CHAPTER 12

Busted

When I get to the office, the secretary, Mrs. Dawson, tells me to sit down and wait. I can hear through the door that Principal Webb is talking to my mum on the phone. I know it’s my mum because it’s just about the time when her customers would be shouting out lunch orders, and Principal Webb says, “Pepperoni? No! Wednesday!” Even Mrs. Dawson thinks it’s funny.

I wait another thirty-five minutes until the lunch bell rings, and then Ms. Gelson arrives. A few minutes later, my moms come rushing into the office. I feel horrible that my mum is missing her lunchtime pizza sales to be here.

Principal Webb opens her office door, and we all cram around her desk.

“Thank you for coming in on such short notice,” she says to my moms, who nod their heads. My mom puts her arm around me, and my mum chooses not to sit down. Instead she paces around the room. Ms. Gelson sits on the windowsill.

“It seems that Wednesday has ended up with half of the field-trip money from her class,” says Principal Webb.

Of course, everyone looks at me, thinking I stole the money, so I have to tell them the whole story — even the part about the flying kale.

When I’m done telling the story, all of the adults look at each other, and no one says anything. Principal Webb doesn’t seem to understand the purpose of a Secret Keeper, and when I try to explain, I’m shushed by my mum.

“Wednesday,” says Principal Webb, “could you share with us where the books came from to make these Secret Keepers?” Clearly she knows, because she’s asking in that voice that adults use when they already know the answer.

“The library,” I tell them.

No one seems impressed. In fact, my mum buries her head in her hands.

Maybe if I explain the situation, they will be on my side. “The books we chose had stereotypes in them, which Ms. Gelson taught us are bad,” I explain. I nod at Ms. Gelson like she’s already on my side. She half smiles. So does my mom, but no one says anything.

I keep going. “Those books were so old-fashioned,” I say, looking at my moms. “In one book, it was only the girl characters who needed to be rescued — never the boys. If you think about it, I did a pretty responsible thing.”

Now my mum is smiling, too, and has her hand on my shoulder.

“I appreciate that Ms. Gelson has done an excellent job on her lesson on stereotypes,” Principal Webb says. “However, you vandalized school property for the sake of your craft project.”

“Business,” I correct her. Probably not the best time.

“Wednesday,” Principal Webb continues, “a lot of what happened here is against the rules.” She explains that the library books were damaged beyond repair. And that selling things on school property is not allowed. (When I ask about the sixth-grade winter bake sale last year, she gives me an Emma-worthy death glare.)

“Wednesday will pay for the books the library has lost, obviously,” says my mum. I imagine my piggy bank’s butt getting lighter.

“Yes,” says my mom, “and sheʼll think long and hard about the differences between good and not-so-good decisions.”

“And perhaps,” adds Ms. Gelson, “Wednesday will need to apologize to Ms. Eleanor, even if the books were not … the best suited to our collection.”

Principal Webb says she will talk to the Emmas and Ruby about how they behaved, even though that makes me nervous.

I agree with the adults. Then I work up the courage to say something. “I’m sorry for any trouble I caused,” I tell everyone, “and I will pay to replace the books I ruined. But I don’t think we should replace them with the same books, because they were problematic.” That’s another fancy word my mom taught me, and I can tell she’s trying not to smile.

“Secret Keepers are my first business idea, and maybe the way everything happened wasn’t the greatest, but I did learn tons of things for next time I start a business. And there will be a next time, that’s a promise.”

Then I walk out of the office and straight out of school, never to be seen around these parts again.

THE END