The Tragedy Paper by Elizabeth LaBan

homework. And then into the long main corridor, which was a little too empty. Before classes, usually, people were sitting on the floor everywhere. But now the hall was mostly clear, and there were only a few stragglers. He couldn’t believe it—he was going to be late.
    He ran past the main office and then slowed, catching his breath as he neared the classroom. He could see the door closing. Mr. Simon must have been pushing it shut, but Duncan eased his arm in between the door and the frame and it opened wide for him. Mr. Simon smiled at him, bowed slightly, and let him pass, then shut the door hard and turned the lock.
    “Nice of you to join us, Mr. Meade,” Mr. Simon said. Duncan quickly scanned the room. It was big, with desks pulled into a semicircle facing the blackboard. The first thing Duncan noticed was that Daisy was not there. The second thing he noticed was that there must have been at least four or five students still missing—depending on how many were actually in this class—because there were so many empty desks. Mr. Simon waited while Duncan chose his desk. He decided on the one to the far right next to Tad. Duncan gently tossed his books down on the desk and smiled at Tad, who grinned back and then nodded his head toward the door. In the window of the door were three scared faces peeking in with wide eyes. They were the latecomers. They had already lost something, though no one was sure what yet. And those people might never know. Mr. Simon had a reputation for remembering everything. He knew who was here and who wasn’t, no question.
    “Okay, now that everyone is settled,” Mr. Simon said calmly, his back turned to the door and the panicked faces with the pleading eyes, “I want to welcome all of you bulldogs to the most thrilling, the most exhilarating, the most magical classroom experience you might ever have. Welcome to senior English.” He paused for dramatic effect, and there was a frantic
knock knock knock
on the door. Mr. Simon didn’t even flinch. Duncan looked up, and there was Daisy’s face pressed against the glass. She must have pushed everyone else out of the way. Duncan wanted more thananything to stand up and let her in. Why did Mr. Simon have to be so unbending? Couldn’t he have started this craziness on the second day of classes?
    “Don’t worry, I don’t plan to keep those disrespectful poky students out in the hallway forever,” he said. “But let me tell you this … and I suggest you write this down.… If you manage to work the word
magnitude
—and I hope you all begin to think about that word and how important it is—into your Tragedy Paper exactly seven times, using it correctly, of course, I will add ten points onto your grade. That means, young students, that if you write a paper deserving of an A, you will get extra credit. Now, you know the rules: if any of you utter this to any of them,” he said, for the first time turning slightly toward the window in the door, “then you will all lose those extra points. Understood?”
    Mr. Simon meandered over to the door, slowly released the dead bolt, and opened the door. By now the faces out there were no longer panicked, but defeated. They knew they had missed something important—something that could never be gotten back. Daisy was in the room first.
    “I have an excuse, if you’ll let me tell you about it,” she said kindly to Mr. Simon as she chose a seat across the room from Duncan.
    “I’m sorry, Miss Pickett, but you know the rules,” Mr. Simon said, also kindly.
    The other students took their seats, and it turned out the class was full—fifteen students in all.
    “And so we begin,” Mr. Simon said, launching into
Moby-Dick
without a moment’s pause. There would have been a time when Duncan would have felt good about being in on the secret. To mention the word
magnitude
seven times and get ten extra points! That could mean the difference between a D and a C, or a C and a B. He knew that there