Her face changed. Her mouth wrinkled into a frown. “One of those magnet schools?” She scoffed at Héctor. “None of them know how to properly discipline their students.”

“But I’m telling the truth!” Héctor exclaimed.

“Mr. Kimball is a wonderful student here,” said Ms. Heath. Now her hands were on her hips. “Beloved by the teachers. And he’s never been in trouble, this year or last. You’re the first person to even suggest that he’s not following my rules.”

“But—” Héctor began.

Ms. Heath shook her head. “No, Mr. Muñoz. We don’t like lying here at Orangevale Middle School, either.”

His mouth fell open.

“I’ll give you detention if you lie to me again,” she continued. “And no hiding in classrooms, either. If you hear me call your name, I expect obedience.”

Héctor watched Ms. Heath leave, her sneakers smacking against the tile. When she was out of sight, he turned around.

There was a small crowd gathered behind Mike and the Minions. Quite a few kids, actually. He saw Taylor near the back, and Carmen was beside him. Both of them looked terrified.

And none of them would make eye contact with Héctor.

He wanted to disappear. To be literally anywhere else. Deep down, he hadn’t expected to be believed. But to be threatened with detention for lying?

Deflated, he turned to leave, but Mike blocked his path. He stepped close to Héctor, until his face was maybe an inch away. “I don’t know where you came from, bruh,” he said. “But here? We don’t snitch.”

Mike yanked on one of the straps of Héctor’s backpack. It tore loudly, and Héctor snatched at it to keep it from falling to the floor. The bells attached to it jingled, and suddenly he hated them.

“You know what I do to snitches?”

Mike stepped forward, pressing up against Héctor, and fear rippled over Héctor’s skin. He tried to back up fast enough, but then Mike’s hands slammed into his chest, and he went flying. He made to stop himself with the hand not holding his damaged backpack, but he ended up jamming his thumb against the wall.

He bit back a curse word—even though his mami wasn’t here, he knew not to swear—and Mike laughed. “Come on,” he said to his Minions, who followed behind him as he left.

The others? He caught a glimpse of Carmen shaking her head. Another boy from his pre-algebra class was grimacing. They all scattered quickly, leaving Héctor alone on the floor.

He stayed there for a moment, staring at the door across the hallway from him. JANITOR, it read.

He did a double take. Was he so turned around that he’d forgotten that the closet was in this part of the school? He dismissed the thought. He could dart inside, take some time to gather himself.