Childish, maybe, but at least acts of mild mayhem are something I can control. Also, since most everyone’s in on the joke, it shifts the embarrassment factor off me. A little.

It doesn’t last. On Friday, Ms. Hernandez snags me on my way to study hall.

“Okay, Emmie,” she says. “My office. Eat a bunch of caramels, shall we?”

Eat a bunch of caramels is Ms. Hernandez’s way of saying, You’re in trouble, ma’am, but you can raid my candy bowl while I decide your fate. Think she got it from some old movie.

Oh well. I’m a little hungry, anyway.

Dawn starts to follow us, but Ms. Hernandez waves a handful of perfectly polished nails.

“You can take a break, Ms. Wanamaker. Meet us at my office in fifteen minutes.”

Dawn happily heads toward the courtyard, phone out, and I follow Ms. Hernandez to her office. She sets the candy bowl on her desk and gives me a sharp look.

“Okay,” she says. “How about you tell me what’s going on?”

I shovel four caramels into my mouth so my answer will be extra sticky.

“You know,” I mumble. “Classes, good. Friends, good. Took up sewing over the summer. I’ll have to show you the fairy costume I’m making.”

Ms. Hernandez isn’t distracted. “That’s fascinating, but not what I mean. What have you been doing to Ms. Wanamaker?”

Two years ago, my best wide-eyed look would have made Ms. Hernandez wave me out of her office with a head shake and a half-hidden smile. Now she seems to expect a bit more.

“Okay, fine.” I relent. “I may have given her some errands to do. You know, so she feels useful. Everyone likes that, right?”

Ms. Hernandez looks at me over her trendy orange glasses and sighs. “Have another caramel,” she says. “Emmie,” she adds, “I get how you feel about having an aide.”

“Doubt it.” The words slip out on me.

“That’s a little rude, don’t you think?”

No. Just true. I quickly glue my mouth up with two more caramels, but Ms. Hernandez patiently outwaits me, nails tapping, until I give up and swallow.

“Other kids fall sometimes,” I point out. “So why don’t you suggest they all get aides?”

Ms. Hernandez looks a little uncomfortable, but then a student comes in with an urgent message from the office. Ms. Hernandez, clearly grateful for the escape, tells me to try harder to get along and that I can wait here for Ms. Wanamaker. Then she’s out of there.

Seemed like a fair question to me.

Ten seconds after she leaves, I’m hightailing it down the hall. It’s only been seven minutes, and Dawn’s nowhere in sight. Freedom.

I roll hard through the empty hallways until I’m at the library wing. My study hall is in the other direction, but the quiet library is just what I need right now, so I roll in, planning to check out the graphic-novels shelf. Then I turn down a row and almost run smack over Devontae, who’s sitting on the floor reading a book. He yanks his legs back just in time.