Mrs. Howie cleared her throat. It wasn’t because she needed to cough. It was more like a warning. All of the students knew this. But Savannah Blue had just moved to the school. She didn’t know it.
“And those clothes,” Savannah said. “Did someone play an April Fool’s trick on you?”
Justine was proud of how she looked. Today, it was purples and greens. She also had a nice hat on, with a frog emblem stitched on the side.
Mrs. Howie cleared her throat again. “Savannah, one of the rules in our classroom is that we don’t say mean things.”
“Oh,” Savannah said. “I’m sorry. Justine actually likes to dress like that?”
“She’s the Queen of Green,” Michael said. “She buys her clothes at secondhand stores because that’s a way to reuse clothing.”
“And she’s had lots of great projects to help the environment,” Safdar explained. “We built a greenhouse out of soda bottles once. And we started the walking school bus and—”
“So,” Savannah said, “she’s the reason I had to walk to school today? Nice.”
By her tone of voice, everyone knew Savannah did not think it was nice to walk to school.
“Because of Justine,” a girl named Sydney said, “they put decals on our school windows to save birds from flying into the glass.”
“We all save uneaten food from the cafeteria, plus we started a project of cleaning up dog poop at the park. All thanks to Justine,” Michael added.
“Wow,” Savannah said. “Saving uneaten food and cleaning up dog poop. Where do I sign up?”
Mrs. Howie cleared her throat. “Also, Savannah, we don’t like sarcasm in our classroom. Sarcasm is often mean.”
“I’m not asking this sarcastically,” Savannah said. “But why would I want to sign up to count frogs or ants?”
Everyone in the class looked at Justine, waiting for her to answer. After all, Justine was the Queen of Green.
“It’s for national science projects,” Justine answered. “Real scientists use information like this from across the country to see what is happening in the environment.”
“Why does it matter?” Savannah asked. “And I promise, that is not a sarcastic question. I really want to know.”
“Well,” Justine said, “if the numbers drop, it shows that the environment is being hurt in a local area. Once we know that, we can take steps to help.”
“But why should I care?” Savannah asked. “It’s just bugs and frogs.”
“Because we should all care about our planet,” Justine said. “It’s important to be green.”
“My dad says people who make a big show about being green are just looking for attention,” Savannah answered. “I don’t need that kind of attention. Do you? Is that why you like everyone to call you the Queen of Green? Is that why you make sure everyone knows you buy secondhand clothes? Because you want us to think you care more about the environment than we do? So you can think you are better than people who aren’t green?”
“Well…” Justine, for once, didn’t have an answer.
“I’m happy with my life,” Savannah said. “I don’t care about frogs or bugs, so if you can’t give me a good reason why I should care, then I won’t sign up to be a volunteer.”
Mrs. Howie stood up behind her desk. Everyone in the classroom knew this was not a good sign.
“It seems,” Mrs. Howie said, “that Justine and Savannah have a new assignment to work on together. On Earth Day, the two of them will report to the class on why it matters to care about the environment.”