EVERYTHING I DESERVED, AND THEN SOME

They kept me in the office that afternoon, all the way through sixth and seventh periods, until Mom could get there for my execution.

I mean, for a meeting with Mr. Crawley.

Actually, I guess I mean both.

There were also a lot of heavy stares, and shaking heads, and me being told to wait outside. By the time it was all over, my punishment was kind of like Zeke’s sculpture. It came in a whole lot of parts.

First of all, I wasn’t allowed to take Mrs. Ling’s class for the rest of the year. I could still take drawing, painting, and everything else, but I’d have to make up half a year of sculpture in eighth grade—if they even let me get that far.

Second, I actually had to apologize right to Zeke McDonald’s face. They even pulled him out of eighth period so I could do it in the office while Mom and Mr. Crawley watched. I just tried to get it over with as fast as possible and not throw up.

Just for the record, I know that what I did was messed up. If someone demolished my sculpture, even by accident, I’d want more than a little “I’m sorry” from them.

But at the same time, none of that took away everything Zeke had done to me, and we both knew it. Maybe he deserved an apology for the sculpture, but that doesn’t mean he didn’t also deserve to be dropped into the lion cage at the zoo with a couple of pork chops stapled to his butt.

Meanwhile, all I could do was sit there and take it while Mom and Mr. Crawley kept handing out the consequences.

The third part of my punishment was a three-day in-school suspension—one day for stealing the sculpture and two days for destroying it. I don’t know whether that was more or less than I deserved, but it didn’t matter, anyway. In sixth grade, I had a one-day suspension and practically died of boredom. The chances of surviving all the way to day three seemed kind of small.

And just in case you’re wondering, Matty did the smart thing. He waited inside the girls’ bathroom until the coast was clear. Then he snuck down to Mrs. Ling’s room and put Kenny’s palm tree away before anyone even knew it was gone. So, obviously, I didn’t say anything about him, or even Kenny, because what was the point?

I just wish I’d been smart enough to get out of this myself. Or lucky enough. Or whatever enough.

But this is me we’re talking about. Mr. None-of-the-Above himself.

And it wasn’t over yet. In a way, the worst part was still to come.