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enough.
    My dad’s a janitor now. Part-time. He gets jobs through a temp service. He unpacks boxes atdepartment stores. That kind of thing. But I don’t care what kind of job he has. That doesn’t matter.
    What matters is that when I lost my mom, I lost my dad, too.
    See, people can snap. People can lose it. I know.
    I cruised through the morning classes. No big deal.
    At lunch I ended up at a table with Rachel. She didn’t seem to notice me. She was just hunched over her meal, eating mechanically.
    A girl named Jessica came walking past with her tray. She bumped into Rachel, which made Rachel drop her fork. It splattered down in the food on her tray.
    I don’t know if Jessica did it deliberately or not. She’s the kind of girl who thinks she’s tough.
    “Watch it!” Rachel snapped.
    “What?” Jessica demanded, acting outraged. “Are you yelling at me? Don’t give me any of your mouth, I might have to slap it for you.” Then she shoved against Rachel’s back.
    In a flash Rachel was up, out of her seat. She spun around. She grabbed Jessica by the collar of her sweatshirt and pushed the girl back against the next table.
    Jessica probably outweighs Rachel by fifty pounds. But it didn’t matter. Rachel had her on her back, on the table, scattering dishes and food everywhere.Rachel leaned over Jessica and in a voice of cold steel said, “Don’t. Touch. Me.”
    I saw Jake across the room. Too far away to intervene. Cassie was with him. It was up to me.
    I jumped up and raced to Rachel. I took a deep breath and shoved both my arms between them.
    “Back off, Marco,” Rachel said.
    “Get her off me! She’s crazy!” Jessica cried.
    I pushed against Rachel, trying to force her off Jessica. Suddenly, Jessica started lashing out. I assume she was trying to hit Rachel.
    She missed.
    “Ow!” I grabbed my left eye. “What are you hitting
me
for?”
    And that’s when the first teacher showed up.
    Five minutes later, Jessica, Rachel, and I were sitting in the assistant principal’s office.
    Chapman’s office.
    Jessica was acting outraged in a very loud voice. Rachel was staring stonily ahead. I was wondering whether my eye would just keep swelling up.
    Chapman glared at us. “What is the meaning of this?” he demanded. “Fighting in the lunchroom? And you, Rachel, of all people!”
    “What, like you think she’s better than me?” Jessica demanded.
    Chapman ignored her. He focused on Rachel. “Issomething the matter? Mr. Halloram says
you
started the fight. Are you okay, Rachel? Is there some kind of stress in your life?”
    For a split second, I was afraid. The look in Rachel’s eyes was dangerous. I had this terrible flash of her saying, “Yeah, Mr. Chapman, I am a little stressed. I nearly got killed turning into an ant to sneak into your basement to fight you and the rest of your evil Yeerk friends.”
    I knew Rachel was too cool for anything like that. But then, I would have said she was too cool to start a fight in the lunchroom.
    “It’s my fault, Mr. Chapman,” I said.
    “Your
fault?” His eyes narrowed.
    “Yes, sir. Um, they were fighting over me. See, they both want me. They’re both madly in love with me, and I can certainly understand why. Can’t you?”
    “Are you crazy, you little toad?!” Jessica shrieked.
    But when I glanced over at Rachel I saw just the slightest little tugging at the corner of her mouth. The beginnings of a smile.
    Chapman yelled at us for a few minutes and told us all to make appointments with the school counselor. Then he let us go.
    In the hallway outside his office, Rachel walked with me.
    “I wish I could do that,” she said.
    “What?”
    “Always think things are funny. It’s why you’re so … you know, cool and in control.”
    “Me? Cool and in control?” The idea surprised me. Rachel thought I was in control?
    “Yesterday … last night … it got to me,” she said. She shrugged. Then she smiled her supermodel smile at me. “You grind my nerves