Jason walked into Kids Central and sat down between Bobby and Nina.
"Ah-choo!" Jason held a tissue to his nose.
"Do you have a cold, Jason?" Miss Shelly asked.
"No." Jason shrugged.
"But sometimes cats make me sneeze."
"There are no cats in here!" Bobby said. "Just people."
"Ah-choo!" Jason sneezed again.
Nina handed him another tissue.
"We're playing a game called twenty questions today," Miss Shelly said.
"Jason, do you want to be 'it'?"
"Sure." Jason nodded, and blew his nose.
"Good," Miss Shelly said.
"Think of a person, place, or thing.
Everyone else will try to guess what it is."
"Hmm," Jason thought.
"I could choose a person."
He thought of Ms. Folani and George Washington.
But they seemed too easy.
"Maybe I'll choose a place like Africa or Pauly's Pizza.
Or . . ." He sneezed loudly. "Okay, I'm ready."
Miss Shelly nodded and looked at the other kids.
"Jason is thinking of a person, place, or thing.
You can ask him yes or no questions about it."
"We can only ask twenty questions, right?" Izzie asked.
"Right!" Miss Shelly said with a smile.
She handed Nina some paper and a pencil.
"Nina will record how many questions you ask."
"I'm first!" Bobby said.
"Jason, is it a person, a place, or a thing?"
"You can't ask that, Bobby," Izzie said.
"Jason can only answer yes or no questions."
"Oh yeah." Bobby tried again. "Is it a person?"
"No," Jason said.
"Is it a thing?" Izzie asked.
"Ah-choo! No."
"Two questions so far," Nina said.
"So it's a place," Ethan said.
"Is it in Pennsylvania?"
"Yes."
"Is it in our town?" Nina asked.
"Yes."
"Is it outside?" Bobby asked.
"Ah-choo! Nope."
"Hmm." Izzie tapped her chin.
"Have we all been there?"
"Yes."
Ethan was next.
"Do we like to go there?"
"Yes."
"Does the place have tables?" Nina asked.
"Yes," Jason said.
Nina looked at her sheet of paper.
"That's eight questions.
We have twelve more left."
"I know!" Bobby cried. "Is it Kids Central?"
"No," said Jason.
Bobby looked grumpy.
"Is the place at school?" asked Izzie.
"Yes! Ah-choo!"
Ethan's stomach growled. "Is it the cafeteria?"
"Yes!" Jason said.
"Ethan guessed correctly," Miss Shelly said.
"So he gets to be 'it' next."
"I have to sharpen this pencil," Nina said.
She got up to get her pencil sharpener.
As she opened her backpack, she gasped.
"Oh no! Guess what I found!"
"Ah-choo! Ah-choo!"
"Does it make Jason sneeze?" Izzie asked.
"Yes!" Nina said.
"Is it fuzzy?" Ethan said.
"Yes!" said Nina.
"Ah-choo!"
"Is it a cat?" Bobby asked.
"No," Nina said. "But it belongs to a cat."
"Let's see, Nina," Miss Shelly said.
Nina pulled something from her backpack.
"Ah-choo! Ah-choo!" Jason sneezed and sneezed.
"It's my cat's brush," Nina said.
"Let's get it outside quickly," Miss Shelly said.
Nina hurried to put the brush outside.
Then she ran over to Jason.
"I'm so sorry, Jason!"
He blew his nose.
"I'm glad you found it.
Otherwise I could have sneezed all afternoon!"