prologue: the perfect class

June 12, 1996
Walker Elementary
Walkerville, PA

No matter what happened, Valerie Frizzle knew she'd never have a class like that class. She'd watched the eight of them leave Walker Elementary forever, closer friends than ever.

The fall of 1992 had brought her a perfect opportunity to test the limits of her ability with her teaching: an unusually small class. In regular-sized classes, she had to limit herself to one or two field trips a year, or else the kids would talk. If the higher-ups knew what she was doing, she'd lose her job, and she'd put anything on the line to prevent that from happening.

When she had only eight kids in her class in 1992, she knew she had something special. After a month or so, she felt she could trust them. Some had wild imaginations which would make adults doubt their unbelievable stories. What she hadn't expected was the tacit acceptance that the weekly – sometimes multiple times a week – field trips were kept secret. None of them told their parents or siblings. Any friendships they had outside the class disintegrated and their bonds with each other grew tighter with every trip. Even the inevitable squabbles between the kids usually ended with deeper friendships formed. It was truly remarkable.

As they moved on to fourth grade, Ms. Frizzle knew she could never have a year like that again. Despite all the odds, they seemed to grow closer over the years instead of drifting apart like normal children did. Even though they were in different classes, they found each other at lunch and recess. They walked to and from school together.

One class of kids who all become best friends is an anomaly; two is a pattern. Ms. Frizzle couldn't afford for there to be a pattern. Patterns meant questions, and once questions started being asked, the truth was bound to come out. The truth was too weird and complicated to explain, so she was forced to use more traditional teaching methods. It was more important for her to reach a large number of kids than it was for her to be innovative.

Eventually she had to limit herself to in-class demonstrations. Those were easy enough to dismiss as kids' exaggerations. As her class – the only class where she was able to be herself as she'd like to be – went to middle school, she knew it was time to move on. She taught at Walker Elementary one last time – Wanda Li's younger brother was in her class – before taking Liz and the bus and leaving Walkerville for good. If anyone asked questions about the class, she wasn't going to be around to answer them.

author's note:

Pieces of this story have been kicking around my mind for years, and some of them have made it into my other stories, so please forgive me my old tropes. In this fic, Ralphie will be obsessed with baseball, Carlos always orders Diet Coke, Phoebe drives an old van with wood paneling, and Wanda will try to take the whole system down. If you've read my stuff and think you know how this ends, well… you'll just have to see.

This is the only chapter we're going to have in the 90s. The rest of the fic will focus on the kids, so don't get too excited about seeing the Friz again, because… well, I shouldn't rule it out, should I?

Coming up – DA formulates the theory. The gang reacts!