Héctor’s face fell as Aishah approached them through the crowd, Jackson following her. But they both stilled when Ms. Heath cast a terrible glare at them.

“Please go to class,” she said loudly.

But no one moved. Not a single inch.

“I know where he goes,” said Mike, sliding up next to Ms. Heath. “It’s obvious, isn’t it?”

“Be quiet, Mr. Kimball,” said Ms. Heath without breaking eye contact with Héctor. “I want the truth.”

So he took a gamble, and he pointed to Mike. “He is the reason I have to hide.”

In the moments before Ms. Heath spoke, Héctor probably could have heard a pin drop.

“He’s not telling the—” Mike began.

“Be quiet, Mr. Kimball!” Ms. Heath repeated, still not breaking eye contact with Héctor. “You tried that story before.”

“Because it’s true!” he insisted. “Mike and Frank are the ones who chase me around and call me names, and Mike was the one who dumped trash on me!”

Héctor’s heart sank when Ms. Heath clicked her tongue against her teeth and shook her head. “You can’t just make things up and expect me to believe them, Mr. Muñoz.”

“But—”

“No!” she shouted. “Now please tell me the truth!”

He glanced at Aishah, who had her hand over her mouth. Jackson looked horrified.

“Can I please just go to class, Ms. Heath?” he asked.

“I’m not the one holding you up,” she said. “You are. If you would just answer my question, we could all continue with our day.”

Mike giggled again, but Héctor wouldn’t give him his attention this time.

“For every minute you don’t answer me, that’s one day of detention.”

Ms. Heath stared at her watch.

He said nothing.

He was furious. Why? Why was she so obsessed with him? Weren’t there other things happening at Orangevale Middle School to occupy her time?

“One minute,” she announced. “One day of detention.”

Some of the gathered students gasped, but Héctor did not budge. Did not speak. Did not give in.

“Come on, Hector,” said Mike. “Just tell the truth so we can go to class. You’re holding us all up.”

Ms. Heath said nothing to that, and it squashed the last bit of hope in Héctor. Couldn’t she see that Mike was making this worse? That he had it out for Héctor? Rage boiled in him, not just because he knew Mike didn’t care about going to class, but because of how horrific this performance was. This was an affront to the truth and to the art of acting.

“Two minutes,” she announced. “Two days of detention.”