survive...â
Josh interrupts. âThe mother had enough food. The babies were strong.â He jabs his hand at the class. âThey scared her. They wouldnât leave her alone.â
Chase rolls his eyes. âThis is a science class. The hamster is an experiment. Why did you have it in here if we werenât supposed to look?â He crosses his arms and leans back in his desk. âSo we scared it. Big deal. We didnât mean to kill the babies.â
Josh goes totally still. He looks from one student to the next. When he gets to me, I have to look away. Thereâs something different about Josh, and itâs like I donât recognize him anymore. He looks at each and every one of us. Then, without a word, he leaves the classroom.
After Josh leaves, Chase makes a mocking sound. âOooh. Iâm so scared.â
People laugh.
Ms. Topett goes to the front of the classroom and, with a sigh, distributes her handouts. When the stack comes to me, I take one and hand the rest over my shoulder.
Then it occurs to me what was different about Josh. It wasnât that he looked different.
It was that he didnât stutter.
Chapter Two
At class change, Iâm heading to the back door of the school when I feel Zoe slip up beside me. Gorgeous green-eyed Zoe. She smiles at me and threads her arm through mine. âLooks like youâre making a break for it, Adam.â
I nod. Second block is gym. Mr. Ellington makes us run when he doesnât feel like teaching, which is often. No pain, no gain, he always says. And he swears under his breath but you know what heâs saying, and thatâs why everyone calls him Mr. Effington, eventhe jocksâbut not to his face. I say to Zoe, âIâm going to grab a coffee. You can come along if you want.â
Zoe looks at me for a second and then shakes her head. âNo. I donât want to miss art class. Weâre working with clay. I love ceramic art. I love that it is what it is.â
âLike a bowl,â I say. âOr an urn.â
She says, âOr you.â Zoe breaks into a huge grin.
I probably like Zoe more than she likes me, but sheâs good at being a friend. She looks so happy, and the thing is, Zoe
is
happy. She could be heading into math or history, and sheâd be happy. I say to her, âIâm happy for you that art class holds such appeal. For me, gym class holds only pain.â
Zoe slings her pack over her shoulder. âMeet me back here for lunch, then.â
âCaf is serving shepherdâs pie today.â I shudder. âToday is a really good day not to eat at school.â
Zoe shrugs. âI brought a lunch. Iâll share it with you.â
And the thing is with happy people,they expect you to be happy too. I smile. âOkay.â
I imagine Zoe and I could be a couple if I ever gathered the nerve to take our friendship up a notch. Of course, I could be imagining that Zoe likes me. For me, itâs easier to keep things the way they are. Less risky. Less to lose.
Zoe says, âSince youâre here now, and youâre meeting me for lunch, you may as well stay and go to second block.â
I say, âThat sounds like something Mr. Connor would say.â
Mr. Connor is the principal. Iâve seen a fair bit of him lately. Apparently my attendance is a concern. More like my lack of attendance. Sometimes I cut gym and donât come back the rest of the day. Some days itâs just easier not to go to school at all. I figure so long as Iâm passing my courses, no one needs to get in a knot. Mr. Connor doesnât share my theory. Neither does Zoe, apparently. She says, âI like Mr. Connor. He brought his baby in to show us. Heâs not afraid to reveal heâs human.â
âMr. Connor is human?â
She rolls her eyes.
I say, âI just need to get out of the school for a while. Science this morning was brutal.â I tell Zoe about Josh and