“Yeah,” said Héctor, smiling and nodding. “For Ms. Pérez.”

“A surprise extra credit assignment?”

“Yes.”

“So Ms. Pérez assigned something she doesn’t actually know about?”

“. . . yes?” said Héctor, and he couldn’t help the grimace that spread over his face.

Mr. Mbalia waved a dismissal at the three of them and went back to unlocking his door. “I don’t have time for any jokes or shenanigans,” he said.

“I told you!” whispered Sal.

“You should listen to your friend Sal there, and just go back to class.”

“Won’t you reconsider?” Héctor asked.

“Reconsider what? There’s no way what you just told me is true.”

“But what if it is?” he countered.

Mr. Mbalia sighed as if the sigh came not just from deep in his soul, but stretched back through time to every interaction he’d ever had with a difficult student. He turned back one more time, and Juliana said, in the lowest possible voice, “Oh, we’re dead.”

Mr. Mbalia’s eyes went wide.

And that smile came back.

“Hello, Ms. Pérez,” he said, and Héctor’s entire set of insides dropped to the floor (or at least it felt like that). He turned back to see a brown-skinned woman with curly hair to her shoulders come bouncing over. “These students are here for an extra credit assignment you gave them! But it’s a secret, so I’ll understand if you don’t know what they’re talking about.”

Then Mr. Mbalia smiled so wide, Héctor was sure the security officer’s face would explode.

Yeah, Héctor thought. We’re dead.

Chapter Thirty-Four

The three of them did not speak as Ms. Pérez gazed from one face to the next. She narrowed her eyes when she looked at Héctor. Panic had now made a permanent home in his chest. This is the worst, he thought. There was no way he could keep up this act now.

“What are you talking about?” Ms. Pérez asked.

“These fine students were outside my office,” explained Mr. Mbalia, “trying to get in without a key, when I happened upon them.”

“Okay . . . ,” she said. “And what for?”

“Oh, they’re very creative, Ms. Pérez. Because you inspire such an active imagination in them, I assume!”

Sal cleared their throat. “Good morning, Ms. Pérez,” they said. “We were just . . . it was just . . .”

Héctor reached down and squeezed Sal’s hand, hoping he could send some courage through touch.

Sal took a deep breath. “We wanted to surprise you,” they said finally.

Ms. Pérez gave them a smile that managed to look concerned, too. “Oh, that’s sweet, Sal. But . . . what kind of surprise is in Mr. Mbalia’s office?”

“You know, I had the same question!” Unsurprisingly, Mr. Mbalia’s smile was directed right at Héctor.