It didn’t take him long to figure that one out. He rounded the nearest corner, and seconds later, he pushed the doors and walked into the library. The librarian, Mr. Reynolds, a tall Black man with thick locs to his shoulders, nodded a greeting, then went back to organizing a stack of books.

Gathered around one of the desktops at the computer station were the Misfits: Aishah, Jackson, Taylor, and the newest member, Carlos.

Aishah was the first to notice that he’d arrived. “Héctor!” she said. “Whoa, we’ve never seen you in here in the morning.”

“I know,” he said. “I’ve spent some lunches here, though.”

“It’s pretty nice,” said Taylor. “And I can do all my alien research here on the computers.”

“Right,” said Héctor, scratching his head at that. “Aliens.”

“You all right?” asked Jackson, who rose from the chair in front of the computer. “You came in here all quick.”

“Yeah, you look like you’re vibrating,” said Aishah.

“I got an idea,” he said. “I changed my mind.”

“About what?” said Jackson.

Héctor gave Carlos a pointed look. “I am glad you apologized, but . . . would you like to do something to make it up to me?”

Carlos nodded his head furiously. “Yes,” he said. “Anything.”

“What’s on your mind, bruh?” said Jackson.

Héctor had never smiled this big since he’d gotten to Orangevale Middle School.

“It’s time to finally expose Mike for who he is.”

Aishah actually whooped out loud. “I told you he’d come around,” she said, laughing.

“We’re there, bro,” said Carlos. “Whatever it is.”

Taylor jumped up and down. “Oh, this is great. I can finally use all my training.”

“What training?” said Héctor.

“Oh no,” groaned Aishah. “Don’t get him started.”

“I’ve been watching YouTube videos,” Taylor explained. “I’m pretty sure I’m at least a black belt by now.”

“That’s . . . wonderful,” said Héctor. “Wait—a black belt in what?”

“Yes,” said Taylor, smiling.

“O-okay,” said Héctor, shaking his head. “But it’s not that kind of plan.” The details were forming in his mind. “Okay, you know that janitor’s closet near the front of school?”

“Sure,” said Carlos. “It’s not far from where Ms. Heath hangs out.”

“That’s the one,” said Héctor. “After homeroom, meet me there before you go to the spirit assembly.”

“We’ll be there,” said Jackson.

“Okay, I got one more thing to do,” said Héctor. “Thank you!”

When Héctor left the library, he looked both ways to make sure Ms. Heath wasn’t around.

The coast was clear.

I need you, he thought, closing his eyes. I need you to be there, and I need Sal and Juliana to be inside.

This had to work. Héctor was certain he’d never needed anything like this in his whole life.