27
The twins had their eyes on Autumn, who leaned against the side of the desk, her skirt still crooked, her cheeks bright pink.
“How was school?” she asked them, sounding breathless.
“Good,” Samuel said.
“Yeah. Good,” his twin added.
“What did you do today?” Mark asked.
“Stuff,” Samuel replied.
“Just some stuff,” Daniel added.
Mark tried a third question. “Did you like Miss Montgomery?”
“She’s nice, don’t you know,” Samuel said, eyes on Autumn.
“Nice,” Daniel echoed.
Mark laughed. “You guys were talking your heads off till you got in here. Now we get only one-word grunts from you. What happened?”
They both shrugged in reply. Daniel giggled.
Mark studied them. They looked too clean, their new jeans and T-shirts stiff, not broken in. Their blond hair lay perfectly in place, like doll heads.
“Did you suddenly get shy?” Autumn asked. She was working on untangling a thick strand of blond hair.
Mark didn’t give them a chance to answer. “Where’s Ira? Was he on the bus with you?”
“The lad is taking the late bus,” Samuel said. “He was doing a project with Ethan.”
Mark smiled, pleased to get so many words from him. “So did you boys rule the school today?”
“Not yet,” Samuel said with surprising gravity.
“Soon,” his twin offered.
Their school day had gone very well, Samuel thought. Miss Montgomery split them up, seating Daniel in the front and Samuel in the back. But they didn’t care about that.
Samuel sat next to an open window. The April air smelled fresh and salty. He liked that. He spent a lot of time watching two squirrels collecting and devouring acorns at the base of the old tree across from the school.
Daniel sat next to Ira in the front row. They didn’t talk much. They weren’t really friends yet. In fact, Ira seemed very uncomfortable around Daniel.
Maybe he was still angry about Daniel trying to take his room from him. Maybe he just didn’t want new bruvvers.
And Derek? Samuel looked for him, but Derek had a doctor appointment and didn’t come to school till lunchtime.
Samuel and Daniel ran into him on their way out of the lunchroom. Derek wore baggy cargo jeans and a red- and-white New York Rangers sweatshirt. His eyes went wide, and his mouth opened in surprise when he recognized them.
“How’d you get into this school?” He managed to find his usual bluster. “This used to be a good school.”
“It’s our first day,” Samuel said. “We’re in your class.”
Derek bumped Samuel’s shoulder with a pudgy hand. “You got any money? Mom forgot to give me my lunch money.”
“We don’t have any,” Samuel replied. “We already had our lunch.”
“Let’s see,” Derek said. He grabbed Samuel by the pants, spun him around with surprising strength, and began to dig into his pockets.
Samuel squirmed. “Boyo, stop!”
Daniel moved quickly. He stepped up behind Derek and, with a powerful tug, hoisted Derek’s heavy backpack off his shoulders.
Derek let go of Samuel and spun around furiously. “Hey, jerk! You almost ripped my arms off.”
“Sorry, boyo.” Daniel held the backpack above his head. “You want it? Jump for it.”
Derek uttered a low growl. He narrowed his bulldog eyes and glared at Daniel. “
Daniel giggled. Holding the backpack high, he quickly regained his balance.
Derek rushed at Daniel, both hands outstretched. He grabbed for the backpack-just as Daniel let go of it. Derek couldn’t stop his momentum and slammed headfirst into the wall.
The collision didn’t faze him. His big belly heaving up and down beneath the Rangers sweatshirt, he grabbed the backpack off the floor and grinned in triumph. Slowly, he slid it onto his back. “You dudes should be careful. I can mess you up totally.”
Samuel felt a tremor of fear.
Daniel raised both hands as if in surrender. “Truce?”
Samuel took a step back.
“Okay, truce.” Derek’s reply after thinking about it for a while. “You’re both new here, so you don’t know what’s up. I’ll give you a break today.”
“Truce,” Daniel repeated. He stuck his hand out for Derek to shake.
“Truce,” Derek said. He stomped away without shaking hands.
The bell clanged above their heads. Lunchtime was over.
Samuel turned to find Ira, Ethan, and several other kids watching the whole confrontation. “What was
Daniel’s smile made his dimples appear to grow deeper. “You’ll see, boyo. You’ll see.”
Samuel wasn’t in on his brother’s secret, either. But all was revealed just before the final bell that afternoon. Miss Montgomery dismissed the class. And as the kids all gathered their books, stuffed their backpacks, and scurried from the room, Mrs. Maloney came charging into the classroom.
Her gray eyes gazed around the room and came to a stop on Derek, who was standing in the front. Arguing with a short, red-haired girl. “Derek, could I see you for a moment?” she called.
The girl hurried away. Derek eyed the principal warily as she approached. The classroom was nearly emptied. Samuel and Daniel watched from the doorway.
“Yes, Mrs. Maloney?” Derek suddenly being very polite.
She frowned at him. Rubbed her short salt-and-pepper hair. “Derek, I received a disturbing note this afternoon. About you.”
His mouth dropped open. “Huh? Me? Who sent it?”
Miss Montgomery stood up behind her desk and looked on.
Mrs. Maloney’s eyes locked on Derek, studying him. “It wasn’t signed. But it said I would find something interesting in your backpack.”
Samuel glanced at his twin. He recognized the eagerness on Daniel’s face. The anticipation. He’d seen it before.
Derek’s blue backpack was on his desk. He stared hard at it as if it would reveal some secret.
“Is there something interesting in your backpack, Derek?” Mrs. Maloney asked softly, almost in a whisper.
Derek shook his head. “No way. Just my stuff.”
“Nothing in there I should know about?”
