Ears

—  Xavier’s thoughts

Illustrated by Tim Heitz

"**Ears**" is the twenty-third chapter of *Wayside School Gets a Little Stranger*.

## Synopsis

Wendy Nogard's backstory with Xavier Dalton is revealed, showing how she became bitter and hateful.

## Plot

The chapter introduces Miss Wendy Nogard, who has a third ear on top of her head that's usually covered by her frizzy brown hair. This third ear allows her to hear other people's thoughts. The narrator proceeds to explain she was a very friendly and intelligent woman, but later became evil, but that would be explained later. The narrator then proceeds to explain her backstory, that when she was young, she lived in a small apartment in the big city, and was shy, because she worried others would find out about her ear, even though it looked just like the other two on the sides of her head.

However, one day, she went to the museum and met a man named Xavier Dalton. Xavier is described as very handsome, yet frightfully shy, and has trouble talking to women. Wendy tries talking to him, but he struggles to talk back. As they proceed to continue walking around the museum, Wendy uses her third ear to listen to his thoughts. Wendy usually avoids listening to others' thoughts because she thinks it is rude, and usually boring, though she is interested to learn about Xavier Dalton. She learns he likes Charles Dickens and animals, particularly dogs. Wendy proceeds to tell him a painting she's looking at reminds her of *A Tale of Two Cities*, and Xavier is excited, noting that's his favorite book. But just as he gets excited, he suddenly starts to feel embarrassed, but Wendy asks him to go on, stating that Charles Dickens is her favorite author, and she reads his works to her dog. Xavier states that he loves dogs, while in his mind, Wendy hears he loves her even more. They proceed to continue walking around, Wendy excited to hear everything Xavier has to say. On the way home, she checks out *A Tale of Two Cities* from the library and buys a pet dog to prove she wasn't lying.

A month later, Xavier asks Wendy to marry him. Wendy worries he might be moving too fast, but Xavier tells her that since he met her, he's always been happier, and that he knows she's the perfect woman for him. He proceeds to stroke her hair, when Wendy tells him there's one more thing he needs to know. His hand hits the ear, and he discovers it. Wendy tells him that now that he knows about her third ear, she'll be fine with marrying him, and Xavier tells her she still loves her. However, upon listening to his thoughts, she instead hears a reaction of disgust and betrayal, even calling her a freaky monster. He tells Miss Nogard that he needs to get a third diamond earring as an engagement gift, but he never returns. The narrator proceeds to explain the story unfortunately has a sad ending. Xavier got over his shyness and began dating other women, but broke all of their hearts, because of an unrealized love for Wendy. Wendy, on the other hand, felt so unhappy by his betrayal, that she becomes bitter herself, and wishes for everyone else to be unhappy as well. She intentionally hurts every man she dates by listening to their negative thoughts and saying things accordingly. She especially hates children because they're always happy, so she decides to become a substitute teacher.

## Characters

* Miss Wendy Nogard (debut)
* Xavier Dalton (debut)
* Paul's father (final appearance)
* Charles Dickens (mentioned, debut)

## Trivia

* This is the first appearance of Miss Wendy Nogard and Xavier Dalton. This is also the final appearance of Paul's father.
* The thought about Dalton calling Nogard a freak is cut in some versions. He still called her a monster though.
* The ending of the chapter is similar to the ending of "Doctor Pickle" in which both main characters are revealed to have gotten jobs at a certain school.

## Gallery

Joel Schick illustrationAdam McCauley illustrationPeter Allen illustration