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Authors: Matthew Green
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me?’
‘Yes,’ I always tell Max. ‘Tell them that I wish I could punch them in the nose.’
But he never does.
Then there are other adults that look at Max like he’s sick when he tells them about me. Like there’s something wrong with him. Sometimes they even look a little frightened of him. So we almost never talk in front of people, and when someone sees Max talking to me from a distance, on the playground or on the bus or in the bathroom, he just says that he was talking to himself.
‘Where were you?’ I ask, even though I know that Max won’t answer.
He looks back outside toward the parking lot. His eyes widen to tell me that, wherever he was, it was good.
We walk in the direction of Mrs Gosk’s classroom, Mrs Patterson leading the way. Just before we reach the classroom door, Mrs Patterson stops. She turns around and looks at Max. Then she leans down so that she and Max are eye to eye.
‘Remember what I said, Max. I want only what’s best for you. Sometimes I think I’m the only one who knows what’s best for you.’
I’m not sure, but I think Mrs Patterson said that last part more to herself than to Max.
She’s about to say something else when Max interrupts. ‘When you tell me the same thing over and over again, it bothers me. It makes me think that you don’t think I’m smart.’
‘I’m sorry,’ Mrs Patterson says. ‘I didn’t mean that. You’re the smartest boy I know. I won’t say it again.’
She pauses for a second, and I can tell that she’s waiting for Max to say something. This happens a lot. Max doesn’t notice the pauses. Someone will be speaking to him, and when the person stops, expecting Max to say something, he just waits. If there is no question to answer and nothing that he wants to say, then he just waits. The silence does not make him squirm like it makes other people squirm.
Mrs Patterson finally speaks again. ‘Thank you, Max. You really are a smart and a sweet young man.’
Even though I think that Mrs Patterson is telling the truth, that she really believes that Max is smart and sweet, she is using that same baby talk that some people use to speak to Max about me. She sounds fake because she sounds like she is trying to be real instead of just being real.
I do not like Mrs Patterson one bit.
‘Where did you go with Mrs Patterson today?’ I ask.
‘I can’t tell you. I promised I would keep it a secret.’
‘But you’ve never kept a secret from me.’
Max grins. It’s not exactly a smile, but it is as close as Max gets to smiling. ‘No one has ever asked me to keep a secret before. This is my first.’
‘Is it a bad secret?’ I ask.
‘What do you mean?’
‘Did you do something bad? Or did Mrs Patterson do something bad?’
‘No.’
I think for a moment. ‘Were you helping someone?’
‘Kind of, but it’s a secret,’ Max says, and he grins again. His eyes get wide. ‘I can’t tell you anything else.’
‘You’re really not going to tell me?’ I ask.
‘No. It’s a secret. It’s my first secret.’
CHAPTER 13
Max did not go to school today. It is Halloween, and Max does not go to school on Halloween. The masks that the kids wear during their Halloween parties scare him. In kindergarten Max got stuck after seeing a boy named JP walk out of the bathroom wearing a Spiderman mask. It was the first time he got stuck at school and the teacher didn’t know what to do. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a teacher so scared.
Max’s mom and dad sent him to school on Halloween in first grade, hoping that he had grown out of it. Grown out of it means that his parents couldn’t figure out what to do, so they didn’t do anything except hope that things had changed because Max was taller and wearing bigger sneakers.
But as soon as the first kid put on a mask, Max got stuck again.
Last year he stayed home from school on Halloween, and he is doing the same today. Max’s dad took the day off, too, so they could spend the day
‘Yes,’ I always tell Max. ‘Tell them that I wish I could punch them in the nose.’
But he never does.
Then there are other adults that look at Max like he’s sick when he tells them about me. Like there’s something wrong with him. Sometimes they even look a little frightened of him. So we almost never talk in front of people, and when someone sees Max talking to me from a distance, on the playground or on the bus or in the bathroom, he just says that he was talking to himself.
‘Where were you?’ I ask, even though I know that Max won’t answer.
He looks back outside toward the parking lot. His eyes widen to tell me that, wherever he was, it was good.
We walk in the direction of Mrs Gosk’s classroom, Mrs Patterson leading the way. Just before we reach the classroom door, Mrs Patterson stops. She turns around and looks at Max. Then she leans down so that she and Max are eye to eye.
‘Remember what I said, Max. I want only what’s best for you. Sometimes I think I’m the only one who knows what’s best for you.’
I’m not sure, but I think Mrs Patterson said that last part more to herself than to Max.
She’s about to say something else when Max interrupts. ‘When you tell me the same thing over and over again, it bothers me. It makes me think that you don’t think I’m smart.’
‘I’m sorry,’ Mrs Patterson says. ‘I didn’t mean that. You’re the smartest boy I know. I won’t say it again.’
She pauses for a second, and I can tell that she’s waiting for Max to say something. This happens a lot. Max doesn’t notice the pauses. Someone will be speaking to him, and when the person stops, expecting Max to say something, he just waits. If there is no question to answer and nothing that he wants to say, then he just waits. The silence does not make him squirm like it makes other people squirm.
Mrs Patterson finally speaks again. ‘Thank you, Max. You really are a smart and a sweet young man.’
Even though I think that Mrs Patterson is telling the truth, that she really believes that Max is smart and sweet, she is using that same baby talk that some people use to speak to Max about me. She sounds fake because she sounds like she is trying to be real instead of just being real.
I do not like Mrs Patterson one bit.
‘Where did you go with Mrs Patterson today?’ I ask.
‘I can’t tell you. I promised I would keep it a secret.’
‘But you’ve never kept a secret from me.’
Max grins. It’s not exactly a smile, but it is as close as Max gets to smiling. ‘No one has ever asked me to keep a secret before. This is my first.’
‘Is it a bad secret?’ I ask.
‘What do you mean?’
‘Did you do something bad? Or did Mrs Patterson do something bad?’
‘No.’
I think for a moment. ‘Were you helping someone?’
‘Kind of, but it’s a secret,’ Max says, and he grins again. His eyes get wide. ‘I can’t tell you anything else.’
‘You’re really not going to tell me?’ I ask.
‘No. It’s a secret. It’s my first secret.’
CHAPTER 13
Max did not go to school today. It is Halloween, and Max does not go to school on Halloween. The masks that the kids wear during their Halloween parties scare him. In kindergarten Max got stuck after seeing a boy named JP walk out of the bathroom wearing a Spiderman mask. It was the first time he got stuck at school and the teacher didn’t know what to do. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a teacher so scared.
Max’s mom and dad sent him to school on Halloween in first grade, hoping that he had grown out of it. Grown out of it means that his parents couldn’t figure out what to do, so they didn’t do anything except hope that things had changed because Max was taller and wearing bigger sneakers.
But as soon as the first kid put on a mask, Max got stuck again.
Last year he stayed home from school on Halloween, and he is doing the same today. Max’s dad took the day off, too, so they could spend the day
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