“What are you saying one two one two for?”

I didn’t know I was saying it out loud. I didn’t even know I was counting. I was too busy worrying about Gordy being mad at me.

At least it was Zach who heard me and not someone else. Zach isn’t mean and also he doesn’t care if you don’t answer his questions because he’s used to people not answering his questions.

“You sound like a soldier. Are you pretending to be a soldier or something?”

I kind of forgot about Zach. I’ve barely seen him around school. He must have stopped acting like a horse all the time like he did at Riverside because I would have noticed if he was galloping around the courtyard or going up to girls and making horse sounds. I hope people aren’t mean to him here like they were mean to him at Riverside. “Are people mean to you here?” I didn’t mean to say that! Why are my thoughts always leaking out?

“Not really,” Zach says, which I think might mean yes. “Are they mean to you?”

I have no idea why he just asked me that. Kids aren’t mean to me. Why would they be mean to me? Maybe they are mean to me and I just don’t know it. “Are they?”

The other thing about Zach is, he stares.

“Yes,” I say. I don’t know why I said yes, I wasn’t even asking myself. And I don’t know why I was thinking about Kelsey when I said it, because Kelsey isn’t mean to me, she’s my friend!