But Sal kept going. “We wanted to do something for you and the whole school.” Another deep breath. “And move all the library books from the storage container to the empty math classroom.”

Ms. Pérez put a hand to her chest. “You what?”

Juliana jumped in. “It’s not fair that there isn’t a library, and the classroom is just empty. So . . . why not use it for something?”

Sal’s English teacher looked to Héctor. He merely nodded at her.

“Well . . . okay,” said Ms. Pérez. “That’s actually not a bad idea.”

“Really?” said Sal.

“Which classroom are they talking about, Ms. Pérez?” asked Mr. Mbalia. He had one of his eyebrows raised in suspicion again.

“On the north side of campus,” she said. “It was that one that got shut down due to a gas leak? They fixed it and all, but it never got used again.”

“And you think you could run a library out of that?”

Ms. Pérez was deep in thought for a moment. “I’d need some shelving,” she said softly.

“We got some bookshelves in storage,” said Mr. Mbalia.

“And it would need to be cleaned, of course,” she continued.

Sal’s eyes went wide.

“Which Mr. Hernandez could do in a day,” Mr. Mbalia added.

Ms. Pérez grinned. “I really do think it could work, Kwame,” she said.

Mr. Mbalia nodded his head. “I do hate that container a lot,” he said, and relief rushed through Héctor.

“Mr. Mbalia, I think my students maybe got a little ahead of themselves, but their hearts were in the right place.” She put a hand on Sal’s shoulder, and their eyes went wide.

They’d caught it, too, Héctor thought. He didn’t know why Ms. Pérez would cover for him and Juliana. But she’d just said they were her students!

“Perhaps,” said Mr. Mbalia. “But next time, don’t try to solve something like this entirely by yourselves, okay?”

“Yes, you could’ve just asked me,” said Ms. Pérez, who then fixed her gaze on Héctor. “There was no need to try something so elaborate. Sometimes, you can just ask.”

Juliana shot Héctor a look that basically said, I told you so!

Sorry, he mouthed at her.

“We promise,” said Sal. “Thank you for listening to us.”

“And thank you for the good idea!” she said. “I think it’s worth us visiting the principal’s office to see if we can get official approval.” She beamed at Sal. “Would you like to come with me? Since it was your idea and all.”

Sal’s joy was infectious. “Yes, I’d love that,” they said. “Can my friends come too?”

Juliana and Héctor exchanged a look of horror.

“Perhaps it should just be the two of us,” Ms. Pérez said, and then she turned and winked at Héctor.

What did that mean?!