Chapter Twenty-One

Cole

Wednesday, October 18

Cole sat at one end of the two cafeteria tables they’d pushed together and checked to see if all the members of the class were here. Where was Stefan? Oh, okay, there he was, crammed between Carson and Ben. Ben was next to Bart and Bart was next to Ellie, who was next to Rogan who was next to Ariana who was across from Elizabeth and so on and so on. Everybody was present and accounted for, except for Petra (who was no longer a member of the class), Rosie, and Lila. Rosie, had sneered at the very idea of a class meeting.

“Why would I eat lunch with you guys when I could eat with real people?” she’d replied when Ellie had asked her at the end of history to join the group. “Besides, I’d lose my appetite.”

Now Cole drew a quick sketch in his sketchbook of Rosie standing in the cafeteria line, giving her a dragon’s long snout with flames coming through her nostrils.

Ethan sat at the other end of the table from Cole. After everyone had gotten settled into their seats, he banged his lacrosse stick on the floor like a scepter and said, “Let’s bring this meeting to order.”

Cole sketched Ethan wearing a jeweled crown and a robe with a fur collar.

“As we all know, Mrs. H is in trouble,” Ethan began, “and if she’s not careful, she’s about to get in bigger trouble.”

“Does someone have an extra straw?” Carson asked. “I forgot to grab one for my milk.”

Ethan waited patiently as Elizabeth reached across the table and handed Carson a straw. “You’ve probably heard by now that Mrs. Herrera got in trouble last year for letting a student spend the day at the zoo so she could work on a research project,” he continued. “Mrs. H sent a note around to the other sixth-grade team teachers telling them that this girl”—he paused to glance at the notebook in front of him—“Lucy Yee, would be gone for the day. Lucy’s parents were aware of the situation; in fact, her mother was the one who drove her to the zoo.”

Henry, who was sitting to Ethan’s left, leaned in so everyone could see him. “But the bureaucracy demands that paperwork be done!”

“Yeah, it does,” Ethan agreed. “Mrs. H was supposed to submit forms to the administration, signed by herself and Lucy Yee’s parents, explaining why this absence was necessary and”—he looked at his notebook again—“beneficial to the student across the curriculum.”

“At least ten days in advance,” Henry added.

Ethan nodded. “That is correct. According to my mom, who’s on the PTA and good friends with the school secretary, Mrs. H failed to do so and received a disciplinary notice in her file. Then it was discovered that she had previously allowed another student to spend the day at the history museum, also for a class project, and an… an…”—Ethan looked at his notes again—“an addendum was added to the notice.”

“Aka, she’s on thin ice,” Henry clarified.

Cole drew Henry as a court jester. He put one of those funny hats on his head, the kind with three floppy, pointy things on top. Studying the sketch, Cole realized the hat was missing something and added little jingle bells to the end of each pointy thing. There. Much better.

“I’m really afraid she’s going to get fired,” Ariana said. “I mean, she’s doing all these crazy things! Letting Sam Hawkins live in her classroom? He’s homeless! We can’t have a homeless kid living in our classroom, even a nice homeless kid!”

“Don’t be an idiot,” said Matt, who was sitting to Ethan’s right. “First of all, Sam’s not living in our classroom. People have seen him leaving school in the afternoon. Second, who says he’s homeless?”

Cole drew Matt as an aggressive gorilla in a football uniform, with the words Sometimes even I make a good point coming out of his mouth and floating toward Ariana, who Cole had drawn as a Chihuahua with a flowery backpack.

Elizabeth, who was sitting next to Ariana, said in a quiet voice, “I saw him at the homeless shelter near the Hope Valley Shopping Center when Petra and I were dropping off clothes there this weekend. He wasn’t doing work like the people who volunteer there. And I volunteer there with my mom a lot, so I think I would have seen him before if he was a volunteer. When I saw him, he was eating lunch and reading a book, and this sad lady was sitting next to him. I think it was his mom.”

“Okay, homeless/not homeless. Either way, why’s he spending so much time over here?” Carson asked. “He’s supposed to be at another school. Dudes, he moved, remember?”

“Is he here right now?” Stefan asked. “Because most people have seen him before or after school. Only Ellie has seen him during school. So maybe he’s just coming back to visit. Maybe the day Ellie saw him, his new school had a teacher workday.”

Ben crumpled up his lunch bag and stood. “I’ll go look and see if he’s in the classroom now. Let’s agree that if he’s here, we have a problem. If he’s not, then Stefan’s probably right—he just likes coming around before or after school to see Mrs. Herrera. Maybe they bonded before he moved.”

“You can’t go until recess,” Cammi, who was sitting next to Carson, pointed out. “You’re not allowed in the hallways.”

“It’s me, okay?” Ben said. “As long as I stay in the sixth-grade wing, who’s going to stop me?”

“Fair enough, dude,” Carson said, and Cole drew Carson and Cammi as two peas in a pod, except that that Carson was a pea and Cammi was a lima bean. The same, but different, he wrote underneath their picture.

“Have you ever noticed that guys like Ben get away with a lot of stuff?” Rogan asked as everyone watched Ben walk out the cafeteria doors without one teacher asking him for a pass or wanting to know where he was going. “It’s like if you’re a genius and you stay pretty quiet, teachers don’t care what you do or where you go.”

“It pays to have a brain,” Bart said. “Just ask Bill Gates, am I right?”

“Shut it, dude,” Matt said. “Am I right?”

“Why don’t you shut it?” Garrison asked Matt. “Bart didn’t say anything wrong.”

Cole glanced around the table and then drew a sea of faces, eyes wide and mouths hanging open. One thing was for sure, he thought as he drew a picture of Superman. Only Garrison could get away with saying that.

He gave Superman Garrison’s face.

“So what’s the point of this meeting anyway?” Matt asked, a red flush edging above his collar. “Because it’s getting boring.”

Ethan banged his stick again. “Okay, good question. Here’s another question: Who here wants to see Mrs. H get fired? Show of hands.”

Nobody’s hand went up. “Me either,” Ethan said. “But if Sam’s really hanging out in her classroom during the day, whether he’s homeless or not, and she gets caught letting him hang out…” Ethan drew his finger across his neck. “That’s it. She’s out of here.”

Aadita raised her hand. When Ethan pointed at her, she said, “If it is true she’s hiding Sam in her classroom, what I would like to know is why? I mean, why is she taking this risk?”

“She’s too soft,” Garrison offered. “She lets people get to her too easily.”

Becca, who was sitting next to Matt, harrumphed. “Don’t let Mrs. Herrera fool you.”

“Have you talked to her yet?” Matt asked Becca in a low voice, and when Becca shook her head, he said, “Then maybe you don’t know what’s going on with her. Remember what I told you?”

Becca nodded glumly. “I need to go talk to her.”

Ben reappeared at the table. “He’s in there,” he said a little breathlessly. “And she is too—Mrs. Herrera. She’s sitting at her desk and he’s sitting in the back row, writing something in a notebook. I tried the door, but it’s locked.”

“So can anybody explain this situation?” Ethan asked the group. “And then tell us what to do?”

No one said anything for a minute. Elizabeth looked at Ariana, who shrugged, like Don’t look at me. Cammi looked at Carson, and Carson looked at Ben. Garrison glanced at Felicity, who blushed and looked down at her lap. Ellie looked at Cole, who drew a picture of Sam and Mrs. Herrera hiding out in a World War II–style bunker. Ethan raised an eyebrow at Bart, who tapped Stefan on the shoulder. “Come on, Stef. You’re good at this kind of thing. Explain why Mrs. Herrera would do this.”

Stefan was quiet for a moment. “I don’t know,” he said finally. “I mean, unless Sam’s really in our class again, he shouldn’t be here. Mrs. Herrera knows that. But maybe his new school sucks. Or maybe it’s like Elizabeth says, and he lives with his mom in a homeless shelter and is really unhappy. Maybe Mrs. Herrera is trying to figure out a plan, but she hasn’t yet. But I’m with everybody else—I don’t want her to get fired. So the next question is, what do we do?”

Nobody said anything for a long time, and then Cole looked up from his sketchbook. “We form a human shield,” he said. He held up the picture he’d just drawn—an enormous shield held up by a big group of people. You couldn’t see the people’s faces, though, only their feet.

“Explain,” said Ben, who was still standing next to Ethan.

But before Cole could explain, Ellie jumped in. “We all stand in front of him, so that no one can see him.”

“Sort of,” Cole said. “It’s more of a blending-in thing. If we all go sit at our desks right now, who’s going to notice Sam? He’s just another kid. We could probably take him out on the playground and play soccer. He looks like at least two other kids I can think of—James Falter, who’s in Mrs. Logan’s homeroom, and this other guy—”

“George Chaggs,” Garrison interrupted, nodding with excitement. “You know, that kid in Mr. Lee’s class? He’s the second-string quarterback on my travel team.”

“So if some teacher sees him from a distance, she just thinks it’s James or George,” Ellie said. “You’re a genius, Cole!”

Cole bowed to Ellie. “Thank you,” he said. “It was about time one of you guys figured that out.”

“Okay, let’s go,” Garrison said, standing. “Let’s go form a shield.”

Ben pointed at the clock on the wall. “We need to wait two more minutes. We’ll draw more attention if we try to leave early, especially as a group. The point is not to draw attention to ourselves or to Sam.”

“I hear you,” Garrison said. “Good point.”

“But by all means, lead the way when it’s time,” Ben said, and Garrison nodded. It was like watching generals from two different armies join forces, Cole thought. He drew a picture of Ben and Garrison standing next to each other, each in military uniforms. Ben had a badge on his chest that read Geek Army. Garrison’s said Jock Brigade.

“But we shouldn’t all walk together, like Ben said,” Felicity pointed out. “In fact, we should go in different directions and then circle back around. Try not to look suspicious.”

Cole sketched Felicity dressed in a black trench coat with a black fedora pulled low on her forehead.

The recess bell rang. “Okay, everybody,” Garrison said. “Break into groups, but be back in the classroom in two minutes.”

“Two minutes, everyone!” Henry repeated. “Two minutes! That’s one-two-and-not-three minutes!”

And to Cole’s amazement, nobody told him to shut up.