Chapter

25

IT’S THURSDAY AFTERNOON, AND THE last car pulls away from the pickup line. Yoona waves me and Marcos over to the front steps, and I plop down next to her.

We’ve been gathering signatures since Monday. Every morning we approach kids from a different school entrance, and every afternoon we hit up the carlines. I told my family that I had a group project I had to work on after school every day this week, so they’ve been fine with me not rushing home to do my homework.

It doesn’t feel good to lie. But this is important.

It’s quiet as we count through the stacks of paper in our hands.

“I have 114 signatures and phone numbers,” Yoona declares, handing her petition copies to me.

“And 145 from me,” Marcos says.

I count the last page on my clipboard. “As for me, I’ve got 123. That brings us to a total of . . . 382! With about seven hundred kids at Pacific Park Middle, and parents and teachers, too, that’s a pretty good number.”

We give each other a round of high fives, and the weight of a ginormous bag of rice lifts off my shoulders. There’s no way Principal Klein can say no now.

“Should we bring them up to the front office today?” Yoona wonders out loud. “I think most teachers and administrators go home early on Fridays, so this afternoon might be our best chance before the board meeting next Tuesday.”

Now? My heart beats faster at the thought.

Then my brain takes over. The only thing we’re doing is showing Principal Klein that lots of people think that ESL classes are a good idea.

Plus, it has to be now. I need to get these ESL classes locked in quick before the Camp Rock Out registration or Evergreen tuition checks are due.

During all this, poor Vivian’s been stuck at home, cut off from any social time that might “distract” her from her studies.

It’s the pits. Thinking about Vivian makes me more determined than ever to make this work.

I gather our petition papers together into a big stack. “Yes, let’s do it. But wait a sec.” I pull out my trusty Discman from my backpack and wave it in the air. “Let’s get into the vibe first.”

Marcos laughs, and Yoona throws me a thumbs-up. “Great idea,” Marcos says. “I’ve got a headphone splitter so we can listen with two sets of earphones.”

The three of us settle into a corner, and I plug in our earphones. Marcos and Yoona share one set, and I skip ahead in the album to Pearl Jam’s “Alive.”

I close my eyes. My pounding heart needs a reminder of why I’m doing this. Like Keiko does when she gets up onstage.

I’m shining a light into the darkness. I’m making a change happen, not waiting for it.

My fingers move like they’re practicing my ruler-guitar, and I try to remember what it felt like to have Keiko’s guitar around my shoulders. As the last chords of Mike McCready’s guitar solo fade away, I take a deep breath. “Okay, let’s do this,” I declare, blinking against the bright Pacific Park sun. Marcos and Yoona cheer, and together we walk to Principal Klein’s office.

When Marcos pushes open the first door, Ms. Jensen’s on the phone. She waves us in and motions us to knock.

“Here goes nothing,” I say, pulling my shoulders back. “Ready?”

“Ready!” Marcos and Yoona say at the same time.

I knock on Principal Klein’s office door.

“Come in.”

I pull on the door handle, and we file in. Principal Klein is sitting behind her desk, flipping through papers. When she sees us, her eyebrows shoot up and her fingers pause in midair. “Why, hello, you three. What can I do for you?”

I clear my throat. “We have a request for you, Principal Klein.” I hand her our stack of signatures.

“What’s this?” Principal Klein takes them and reads the first page. “A petition for ESL support?”

“Yes, Principal Klein. The kids and adults who have signed it support giving students who need it a little extra help with their English.”

Principal Klein skims through the pages with a look on her face that I can’t read. Then she places them on her desk and leans forward in her chair.

Her blue eyes land on mine. “Tell me, what would you like me to do with this petition?”

I fumble for words. “We’re hoping that you will reconsider asking the school board for money to pay for ESL classes at Pacific Park Middle.”

Her gaze stays laser-focused on me. “I thought we came to an understanding the last time we talked about this, Lily. At Pacific Park Middle, we follow an English-only approach to language learning.”

I swallow down the ball of doubt that’s risen into my throat.

Be like Eddie. Be like Pandora’s Box.

“I understand, Principal Klein,” I say. “But I still think there’s more the school can do. Look at how many kids and adults at Pacific Park Middle agree. Can’t we try something else?”

“I told you before. Budgets are tight. We can’t provide kids with extra support. Finding and training teachers who can teach English to kids who don’t speak it . . . it’s a lot of work.” Principal Klein’s chair squeaks as she leans back.

“You can take it to the school district at the board meeting next week,” I say. I can’t hold back the note of defiance that makes it into my voice.

“I don’t understand,” Principal Klein says, shaking her head. She looks at me and Yoona pointedly. “The two of you are at the top of the class. You’re both examples of how this is a society where those who work hard enough get what they deserve.”

My face flushes. Yes, I’ve worked hard, and so has Yoona. But so have a lot of other kids, like Marcos, Carlos, Woojin, and Min. And of course, Vivian.

I realize that with her last comment, Principal Klein totally left Marcos out. I glance over at him, and he’s got a scowl on his face. His blazing eyes meet mine. Patience, Marcos, I try to say to him through my gaze. He takes a deep breath, and his face softens into his usual chill look. But there’s still a flash of anger in his eyes.

“Apparently hard work can only take you so far,” I insist. “It’s not fair that ESL kids are expected to do as well as the other kids do, when they are at a disadvantage. You’re expecting them to learn a whole new language on top of what everyone else is studying. What they deserve is real help.”

Yoona chimes in. “Principal Klein, the three of us have been trying to tutor a bunch of the students here at Pacific Park Middle. I found some workbooks at the library, and we’ve been going through them.”

“We’ve tried lots of things to help our friends and family,” I add. “Like putting together vocab lists.”

“That’s a nice demonstration of initiative, Yoona and Lily.” Principal Klein nods approvingly.

She’s ignored Marcos again. But this time, I don’t need to look at him to know what he’s feeling. Instead, my words tumble out to defend him. “Marcos is a big part of this, too,” I say. “He’s been demonstrating a lot of initiative, too, Principal Klein.”

Her eyes shift to him quickly; then a mask falls over her face as she turns her attention back to me and Yoona.

Out of the corner of my eye, I see Marcos stand a little straighter, a small smile on his face. Yoona continues. “The problem is, we don’t know what to do next. We could use some help from someone who knows what they’re doing. Like a real teacher.”

“They deserve more than what we can give them, Principal Klein,” I say as assertively as I can. “Please, will you help us?”

Principal Klein’s eyes bounce between me, Yoona, and Marcos.

Finally, she pats our stack of petition papers and sighs. “I’ll see what I can do.”

“You mean you’ll talk to the school board?” I ask hopefully.

Her gaze breaks away from mine. “I’ll talk to some people, yes. I’ll call you when I’ve got more to share.”

I don’t want to come across as smug and disrespectful in front of the principal, so I do my best to hold back the giant grin that’s about to burst onto my face. But once we file out of her office and step outside, I can’t keep it in.

“Whoop, whoop!” I cheer. “We did it!”

I can’t believe it worked.

Marcos raises up his hand, and we exchange high fives. “I think this will make a real difference! Finally!”

“Totally,” Yoona adds. She puts her hand to her chest. “It’ll take a lot of pressure off us if this works!”

“Yeah, maybe she’ll finally do what her students need.” Marcos grins. “And thank you, Lily, for not letting her get away with ignoring me.” He nudges my shoulder shyly.

I smile back. “She’s got to know that skater boys have something to say, too.”

“Oh, and I have something to share with you two, also!” Yoona pulls her sketchbook out of her backpack and flips it open.

My jaw drops. It’s an amazing manga-style drawing of the three of us, each as a different superhero. Marcos soars through the air with a mask on his face and rockets on his skateboard, and I’m on top of a huge building and jamming on a guitar with fire bursts exploding behind me. Instead of superhero boots on my feet, she’s drawn a pair of black boots like the ones I always wear, and instead of a bright red Superman cape, mine is red-and-black-checkered flannel.

Yoona has drawn herself like Wonder Woman, with long, wavy black hair and a snazzy crown, and she’s aiming her drawing pencils out of the page like lasers.

“Wow,” Marcos exclaims. “I had no idea you could draw like that.”

“Looks like each one of us is full of hidden surprises.” I grin. “We just need to take the time to discover them. Your drawing is sick, Yoona.”

Yoona giggles and bops me on the shoulder. “Sick is right, Lily.”

My heart swells. It’s nice that I’ve got real friends to lean on.

We wave goodbye and head off in separate directions to our homes.

We’ve done what we can. It’s up to Principal Klein now. I hope with my whole heart that her talk with the school board goes well.