Science was Will’s favorite class. Partly because he liked the stuff they were learning (not that he’d admit the periodic table of elements was hypnotic to him) and mostly because the teacher, Mr. Taylor, was also one of the assistant wrestling coaches.

But today, seeing his teacher and hoped-for coach was like a knock upside the head. The first wrestling practice was today, and Will had meant to be in the zone all day: visualizing moves, thinking through past matches, breathing. Instead, he was on a freaking roller coaster, first predicting social doom, then being crowned Bug Boy. Last night he had tried reading more from Wrestling for Dummies, but all he remembered were the words he’d read in the library right before things went screwy. Focused and mentally tough for the entire six minutes of a match or you can lose it in the last five seconds.

The first practice hadn’t even happened yet, but Will’s head spun as though the last five seconds of his match had come and gone—and he hadn’t even noticed.

He glanced at Eloy but quickly looked away. “Breathing” had been on Will’s to-do list for today. He reminded himself to do it now, and he focused on Mr. Taylor. Will was extra good about doing his assignments and paying attention in class so his future coach would know he was a hard worker. Will got a little jolt when it hit him that Mr. Taylor might think of him as Bug Boy now, instead.

Which was confirmed when Mr. Taylor announced, “Our intrepid Mr. Nolan inspired your next assignment.”

Heads swiveled in Will’s direction. Butts shifted in seats. For the first time that day, Will got a few looks of uncertainty, even of annoyance. He didn’t like it at all.

Mr. Taylor drew a large circle on the whiteboard and labeled it Biodiversity. He then marked off five tiny slices: mammals, amphibians, reptiles, birds, and fish. The giant remainder he filled in with invertebrates, mostly insects.

As soon as the class saw the word insects, they groaned around laughs and acted as if they weren’t excited to be included in one of the funniest events of the school year.

“Usually this class presentation is—”

The class groaned again, with feeling this time. Teachers and their class presentations. They loved to torture students with class presentations.

“Usually this class presentation,” Mr. Taylor said firmly, quieting everyone, “ends up with students choosing mammals like lions, dolphins, or deer. But as you see”—he indicated the five small slices that barely took up any space in his chart—“that ignores the most populous group of living creatures on our planet.”

He went on to tell them to choose an insect to study, identify its characteristics and its role in the environment and biodiversity, including its impact on humans, with presentations to begin the week after next since the library wouldn’t be open again for them to do research until Monday.

He also explained that while the assignment was a serious element of their segment on biomes, biodiversity, and ecosystems, he wasn’t above using a student’s poor decision to generate enthusiasm for his lesson plans.

The class hooted approval, and Will knew that whatever “poor decision” he made next had to be a good one.