“Homework?!” Sam moaned. “She’s giving us homework, too?”

“Yes!” said the teacher as if she had supersonic hearing. “Just because we’re reviewing, that doesn’t mean we can stop moving forward. But don’t worry—this weekend, it’s only an essay. I want two full double-spaced pages from each of you—on the subject of ‘My Animal Encounter.’ ”

A groan went up from several of the students—Derek included. “We don’t have to get up and read them out loud in front of the class, do we?” he asked.

If there was one thing Derek was most scared of, it was getting up and speaking in front of a roomful of people.

“Not this time,” said Ms. Terrapin, and Derek breathed a sigh of relief. “But we will be doing a public speaking unit later this semester.”

Derek winced. Looking over at Sam, he saw that the poor guy had his head in his hands.

Derek knew there was no way he could back out of helping Sam, any more than he could back out of the talent show after promising Vijay.

Derek hadn’t had a chance to talk to him all morning. But the two friends caught up later that morning, at recess.

“So how is tomorrow afternoon for you?” Vijay asked eagerly.

“Uh, not good. Sorry—I’m already booked.”

“Booked?”

Derek had been dreading this moment, but there was no way of avoiding it any longer. “Yeah… um, my mom is driving me over to Dave’s… to practice basketball.”

Vijay’s shoulders slumped. “Derek, I know you want to make the team—but you will! You’re so good at basketball already! And we haven’t even picked out our music, let alone put together a routine, and practiced it at least a dozen times.”

“Yeah, but tryouts are next Saturday, Vij—and the show’s not till October eighth. We’ll have plenty of time before then.”

“I’m glad you think so,” said Vijay, clearly disappointed. “I’m not as confident as you are.”

Derek wasn’t that confident onstage himself—but he didn’t try to argue. He had known Vijay would be upset. He would have been too, if their roles had been reversed.

“So when can you get together this weekend?”

“Um, how’s Saturday night?” Derek asked.

“No good for me. It’s a big celebration at our Hindu temple,” Vijay explained.

“At least you’ll be having some fun,” Derek said. “How’s Sunday night, then? Okay?”

“I guess so,” Vijay said, clearly down in the dumps. “But we’d better make a lot of headway.”

“Your house or mine?”

“Yours,” said Vijay. “I’ll bring a few songs, but you’ve got a much bigger selection.”

“Deal,” said Derek. “And don’t worry—we’re going to be great!”