1 Sequined Boots

 

  Addy McBean lives with Mom and their poodle, Minus, at 100 Division Drive, South Summit, New Jersey. Addy is wild about numbers.

  When she’s not counting stuff, she’s doing addition and subtraction in her head.

  She likes to skip count by tens to one thousand. The other second graders can’t do this yet, except for Willard Gluck. He’s a math whiz too. They have fun skip counting together.

   

  Addy is in Mr. Vertex’s class at PS 8. Math is the first class of the day. It’s Mr. Vertex’s favorite subject. He wears ties with numbers on them and shoes with math objects.

  On Monday morning Mr. Vertex greets Addy and her best friend, Star Atlas, with a riddle.

  “What works every day, every hour, every minute, and every second?”

  Addy usually comes up with an answer, but today she’s stumped.

  “I don’t know,” she says.

  Star doesn’t either, so Mr. Vertex exclaims, “A clock! In math today we’ll begin a new unit on how to tell time.”

  Addy already knows how, since she has a smart watch and can read the time on the front. Her dad gave it to her when he moved to San Francisco after her parents got divorced. When Addy’s not in school, she and her dad text back and forth all the time.

  After the Pledge of Allegiance, Mr. Vertex makes the V sign for everyone to be quiet. Then he holds up a clock that shows the time on a rectangular screen.

  “I bet this clock looks familiar,” he says. “Does anyone know what kind of clock it is?”

  Willard raises his hand. “A digital clock, and the time reads eight thirty-seven.” Of course Willard knows the answer. His mom and dad are astrophysicists. They’ve taught him lots about numbers and outer space, thinks Addy.

  Mr. Vertex explains that the number before the colon marks the hour. The numbers after the colon mark the minutes. Addy yawns. She and some of the other kids already know this. Next their teacher points to the round clock on the wall.

  “What kind of clock is that?”

  Maya raises her hand. “A full-moon clock,” she says.

  “Good guess,” says Mr. Vertex, “since it’s round like a full moon. But it’s called an analog clock.” He explains that analog clocks have round faces and three hands that travel in the same direction. The numbers on the clock’s face stand for hours. The little lines between the numbers stand for minutes. The small hand points to the number that tells what hour it is. The big hand tells the number of minutes that have passed in the hour.

   

  “What does the skinny hand do?” asks Jamie.

  “It tells how many seconds have gone by,” explains Mr. Vertex. He continues, “It’s important to learn how to tell time. It will help you stay organized. I’ll give out math sheets for your homework. They include exercises to help you learn to read a clock. We’ll play some time games in class, too.”

  A few students roll their eyes at the thought of so much homework. Even though Addy knows what time it is on her smart watch, she realizes there’s a lot more to discover. The more I learn, the more organized I’ll be. I like to know when things happen and how long things take.

  After the last bell, Addy and Star go to meet Star’s mom. Ms. Atlas works in the main office and drives the two girls to and from school every day.

  As Addy and Star follow Ms. Atlas through the parking lot, they pass Mr. Vertex’s little blue car. Something sparkly catches Addy’s eye. She looks into a front window. A pair of sequined boots is lying on the passenger seat. What is Mr. Vertex doing with those? she wonders.

  “Star, come quick,” she yells.

  “Wow,” says Star, looking into the car. “Those boots are beautiful.”

  “I wonder who they belong to,” Addy muses. “Maybe to a friend or another teacher. Or maybe”— she pauses—“Mr. Vertex has a girlfriend!”

 

   

 

“That would be cool,” says Star.

  Addy’s silent for a moment, then says, “The other day I heard him mention a reception to Mr. Rogers, the gym teacher. What if he was talking about a wedding reception? Countabunga! I wonder if he’s getting married!”

  “Countabunga” is Addy’s favorite expression.

  “I’m not so sure,” says Star. “The boots could be a present for someone. What if we ask him?”

  “No,” says Addy. “He might get mad if he thinks we’ve been snooping. But if he is getting married, I hope he’ll invite our class to the wedding.”

  Addy’s eyes sparkle.