Bradley Chalkers sits in the back of the class by himself, wishing he could sit in the closet and not have to listen to his teacher, Mrs. Ebbel. He doesn’t think Mrs. Ebbel or the other students would care if he spent all of the class in the closet, but his desk is too big for the closet.

Mrs. Ebbel introduces a new student, Jeff Fishkin, from Washington, DC,, the capital of the United States. He seems somewhat shy, so Mrs. Ebbel asks if he ever visited the White House, and Jeff says no.

As no other desks are available, Jeff, much to the dismay of the students and teachers, sits by Bradley. Bradley stares at him, but Jeff smiles. While Mrs. Ebbel teaches, Bradley scribbles furiously on a piece of paper. If the pencil breaks, he tapes it to his desk, and it joins the other broken pencil points, chewed erasers, and bits of torn paper.

Mrs. Ebbel announces the language test results: Most everyone got A’s and B’s, but Bradley got an F. Bradley shows off his failing grade with a smile, and then cuts the test with scissors.

The recess bell rings.