Jewel Chu snickered when I passed her on my way to the back of the bus. “You’ve got paint stains on the bottom of your pants!”
As if I hadn’t noticed.
Jake, Georgie and I had spent lunch and recess painting lockers. My back ached from the work and my whole body stank of turpentine. But there was some good news: Annabelle Miller had got her vision back, and we’d be finished painting the lockers by the end of the week.
Of course, we had to put up with a bit of teasing.
“I heard Old Quack Quack tell the viceprincipal that when you guys are done, he’s gonna have you come to his house and paint the garage,” Kelly said.
Jake pushed the hair out of his eyes. “Tell me you’re kidding.”
Kelly burst into laughter. We figured that meant she was kidding.
Teasing someone was way more fun than getting teased.
At least Sandeep and I had finally agreed on a hero—or as it turned out, a heroine. We’d decided to do our presentation on Rosa Parks, after all. I was right about her having something to do with the American civil rights movement. Mrs. Parks had fought against racial discrimination on the city buses in Montgomery, Alabama. In 1955, Mrs. Parks refused to give up her seat on the bus to a white person. And as far as we knew, she’d never been accused of taking steroids.
Valerie tapped my elbow as I made my way down the aisle. “I think it’s cool you guys chose a woman as your hero. It shows you’re progressive.”
I was so surprised she’d talked to me that I didn’t know what to say. “Uh, thanks,” I managed to mutter.
Jake narrowed his eyes when he saw me talking to Valerie. “I bet you anything she’s the snitch,” he said when I got to the back of the bus. “Haven’t you seen her writing in that little notebook she’s got? She probably records our every move so she and Old Quack Quack have something to talk about.”
Georgie was just as sure it was Sandeep. “Remember how we got Kelly to humiliate him? Sandeep is the only one with a motive. The guy hates our guts.”
“You’re not making any sense, Georgie,” Kelly said, shaking her head. “That thing with Sandeep happened after Old Quack Quack pulled the three of you off the bus.”
I suggested Jewel chu. “She’s the biggest goody-goody on the bus.”
“You mean the smallest,” Jake said.
I couldn’t say the three of us had been on the best behavior since our run-in with Old Quack Quack. But definitely better behavior. For one thing, we’d stopped throwing things at people—or their cars. Old Quack Quack had heard about the field berry yogurt and he wasn’t too impressed.
The new driver was still ignoring us. He seemed to be able to tune out our shouting, and the smell of burnt plastic didn’t seem to bug him.
“I know this sounds crazy, but I kind of miss the old driver,” Jake said as the bus turned onto côte-Vertu Boulevard.
I understood how Jake felt.
Pierre was busy emptying his backpack. “What in the world are you doing?” Kelly asked.
“Getting rid of my math notes.”
We’d had a math test that afternoon. Geometry.
Kelly raised her eyebrows. “Can’t you do that at home?”
“It wouldn’t be as much fun. Besides, Mr. Adams said we were done studying triangles.”
Pierre was shredding his notes. When he opened the window, we knew straightaway what he was up to. Jake and I looked at each other—and grinned. Pierre had a knack for coming up with zany schemes.
Georgie nodded from across the aisle. “It’s just paper. It can’t hurt anybody.”
Soon everyone at the back of the bus was ripping up their math notes and throwing them out the windows. “It’s like confetti!” Kelly shouted as she watched her notes take off in a gust of wind.
“You guys are littering!” Jewel Chu shouted.
I’d had it with her. Who did she think she was—the police? “What are you going to do—tell on us again?” I shouted back.
Jewel jumped up from her seat so quickly her glasses nearly fell off her nose. “I’m not the snitch!”
“If you’re not, who is?” Jake yelled.
The bus went quiet. Even the bus driver was watching the action in his rearview mirror.
Jewel adjusted her glasses. “All I know is, it’s not me.”
I figured it was a good time to watch the other suspects’ faces. Unfortunately, Sandeep’s was hidden behind a textbook. Had he done that on purpose? Valerie’s notebook was out. Maybe Jake was right and she was the snitch after all. I hoped not.
“Come on!” Pierre shouted. “Who’s still got notes to get rid of?”
“I do!” I’d been so busy getting upset with Jewel I hadn’t taken my math notes out of my backpack. Just as I lifted my backpack from the floor, I remembered the promise I’d made to myself. But Georgie was right: A little paper couldn’t hurt anybody.
Besides, tearing up the notes felt good. I wanted to wait for a good gust of wind so my notes would fly up into the air the way Kelly’s had. I didn’t have to wait long.
I watched as the notes rose in the air. For a second or two, they made a sort of triangle—with an acute angle. Mr. Adams would like that. He was always saying how important it is to apply what you learn at school to the real world.
When the wind died down, my notes dropped to the pavement. I leaned out the window and watched as one car drove over them, then another. Good riddance, I thought.