Logan and I don’t say a word as we walk to our lockers, collect our things, and head to her car. Roadkill pretty much describes how I’m feeling right now. I buckle my seat belt, shift to face Logan, and ask the one question stuck in my head since we left Mr. Bartley’s classroom. “Now what?”

“Aaaaaahh!” Logan’s scream turns into a moan. “I don’t know. We can’t let him intimidate us. We’re not wrong, are we?”

“Hell no.” I unzip my coat, but it doesn’t do much to relieve the pressure on my chest. I drop my head against the headrest. “We were sucker punched. And we can’t let Mr. Bartley and Principal McNeil blur the line with their compromise. I haven’t talked to my parents about it, but I can’t help but think my grandpa—”

“What?”

“Over and over again, I’ve asked myself what he would do in our shoes. Is offering the alternative assignment enough or would he push forward and stop the debate? I hear his voice in my head, and I know there’s only one answer.”

“What does he say?”

She’s not at all concerned about my sanity, and I love that. “ ‘When it comes to life, you can be in the audience and watch. You can be one of the actors in the spotlight or you can be the person who shines the spotlight on the stage. The trick is knowing what role to play and when.’ That’s it.”

“Are we the actors or the ones shining the spotlight?” Logan asks.

“Well, according to Grandpa, we need to be all three. If we’re going to stop this debate, we have to be all three.”