Trouble with a Tiny t by Merriam Sarcia Saunders

Author:Merriam Sarcia Saunders [Saunder, Merriam Sarcia]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: ADHD, art therapy, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, Bibliotherapy, bullying, death of a relative, dinosaurs, divorced parents, drawing, fitting in, friendship, magic, magical realism, missing relative, new friends, SEL, sketching, social emotional learning, social skills
Publisher: Capstone
Published: 2020-09-29T00:00:00+00:00

THURSDAY—AT SCHOOL

Mom drops me curbside at school—late as usual—so I get a late slip from the office. Everyone is already lining up by the buses for our field trip to the museum. The entire fifth grade is going because we’re studying Egypt, and we all have to write some long, boring report on an Egyptian topic.

I’m dreading it, because I rot at organizing long projects. But I guess the Egyptian stuff is pretty cool. Pharaohs and mummies and pyramids.

I scout around for Josh and see him lining up at the first bus with Snake, Alex, and Frankie.

“Josh!” I run toward him, pulling my phone out of my backpack. “I have the picture. Look!”

“No cutting in line,” Snake says.

“I’m not cutting. I have the picture of the T. rex.” I hold my phone out for them to see, but Mr. Widelot appears before they can get a good look. His shirt today reads:

There are 3 kinds of people

in the world:

Those who are good at math

and those who aren’t.

“Back of the line, Hopper,” Mr. Widelot says. “No phones at school.”

“But—”

“Go.” He ushers me away.

I take my place at the end of the line. A moment later, Lenora walks up with Alicia and a couple of other girls.

…you can get them at the mall. Everyone is wearing them,” Alicia is saying. “It would look totally cute on you. Instead of…” She gives Lenora a once-over. …you know.”

Lenora tilts her head, smiling a fake smile. “Sweet. Thanks for that. Gotta go.” She turns her back on the girls and faces me. “So, what’s the plan? Did you tell your mom?”

I shake my head. “No. She has enough going on. I tried to tell my dad, though, and he totally blew me off. So I have no plan. Nada. Zip.” Nothing except proving to the guys that I’m not lying.

“Want to sit together on the bus?” she asks.

I look over at Josh. “Um…”

Lenora sees where I’m looking and elbows me in the side. “If we’re going to be friends, you can’t care what those cretins think about it.”

“They’re not cretins.” She doesn’t get it.

“If you say so,” she grumbles.

When it’s time to load the bus, Lenora gets on first and plops down in a window seat halfway up. I stand in the aisle by her row. Josh and the rest of the guys are sitting in the way back.

“West, sit down already.” Lenora pats the seat next to her.

I slip quickly into the seat. I try not to let my knobby knees touch hers, which means I’m sitting so close to the edge of the seat, I might as well be in the aisle.

Mr. Widelot claps at the front of the bus to get our attention. “Settle down, eyes front,” he says. “We’re going to be on this ride together for one hour. I expect behavior representative of Mistral Mill students. No monkey business.”

I tap my fingers on my thighs, bouncing my knees too. An hour is a long time for me to sit in one place with Mr.

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