Chapter One

The Assignment

If the substitute teacher, Mr. Conte, had known the rules about keeping the class together, it would have probably been just an ordinary class trip. But, Mr. Conte did not know the rules.

The seventh grade class was studying the different biomes of North America. They were at the Museum of Natural History to do some research. Everyone was supposed to work in teams. Each team was in charge of studying a biome and writing a report about it.

“Okay,” said Mr. Conte, pulling out the class list. He called out the first four names, “you four go to The Desert.” The desert kids looked at each other and wandered off to The Desert and out of this story because nothing extraordinary happened to them. However, that was not the case with the next four kids. Something very unusual was about to happen to them.

Mr. Conte called out their names, “Susan Archer, Jake Cato, Fionn Dineen, Ann Marie Evans—you guys have The Grasslands.”

Jake heard his name called and groaned. “Great,” he thought. “I have to spend the morning with Fionn, king of the all time losers.”

Fionn thought, “I was really looking forward to this trip. There are supposed to be interactive exhibits here that really make you feel like you’re in the environment. It was going to make the report way cooler to write. And, now, instead of having fun, I have to deal with Jake Cato. But, I swear, if Jake does one more annoying thing to me, this time I will find a way to get him back.”