We got our lunches, and I followed him down the hall.

He had to go to the bathroom but he told me where to meet him outside.

There were two girls sitting on the benches. They looked at me when I stopped near them.

I recognized them from my class and they looked as normal as Dave, which was a relief.

One of the girls whispered something to the other.

“Don’t whisper, Macii,” said the girl with nearly white hair and dark-blue eyes and brown eyebrows.

Macii looked embarrassed. “I said that’s the guy,” she said. Then she looked at me. “Sorry.”

What did she mean? Was she talking about me because I was new? Or because of my first-day Doug shirt and our pool?

“Macii likes to talk in whispers,” said her friend. “She says it’s a shyness thing.”

Macii nodded. “It is,” she whispered.

“It’s also a gossipy thing,” said her friend.

“Hey!” said Dave, as he came through the door.

I was relieved to see him.

“Everyone, this is…What’s your name again?” he asked.

“Rodney,” I said, and I didn’t explain that I was named after this old comedian named Rodney Dangerfield who my dad loved. Trying to explain it would probably make me sound like a try-hard.

“Rodney just saved me in math,” said Dave.

“Rigmor,” said the white-haired girl.

“Rodney,” I said.

Things were looking up, and not just because Dave was nice and Rigmor was pretty. These kids might have been from Circle Square. They had a sense of humor and enjoyed a little witty reportee, if that’s the right word. You know—when people talk to each other in an amusing way. You’d probably like them. I started to think things would be okay at Stony Butte Elementary, at least for a little while.

“I’ve never heard that name before,” I said.

“It’s Norwegian,” said Rigmor.

“Do you guys want to—” Before Rigmor could finish, the door to the school opened behind me and we all turned. When they saw who it was, their faces changed.

Chum stood in the doorway.

I could see from his angry red face that his emotional problems hadn’t improved.

“Get out of here,” he said, and all my new friends got up and left.

Wait! I wanted to say to Dave and Macii and Rigmor. You forgot me! Here’s the thing, Lar. Even though you aren’t speaking to me and didn’t return the text I sent you a couple of days ago, I know you would never have left me alone if I was attacked by a giant with emotional problems. But I guess these people weren’t going to get in the way of Chum kicking the snot out of me.