Read Online Schooled by Gordon Korman - Free Book Online

nose clean or next time you’re looking at Juvie.’”
    “Didn’t you explain about Mr. Rodrigo?” asked Caitlin.
    “No, I blew my nose and wiped it very carefully.”
    Zach was looking annoyed, which was odd. After all, these press briefings had been his idea in the first place. He raised a hand. “Is it true that you haven’t even started planning the Halloween dance?”
    The dance again. The entire entrance foyer was taken up with a floor-to-ceiling poster about it. There was even a picture of me, with a dialogue balloon coming out of my mouth, saying: QUESTIONS? ASK ME!
    It was probably unrealistic to hope that nobody would.
    “Yes, it’s true,” I admitted.
    “Aren’t you worried that you won’t be ready when the time comes?” he persisted.
    “I don’t know anything about parties,” I said honestly. “I only know fifty-seven people, including you guys.”
    Luckily, the bell rang, saving me from having to answer any more questions. But as we headed into the corridor, Trent approached me.
    “You know, if you’re looking for party music, my cousin’s Bar Mitzvah had this deejay—the guy was amazing! Even the blue-hair crowd was getting down with the hip-hop moves.”
    I frowned. “How about the people with regular hair?”
    “Kids were going nuts!” Trent assured me. “They loved it!”
    I thought of something Rain once said. Back in the sixties, when Garland was a working commune, the biggest jobs went to the people who were best qualified to handle them. Why should I make decisions about a party when I’d never been to one?
    I faced Trent. “You should look after the music.”
    He was amazed. “You’re putting me in charge of hiring a deejay?” he asked breathlessly.
    “Not ‘in charge.’ Authority is a power trip. A community thrives when each member does what he or she is best at. Your strength is the music.”
    Trent nodded. “But how do I pay the guy?”
    “It’s a shame that money has to enter into everything,” I lamented.
    “Don’t worry about that,” Caitlin jumped in. “The school must have a budget for the dance.” She turned to me. “Right?”
    I had absolutely no idea. Rain used cash to buy supplies for the commune, but I’d never even held a dollar bill in my hand. We believed that the money-crazy mind-set was a big part of what was wrong with the world.
    So I said what Caitlin and Trent seemed to expect to hear: “Right.”
    I hoped it was the correct answer.

 
    13
    NAME: SOPHIE DONNELLY
    The freakazoid just might be my good-luck charm. A few days after my first driving lesson, Dad resurfaced. His job involved a lot of traveling, but this time he said he was going to be around for a few months.
    “So now we can see about turning you into a licensed driver.” He beamed at me.
    My mother gave him the Look. “Sophie was really disappointed when you didn’t show up last week.”
    “Mother—” I said warningly. I didn’t need a trained social worker nagging interference for me.
    Dad chose not to pick up on the vibe. “Well, I’m here now,” he said cheerfully. “Let’s go.”
    And we did. I have to say, I wish he was as patient as Cap. But now that our houseguest was on the cops’ A-list for grand-theft school bus, it would probably be too risky to go out driving with him anymore.
    Cap was doing his tai chi under the weeping willow when I maneuvered Dad’s Saab into the driveway.
    “God bless America!” Dad was astonished. “That’s the stray your mother brought home?”
    “The very same,” I sighed.
    “Does he have to do that right out in the open in broad daylight?”
    “He used to stick closer to the house,” I admitted. “I persuaded him not to. Three buckets of water did the trick.” One thing about Cap—it did take a brick building to fall on him.
    Dad laughed. “You’re a saint to put up with it, Soph. This is cruel and unusual.”
    We agreed on that, especially the part about me being a saint. That was another advantage of having