When I walked into English class on Friday, the white board was filled with various punctuation marks. The bell rang, and Mr. Goshen walked out from behind his desk and began another day of grammar lessons. The lesson on punctuation ended with five minutes left in class. I thought we might catch a break from the homework since it was the weekend, but I was wrong. He passed out a handout with an assignment to read a book and answer the questions.
Lickity split! We have to read a whole book this weekend! I raised my hand.
“What is it?” Mr. Goshen said.
“What if you don’t have the assigned book, The Giver?”
“Then I suggest you get it. It was on the list at the start of the school year.”
“What list?”
“I’m not answering that question.”
“But—“
“Charlie, enough from you. If you need the book, check it out from the library or buy a copy.”
“But you said we have to read the book, not check it out.” A few students chuckled.
“Silence!” He stared across the room, and the chatter and laughter faded. He looked at me. A chill went through me.
“One more smart word out of you and you will spend the rest of the day in the office.”
“Who’s office?” I asked.
“That’s it.” Mr. Goshen stomped over to his desk and wrote something. He marched over to me, handed me the pink slip, and motioned me to the door.
Oh booger. What did I just do? I looked at the slip.
“Where do I go?”
Mr. Goshen glared at me. I bit my lip.
“Go to the principal’s office. I assume you know where it is.”
“Yes.” I stared at him.
“Go!” he said. I grabbed my books and hurried out of the room. There was a check mark next to discipline with “talking back to the teacher” written in the notes section. That sounded right. I was talking back and forth with Mr. Goshen, but I didn’t understand why that meant I had to see the principal.
When I reached the office, I recognized the lady with glasses and dark, shoulder-length hair who sat at the front desk. Her name card read Mrs. Turner. I’d met her during my last trip to the office when I’d fallen asleep in class.
“Hi, Mrs. Turner,” I smiled and handed her the slip.
“Take a seat. Principal Stevens will call you back when he’s ready.” She ducked into his office and returned a minute later. I slumped in the chair and watched the clock. The second hand had circled around six times when Principal Stevens called for me. I rose and walked into his office and sat across from him.
“Mr. Goshen says you were talking back. That is not acceptable behavior. Students shouldn’t talk back to their teachers.”
“I don’t understand,” I said. “I asked a few questions about the homework assignment. Is that talking back?”
“Clearly you did more than that.”
“I didn’t, I swear.”
“Listen Charlie, this is your first trip to my office.”
“Actually, it’s my second. Mrs. Felder sent me here for falling asleep a few weeks ago.” Mr. Stevens opened his mouth to speak but then shut it without saying a word. I focused on his mind to know if I was really in trouble.
Something is off about this kid. I need to keep my eye on him, he thought.
Why did Principal Stevens want his eye on me? How could he put his eye on me? That was a strange thing to say.
“I’ll let you off with a warning this time, but if I hear that you are talking back with other teachers, then there will be consequences.”
“Okay,” I said, but I was still confused.
“You are dismissed.”
I left the room, and Mrs. Turner wrote me a pass to history class. I walked back to class trying to make sense of everything that happened. I can’t talk with teachers, and the principal wants to remove his eye. None of this made sense. Oh booger, I need Maya! At least I got out of half of history class.
When I arrived, Mrs. Roberts took the pink slip and gave me the day’s handout. When I sat down, I felt a tap on my shoulder. I turned around.
“Where were you?” Maya whispered.
“Principal’s office.”
“Why?”
“Charlie, Maya, quiet. This is solo work time.” I turned and faced the front. I didn’t want to go back to the principal’s office. I opened my history book and started on the work for the day. I felt a tap on my shoulder a few minutes later.
“Was it Mr. Goshen?” Maya asked.
“Yes. I’ll tell you after school.” I looked toward the front of the room. Mrs. Roberts was watching me. I gave her a small smile and went back to work. When the class ended, Maya and I walked to our lockers.
“So …” Maya began.
“I have no idea what happened, Maya. I was asking Mr. Goshen about the paper and how to get the book, then I was sent to the office.”
“Start at the beginning, word for word,” she said. I told the entire story to her.
“Charlie, you need to be more careful about what you ask the teachers.”
“What did I say?”
“Mr. Goshen thought you were talking back.”
“What does that mean?”
“Giving him a bad attitude.”
“Lickity split! I was asking a question.”
“The questions you asked are common sense for us.”
“Oh, booger.”
“Charlie, did you know you can borrow books from the library? They will loan you books for a few weeks that you can take home. You bring it back when you are done.”
“Hot Spaghetti! I didn’t know that! No wonder he was mad. The meeting with the principal makes sense now.”
“You only got a warning, right?” Maya asked.
“Yes. But I read his mind. He wants to keep his eye on me. How can he do that?”
“Don’t get sent to the Principal’s office, and you’ll be fine.”
“What about the eye?” I asked.
“What eye?”
“Principal Steven’s eye.”
“Oh!” Maya started laughing. When she caught her breath, she continued. “Keep his eye on you is a saying. It means to watch you to make sure you don’t get in trouble again.”
“He can’t remove his eye and put it on me?”
“No.”
“Oh, thank goodness!”
Maya chuckled again, and we started down the hallway to the gym.
“Charlie, slow down,” she said. We were in the English wing, and Mr. Goshen’s classroom was a few steps ahead.
“What?” I asked. I didn’t see anyone, so I couldn’t mind read.
“I hear voices.” She took a few steps forward and stopped in front of the door, staying out of sight from anyone in the classroom. She pointed to her ear. I didn’t have the best hearing, but I could make out Mr. Goshen’s voice and … was that Caden?
Maya’s eyes widened. I focused on her, but then I stopped myself. I couldn’t break our rule. I wasn’t supposed to read her mind.
“Charlie, let’s go.” She motioned me forward, and we hurried past the doorway and to the gym.
When we exited the school, I couldn’t wait anymore.
“What happened? I couldn’t hear.”
“Caden and Mr. Goshen know each other somehow. They were talking about going to a wrestling match or something like that.” Our pace sped up, which meant Maya was excited by this news.
“Wrestling? What’s that?”
“The sport where two guys roll around on the ground and try to pin each other.”
“Nothing you just said made sense. I have a funny picture in my head.”
“It’s probably right. Look it up later.”
“Okay, but I don’t get why you’re so excited about this.”
“I’m not excited.”
“Maya, we are practically jogging home right now.”
She looked at me and stopped. “I heard something else. Mr. Goshen told Caden not to worry about his English grade.”
“So?”
“That means that Mr. Goshen isn’t being fair.”
“So? Is he really that bad? He’s only been here for the week,” I said.
“Charlie, you were sent to the principal’s office. We have to read a book and do an assignment over the weekend. This isn’t right for sixth grade!”
“Right.”
“You think I’m crazy.”
“No. I’m with you, but I don’t know what we can do.”
“We need to pay attention to Caden and Mr. Goshen. You can use your ability, and maybe it can help us.”
“Okay, but what are we trying to do?” I asked.
“Get Mr. Goshen in trouble.”
“Oh,” I said, even if I wasn’t sure about her idea. But I’d follow Maya’s lead.
We were at the intersection where we split for our separate houses. “Before you go, how do you check out a book from the library?”
“You need a library card, so bring your mom or dad with you.”
“That’s it?”
“It’s easy. You’ll be fine,” Maya said.