“Uh-oh,” Eric said.

“Think fast!” said Danny. He picked up his meat loaf. And then he threw it right in Avery’s face.

“Wh-what?” Avery sputtered. He grabbed his milk and dumped it over Danny’s head.

“FOOD FIGHT!” Troy yelled from across the cafeteria.

There was instant pandemonium. I don’t know why that happens, but it works every time. And it never matters how much trouble we get in afterward.

Almost all the boys in the room jumped up on their chairs and started hurling food. Tara and Natasha screamed really loud and crawled under their table. I saw Ella leap up and dart out the back exit before she could get hit in the crossfire. That’s the difference between those girls — Ella is smart enough to just get out of the way, while Tara and Natasha seem to really like sticking around and screaming and making a fuss instead. Then they spend the rest of the day complaining about how their hair smells like ketchup.

And then there are girls like Heidi, who like throwing food just as much as the guys do. She dumped her tray out on the table and used it as a shield. From behind it, she broke her meat loaf into chunks. That gave her a lot more ammunition than people who threw their entire slice at once. I don’t know if she knew that this food fight was to save my dog, but I bet she would love that.

Hugo from the baseball team loves food fights more than anyone. He’s very enthusiastic, but not the best strategist. I’m not sure you’d want him on your side in a war, is what I’m saying. This time I saw him fling his entire tray in the air. Left with nothing to throw, he grabbed the nearest kid’s meat loaf and threw that.

“Hey!” Pradesh yelled. “That was mine!” He scooped up a giant spoonful of mashed potatoes and flicked it, SPLAT! into Hugo’s hair.

Even the little kids were getting into it. Most of the first and second graders were shrieking as loudly as Tara and Natasha while they threw their food. Troy’s little sister, Eden, had peanut butter and jelly in her hair and an enormous smile on her face.

By the time Vice Principal Taney got to the cafeteria door, the big room was in total chaos.

I grabbed Merlin’s leash and ducked below the level of the tables. Merlin covered my face with vigorous licks. He pressed himself close to my side as we ran down one of the aisles between the tables. I didn’t dare look over at Vice Principal Taney. I was sure that if I did, he would spot us instantly.

I ran for the door Ella had gone through. We weren’t supposed to use it during the day, but it was the fastest route to the music room and the playground. Kids who finished lunch early used it all the time and never got in trouble.

There was a patch of open space between the last table and the door. I glanced around quickly. My heart was pounding.

Vice Principal Taney was waving his arms and shouting angrily. A piece of bologna flew through the air and whapped him on the side of the head. Furious, he turned to see who threw it. His back was to us.

Merlin and I bolted for the door. We shot through it and ran down the hall as the door slowly closed behind us. The hall was empty; most everyone was in the cafeteria. But then … were those footsteps? Heels in the hallway? Was it the principal?

I didn’t even look back. I threw myself and Merlin into the nearest classroom. We dove behind the teacher’s desk — except it wasn’t a desk, it was a piano.

We were in the music room!

There was a long moment of tense silence. I leaned against the back of the piano, gasping for breath. Merlin was panting, but his tail was wagging, and he kept sticking his nose in my face, trying to lick me. I tried to scoot him out of sight of the door, but he kept jumping and wriggling. He would be really bad at hide-and-seek.

Suddenly I heard someone moving. I whipped around.

Ella Finegold was sitting on the piano bench. She was leaning way out on the edge so she could see us on the other side of the piano. She blinked at me, looking confused.

“Hi,” I said finally.

“Hey Parker,” she said. She’s so quiet that it always surprises me when she talks and you hear how normal her voice is. I always expect it to be squeakier or more timid or something.

“So,” she said. “I’m guessing you’re not here to practice for the talent show.”

I smiled. “Just catching our breath,” I said.

“That’s your new dog?”

“Yeah,” I said. “Merlin. The biggest troublemaker in dog history.”

Ella snorted. “You should meet mine,” she said. She shoved back her long brown curls like they were getting in her way.

“You have a dog?” I was astonished. “But — I thought you didn’t like dogs.”

“I don’t really,” Ella said. “Especially this one. We inherited her a few days ago. She’s a royal pain.” She shrugged.

Merlin bumped my chin with his head. He sat down and leaned into me, wagging his tail. I put my arm around him. “They’re worth it, though,” I said. “I think. I hope. Eventually.” If only Merlin would stop getting me in so much trouble!

“I doubt it,” Ella said. “I mean, mine, anyway. This is the only place I can get any peace and quiet from her.” She touched the music in front of her. My dad signed me up for guitar lessons one summer, but I was pretty terrible. I never wanted to practice. I think it’s pretty amazing how Ella wants to practice, like, all the time. I guess that’s why she’ll be famous one day instead of any of the rest of us.

“Sorry to bother you,” I said with a twinge of guilt. Merlin and I were causing problems everywhere.

“That’s OK,” she said. “You want me to check if the hall is empty?”

“Would you?” I said. “Really?”

“Sure,” she said. “Stay there.”

She went to the doorway and poked her head out. I could see her fingers tapping on the door like she was playing the piano inside her head. I don’t think she even knows that she does that. After a moment, she moved a little farther into the hall.

“Hi Mr. Taney,” she said loudly. “Why are you tiptoeing down the hall?”

“Hssssst.” I heard Mr. Taney shushing her. “Have you seen a dog come this way, Miss Finegold?”

“A dog?” Ella said. “Do you mean a hot dog? I think it was meat loaf day today, sir, not hot dogs.”

“No, no!” Mr. Taney snapped. “An actual dog! Fur! Paws! Drool! Sanitation hazard!”

“A real dog!” Ella exclaimed. “What kind of dog?”

“Any kind of dog!” Mr. Taney shouted, exasperated. “If you’ve seen any dog running down this hallway, I want to know about it!”

“Gee, I’m sorry, Mr. Taney,” Ella said, sounding hurt. “I haven’t seen any dogs running down this hallway. I didn’t mean to make you shout at me.” She sniffled a little. I couldn’t see her face, but she sounded like he’d really upset her. It was an ace performance.

“They must have gone the other way,” the vice principal muttered. “I’ll go around and cut them off!” I heard his footsteps running away down the hall.

“All right, coast is clear,” Ella said, coming back into the music room.

“That was awesome!” I said, climbing to my feet. Merlin jumped to his paws beside me. “You saved our butts. You should be an actress! You’re totally hilarious.”

She blushed. “Oh, no, I just like to sing,” she said.

“Well, thanks,” I said. “See you later.”

I peeked into the hall again. As Ella had said, the coast was clear. Wrapping Merlin’s leash firmly around my hand, I tugged him behind me out of the room. We ran down the hall toward the playground, in the opposite direction from Mr. Taney.

I didn’t know what to do. Should I try running home and leaving Merlin there? Was there enough time before the end of lunch? Would I get in trouble for leaving school without permission? I didn’t think the principal would be so nice about strike two. Especially after that food fight. Vice Principal Taney was probably really mad right now.

I felt around in my pockets. I didn’t want to bother Dad at work again if I could come up with something else. Did I have Russell’s phone number? Maybe I could call him to come get Merlin. I wondered how Merlin had gotten away. Since he had his leash on, maybe it was during one of his walks.

There was a card in my jacket pocket. I pulled it out and realized it was the one with Julianne’s number on it. No. No way. I was not calling her.

I got to the playground door and looked out. A black iron fence stood between the playground and the quiet street outside. Once I was through that gate, we’d only be a few blocks from home. I figured I had to risk it. Maybe with the chaos of the food fight, no one would notice I was gone.

But then I saw someone running along the sidewalk.

It was Russell!

I burst through the door and ran across the playground with Merlin galloping beside me. Russell was gasping and breathing heavily. He was trying to run, but he was a pretty big guy, and not that young. He was kind of floundering along. His face was bright red behind the walrus mustache.

When he saw me and Merlin, he nearly collapsed to the sidewalk. His face was so relieved, I couldn’t be mad at him for losing Merlin. Especially when I knew it was most likely Merlin’s fault.

“Oh, man,” he said. “Parker, I am real sorry, mate. I can’t even — you have no — I was so —” He stopped, wheezing for breath. I was afraid he would keel over right there. Instead he knelt down and put his arms around Merlin. “Thank the saints you’re all right, dog. One moment I was holding him, and he was trotting along just fine, and then all of a sudden he bolted. The leash slipped out of my hands. I’ve never had that happen to me before, and I’ve been walking dogs for years.”

Merlin licked Russell’s face like he was maybe a little bit sorry for making Russell run and worry so much.

“It’s OK,” I said, “but please, you have to get him out of here right now. My vice principal is on the warpath, and if he catches me out here with Merlin, I’ll be in huge trouble.”

“No worries,” Russell said, leaping to his feet with renewed energy. “We were never here! You never saw us!” He wrapped Merlin’s leash firmly around his fist and set off at a brisk trot. Merlin looked back at me and whined, trying to pull away, but Russell was too strong. Soon they were jogging around the corner and out of sight.

I let out a breath I didn’t know I’d been holding. I glanced at my watch. Almost the end of the lunch hour. I ran back across the playground into the school. Could I make it into the cafeteria without being spotted by Mr. Taney? I doubted it.

Then I heard the squeak of Mr. Taney’s shoes coming down the next hallway. There was only one place to go. I darted into Mr. Peary’s classroom and flew across the room into my seat. Luckily Mr. Peary wasn’t at his desk. The room was empty.

I dug through my bag and pulled out a notebook as fast as possible.

The door flew open.

Vice Principal Taney stood there, glaring. His face was almost purple with anger. And he had a tiny smear of bright yellow mustard on his left ear. I decided I probably shouldn’t tell him about that.

“Mr. Green,” he said in his most dangerous, most ominous voice. “What — what — pray tell, are you doing in here?”

I glanced around like I couldn’t understand the question. “This is my classroom, sir. I thought we were allowed to be in our classrooms during lunch.”

He advanced slowly across the room. “Only if you are engaged in academic pursuits.”

“I am,” I said, “um, engaged in … that, sir.” I held up the notebook. “I’m studying for our spelling test this afternoon.” Miraculously, I had grabbed the right notebook. Even if Mr. Taney checked, he would find out that it was true. We were scheduled to have a spelling test that afternoon.

“That’s unusually industrious of you,” Vice Principal Taney said. He stopped next to my desk and seized the notebook. His eyes scanned the list of words. He looked down at me suspiciously.

“Have you seen your dog today, Mr. Green?”

“Sure,” I said. His nostrils flared angrily. “At home this morning, sir,” I added quickly. “We dropped him off with a dog walker for the day. Now he has someone to keep an eye on him! It’s such a relief. I would be so embarrassed if he showed up here again!”

All of this was true. I was trying to keep Camellia’s honesty rules in mind. But then again, I think even Camellia wouldn’t want me to get expelled because of Merlin. Then it would be her fault if I didn’t graduate high school and I ended up living in Dad’s basement for the rest of my life.

Mr. Taney narrowed his eyes. He stared at me for a long, awful moment.

Finally he dropped the notebook on my desk and stalked out of the classroom without another word.

I fell back in my seat with a great whoosh of air. That was way, way too close.