I opened my notebook to a clean page and started scribbling. I wondered how long it would take to cover the whole space.

“I’m afraid we don’t yet have the results of last week’s Safety test,” Ms. G. told the class. “The teachers still need to have a meeting with Ms. Mendoza.”

“Who cares?” I said, real quiet so no one else would hear me. I made a snorting sound.

I stood up, loud. I went to the bookshelf and shoved Ms. G.’s book back in its pushed-in spot. Then I sharpened my pencil for about a million minutes.

“Austin?” Ms. G. said.

Good, I thought. Let her yell at me for not starting on the stupid morning message.

Didn’t she know I had more important things to think about than finding her twenty-seven made-up mistakes? I had enough real problems.

Number one—I was never going to be a Safety. Number two—Bertie wasn’t my friend anymore, but mostly because I didn’t want to be her friend anymore. Friends felt too much like the bumper cars at the fair, when your brain is getting all shaken up inside your head, and you have no idea which way the thing is about to go.

Besides, I was just saving Bertie the trouble of not wanting to be my friend, which she was going to figure out any second. It was easy to see we were way too different.

“Hello, friends!” Ms. B. was at the door.

“Sorry,” I heard Ms. G. say to her. “We haven’t had a chance to discuss it yet.”

And that’s when the yellow jackets started rev, rev, revving. I don’t know how they knew it, but they knew Ms. G. was talking about me.

“Austin?” Ms. B. said.

I made like my pencil had gotten stuck in the sharpener and it was taking all my attention to get it out.

“Austin?” she said again.

You can only pretend not to hear a teacher so many times.

“You’re with me for a bit, okay?” she said.

Her necklace today was big scream green circles linked together. It looked like a magic trick. I wished it could make me disappear.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Bertie’s head pop up to listen. Then I saw her head pop back down to pretend she was working on the morning message.

I felt my eyes getting hot and shiny. I tried not to let any drops out. It’s one thing to cry on your first day at a new school. That’s almost normal. But today wasn’t even my first day.

20. Shadow

I followed Ms. B. down the hall. We didn’t have to line up because there were only a few of us. Dee stood right next to me and way too close.