In Mrs. Jewls\'s class there were three children named Eric: Eric Fry, Eric Bacon, and Eric Ovens. They were known throughout the school for being fat. Eric Fry sat at this end of the room. Eric Bacon sat in the middle of the room. And Eric Ovens sat at that end of the room. There was a joke around Wayside School that if all three Erics were ever at the same end of the room at the same time, the whole school would tip over.

Eric Bacon hated jokes like that. That\'s not surprising. After all, he wasn\'t even fat. In fact, he was the skinniest kid in Mrs. Jewels\'s class. But nobody seemedto notice.
83The other two Erics were fat, and so everyone just thought that all Erics were fat.
"But I\'m not fat!" Eric Bacon insisted.

"What\'s your name?" asked Jason.

"Eric," said Eric Bacon.

"Then you\'re fat," Jason concluded.

And pretty soon, skinny little Eric Bacon, the skinniest kid in Mrs. Jewls\'s class, had the nickname "Fatso."

Eric Fry reallywasfat. He was also the best athlete in Mrs. Jewls\'s class. His body was solid muscle. However, nobody ever noticed.

The other two Erics weren\'t very good at sports. Eric Ovens was clumsy. Eric ("Fatso") Bacon was a good athlete for his size, but because he was so skinny he didn\'t have much power.

So, naturally, everybody just assumed that Eric Fry was also clumsy and weak. After all, his namewasEric.

Whenever the other kids chose up teams, Eric Fry was the last one picked. They never noticed his home runs or the fabulous catches he made. Like all great athletes, he made the impossible look easy. Of course, the other kids............