Glum and Blah

They would be glum and blah.
 — Narration

Illustrated by Tim Heitz

"**Glum and Blah**" is the twenty-fourth chapter of *Wayside School Gets a Little Stranger*.

## Synopsis

Miss Nogard arrives to class and makes all the students miserable by reading their thoughts and saying the exact things that they don't want to hear.

## Plot

This chapter opens with Miss Wendy Nogard entering Mrs. Jewls's class. Although the students appear eager, she intends to ruin their moods by listening to their thoughts with her third ear and capitalizing on them. She introduces herself, and scans to see the room to figure out the bad thoughts in everyone's heads, as the bad thoughts usually float to the top of the head. Calvin is embarrassed because he spilled orange juice on his lap and worries it will make it look like he went to the bathroom in his pants, Dana is worried that her new haircut makes her look like a boy (especially considering that Dana is a gender-neutral name), Jason is annoyed by his brother, Justin, who is more successful than he is, D.J. has a song he doesn't like stuck in his head, but can't forget, and Bebe Gunn has an itch on her leg. Even some students, like Jenny, don't necessarily have anything bad on their minds, but worry about what could go wrong, such as her worrying about having an accident when horseback riding after school or that it might rain.

Miss Nogard gets to work, asking what everyone's been working on. Mac raises his hand, but she calls on Dana instead, asking for the "boy in the orange and purple shirt". Dana corrects Miss Nogard, but feels worse from the embarrassment. Miss Nogard hears another voice of a student who doesn't want to be called: Benjamin Nushmutt. Miss Nogard calls on Benjamin, who starts to introduce what they're working on, but before he can finish, Miss Nogard asks for his name. Benjamin struggles saying his name, but Jason is able to help out. Miss Nogard then says Jason looks familiar, and accidentally-on-purpose calls him "Justin." Jason corrects her, but Miss Nogard only continues going on about how great a student Justin was.

Throughout the rest of the day, she continues to do small things to upset the students in her class, like asking Calvin if he needs to use the restroom, humming the song stuck in D.J.'s head whenever she passes by him, and scratching her leg near Bebe whenever she stops thinking about the itch on her own leg. Miss Nogard looks out the window at the bright blue sky, saying it looks like it could rain. Jenny is upset, thinking she can't go horseback riding, and Miss Nogard mentions her nephew apparently going horseback riding on a rainy day, where the sky looked clear, but a sudden thunderstorm spooked the horse, knocking him off, and then he broke every bone in his body, but stayed positive.

However, when class is dismissed, all of the students are feeling "glum and blah", even the usually happy D.J., but they believe this is due to their own shortcomings. Louis asks what's wrong, and D.J. says he probably just had a bad day. Louis asks if the kids like their new teacher, and they all agree that she's nice, while all dwelling on their own perceived problems. Louis rubs the hair on his upper lip, which is starting to grow back, and asks for her name. Bebe, whose skin at this point has become raw, tells him, and when he asks if it's "Mrs. or Miss," Bebe says she's pretty sure it's the latter. She asks why, and Louis shrugs.

## Characters

* Miss Wendy Nogard
* Calvin
* Dana
* Jason
* Justin (mentioned, only appearance)
* D.J.
* Bebe Gunn
* Jenny
* Mac
* Benjamin Nushmutt
* Miss Nogard's nephew (mentioned, only appearance)
* Louis

## Trivia

* This is the first chapter where Miss Wendy Nogard takes over as substitute of Mrs. Jewls's class.
* This is the second chapter where the term "Bright and Chipper" is used, the first was "A Message from the Principal".
* Despite what happened in "The Lost Ear", Benjamin is revealed to still be ashamed of his name.
* What happened to Miss Nogard's nephew, if he even exists, was probably made-up to worry Jenny. Nonetheless, sometimes storms actually can eventually come on days where the sky is clear, especially when it's hot and humid.
* With Mrs. Drazil gone, Louis starts to revert back to his old self.

## Gallery

Joel Schick illustrationAdam McCauley illustrationPeter Allen illustrationPeter Allen second illustrationPeter Allen third illustration