illustration (UK)Satoshi Kitamura illustration (Japan)