Tabloidology by Chris McMahen

said. “All my friends are out, so you were my last resort.”
    â€œLast resort? For what?”
    â€œMy mom and dad are away at a convention, and our housekeeper’s locked in her room watching some reality show finale,” Trixi said.
    â€œSo?”
    â€œSo I had to talk to someone. Especially after what happened today at school. Wasn’t that one crazy day?
    I mean, who would ever believe we’d get that much snow in September? And a dog driving a snowplow? And what about that crazy maple tree? Mr. Quigley better buy stronger glue, if you ask me.”
    â€œWhat do you want?” Martin said.
    â€œWhat do I want?”
    â€œYes, what do you want?”
    â€œI don’t want anything,” Trixi said. “I just thought we could talk about what happened today, that’s all.”
    â€œThat’s all?”
    â€œYeah. That’s all. Hey, don’t you find that once in a while you’re bursting to talk to someone?”
    â€œNot really. I’m not much into talking,” Martin said.
    â€œAnyway, did you hear what some of the parents were saying about Mr. Dodson? They were going wild with—”
    â€œThe newspaper had nothing to do with it,” Martin said.
    â€œWhat?”
    â€œYou’re trying to convince me that the newspaper had something to do with what happened today at school,” he said. Martin discovered that talking on the phone made him feel braver.
    â€œWhat? No! I just wanted to talk, that’s all,” Trixi said.
    â€œI’m kind of busy right now,” Martin said. “The dogs’ teeth need flossing.” Then he hung up.

TEN
    A t lunch hour the next day, a familiar voice came over the pa system. “Trixi Wilder and Martin Wettmore to my office, please.”
    Trixi shrugged. She’d been expecting a call from Ms. Baumgartner. The only surprise was that it took until lunchtime. When Trixi arrived in the office, Martin was already there, slumped in one of the yellow plastic chairs. Ms. Baumgartner was behind her desk, chewing on a bologna sandwich.
    She seemed calm, but Martin knew what was on Ms. Baumgartner’s mind. She was going to blame all of yesterday’s chaos and confusion on the school newspaper. She was going to shut down the Upland Green school newspaper.
    Trixi also knew what Ms. Baumgartner was thinking. The principal was going to tell her to get ready for an appointment on Saturday morning with some dirty school buses. But Trixi wasn’t going to make it easy on Ms. Baumgartner. She would go on the attack. As soon as she sat down in her yellow plastic chair, she said, “You do realize, Ms. Baumgartner, that it wouldn’t look very good if you shut the newspaper down just when it’s getting popular.”
    When Martin heard Trixi’s words, a slight sparkle returned to his eyes. Trixi had actually made a strong argument for keeping the paper going. Martin’s archenemy had given him a glimmer of hope.
    â€œTrixi, please listen,” Ms. Baumgartner said as she put her sandwich down and brushed the crumbs off her hands. “No one’s said anything about shutting down the newspaper. But before the next edition, there are a few matters that have to be worked out.”
    As Ms. Baumgartner spoke, Trixi and Martin both grinned, but for different reasons. Martin was grinning with relief because his school newspaper was still alive. Trixi was grinning because Ms. Baumgartner had been backed into a corner. She knew the principal had no choice but to keep the newspaper going, and Trixi had to be part of it. Her fun was just beginning.
    â€œFirst of all, the paper will not be called the Gossiper ,” Ms. Baumgartner said. “It will be called by its traditional name, the Examiner .”
    â€œAh, come on, Ms. Baumgartner,” Trixi said. “The Examiner sounds like a newspaper only a doctor would read.”
    â€œIt always has been called the Examiner and