I explained everything:
The eating of chocolate bars.
“Oh, my.” Mrs. Darling touched her hand to her chest.
TOO MUCH.
“Ohh, myy.”
How we needed a place to hold the peer mediation today at lunch.
“Ohhh, myyy.”
Mrs. Darling was speechless, so I acted like she’d already agreed to have the peer mediation in the library. Mom told me it’s the bread and butter of real estate sales talk. Assume the win. Act as if.
“That’s all we need.” I scooted to the front of the couch. “So we’ll have the peer mediation meeting after third period? We’ll set it all up right before. You won’t have to do a thing.”
“Well, I must say you’re a very resourceful young man, Zack,” Mrs. Darling said. “I love a man who does research.”
She crossed her leg. The raisin must’ve attached itself to her toe finger because it stayed there. I nodded as I watched the raisin hang on for dear life.
“You’ve hit a bump, but it sounds like you’re acting decisively, as a leader should. Sounds like I knew what I was doing when I put you two in charge.”
“GRRRRR!” José clawed at us over the checkout desk with his book-tape fingernails.
Mrs. Darling cleared her throat and put her feet flat on the floor. That raisin wasn’t going anywhere.
“Indeed, this is a bit unconventional, but you’re certainly taking the bull by the horns.” Mrs. Darling’s eyes looked glassy. “I am touched by your caring for Janie, a peer in need.”
Sliding on his stomach, El Pollo Loco crawled under the checkout desk. “GRRRR! GRRRR!” He was lunging his claws toward Mrs. Darling’s toes.
“Is the human centipede going to be at the peer mediation?” Mrs. Darling shook her head side to side.
I nodded yes as I moved toward José.
“Ohhhh, myyyy.”
I dragged José away from the counter—out of reach of Mrs. Darling’s toe. He growled the whole time, by the way.
The first period bell rang.
I yanked El Pollo Loco off the floor before he could get the toe raisin.
“See you at lunch, Mrs. Darling. Thanks again!”
With both hands, I pushed José out of the library before Mrs. Darling could change her mind.
“Don’t push me, man, or you’re gonna be Zack Dela-BRUISE.”
As soon as we entered the hallway, Principal Akins grabbed José’s skinny arm.
“Seek to pause and declaw, sir.”
I booked it to advisory without looking back. I knew the more distance I kept between José and this intervention the better.
All morning, I rehearsed in my head what I’d say at the meeting—through advisory, math, social studies. I had worked out exactly how I’d trick Janie into coming to the library for the intervention. You were never supposed to tell the addict you were having an intervention. They wouldn’t come. You told them whatever you had to in order to get them there. It was about saving her life. (I think TOO MUCH gave me a run for being the most overdramatic.) I figured I’d tell Janie right before the intervention began. That way, she wouldn’t have time to change her mind.
In a flash, it was third period—go time.
Walking into English, I took a deep breath and walked toward Janie’s desk.
“Aw, look at that, Shrimps is making a beeline right over to his girlfriend.” Sophia shook her head. She turned to her clique and whisper-yelled, “He better fix this dance thing. Raymond said if he doesn’t, he’ll hang him from the goalpost on the football field.”
“Like a piñata,” one of the clique said. “I wonder if his belly is full of candy.”
Gulp.
Raymond Montellongo, the only eighth grader with a full mustache, was built like a Lucha Libre wrestler, and in the hallway he towered over all the other kids (and a few of the teachers). I had overheard our math teacher, Mr. Gonzalez, say they were going to put in Davy Crockett Middle School’s first student parking space for Raymond.
Leaning toward us, Sophia tried to listen.
“I’ve got the help we need to make your chocolate bar problem go away,” I whispered. “Don’t go to lunch today, just come straight to the library.”
“I have to go to lunch today, Zack.” Janie shook her head no. “It’s Burrito Thursday.” Janie was not whispering. “I have been waiting since last Thursday.” Burrito Thursdays were like a holy trinity of school lunches: the bean, the cheese, and the tortilla. Nothing came between kids and their burritos. I forgot that.
“Janie, that’s your disease talking.” My plan was already falling apart.
“Huh?”
“Nothing, Janie. Your burrito will be there,” I lied.
“Promise?”
“Of course.”
The intervention, I mean peer mediation, was happening just in time.
“You can do that?” Janie squinted her eyes at me, suspicious.
“Janie, I’m the leader, right?” I threw my hands out. “So follow.”
The tardy bell rang and made me jump.
“Zack, you need to take your assigned seat,” Mrs. Harrington said, walking to the front of the class.
I headed to my desk. Mrs. Harrington began explaining how we were going to write a persuasive letter today. I thought I’d write a letter to my parents persuading them to move me to a new school before this whole chocolate-bar-dance thing exploded in my face.
CHAPTER 16
TALKING IN CIRCLES
It was less than ten minutes before the lunch bell, and Marquis still hadn’t come. I wondered if Marquis couldn’t get the slips from Mrs. Darling. Maybe she changed her mind.
Mrs. Harrington’s classroom door creaked open. Marquis, on crutches, hobbled into English class with a stack of slips and a note.
“What’s this?” Mrs. Harrington put her hands on her hips, bunching up her polo shirt. She read the note, sighed, then thumbed through the slips.
Marquis winked at the class and smiled. If it was possible to rock a sprained ankle and crutches, Marquis was doing it. At least somebody was calm.
Sophia pulled a brush through her long hair.
“Ms. Segura, this isn’t a beauty shop,” Mrs. Harrington said as she signed each slip.
“Uuuugh!” Sophia slammed her brush on the desk.
Why couldn’t everybody just be good for one day? Was that too much to ask?
“Mr. Delacruz, Mr. Soto, Miss Jones, and … Miss Segura, please come up here.”
They were the only people Marquis and I could get to come to the intervention. But that wasn’t going to stop me.
“Why isn’t tubby coming?” Sophia whispered, pointing her lip gloss toward Janie.
I put my finger over my mouth, shushing Sophia. “Don’t worry, I’ve taken care of it.”
We scooted out the door toward the library.
As we rounded the first corner, Sophia announced, “We need to freshen up.”
Before I could say anything, the girls disappeared behind the door of the girl’s bathroom. Marquis caught up, and we waited outside, leaning against the cool cinder-block wall.
“Hey, Marquis,” I said. “Thanks for getting the notes taken care of.”
“You’re so grateful you left me in your dust.” Marquis’s eyes widened.
“Let’s not get in trouble before we even make it to the library. Nobody can be mean to Janie. We need her to listen. We are trying to help her solve her problem so we can have a dance.”
I looked at the clock in the hall and sighed.
“Maybe they’re in the bathroom eating Sophia’s makeup, so they can be pretty on the inside,” José said.
I shouldn’t have laughed, but I did.
Mr. Gonzalez’s door creaked opened. “Boys, what are you doing out here?”
“Going to a peer mediation meeting, sir,” Marquis said.
“Shall I call Principal Akins to help get you there?” Mr. Gonzalez flicked his hands away. “You’re distur
bing my class.”
“No, sir, we’re going,” I said.
The girls were giggling and talking as they came out of the bathroom.
“Shhhhh!”
“What?” Sophia whined. “I want this to be fun.”
We walked down the hall, and I tried to get them all in line. “Look, this isn’t for fun. But if you want to have fun at the dance later, we have to be nice to Janie now.”
I pushed my shoulders back. “Remember, it’s all for the dance. No more calling her names.”
José stood up. “Yeah, she’s got a lot on her plate. Literally.”
The girls giggled. I had a sinking feeling this was never going to work. What was I thinking?
“Listen to Zack!” Marquis yelled from behind, huffing to keep up, his crutches squeaking. “You want a dance, don’t you?”
“We will, Marquis.” Cliché stopped and looked back at him, batting her eyelashes.
Even Marquis was distracted from our job here.
Finally, we made it to the library without being stopped.
Sophia waited for me to pull open the library door for her. “Why are we here before Janie? I thought we were going to do that gang-up-on-her thing, that invention thing?”
“Intervention.” I opened the door. “And we’re going to call it a peer mediation now. We have to get ready for it fast.” I followed them in. “And we aren’t exactly ganging up on her.”
“What do we have to do then?” Cliché whined.
“Don’t worry, it’s not math.” Marquis grabbed a chair and started moving it, using it like the walker my grandma used. “All we have to do is put the chairs in a circle.”
After they moved a total of two chairs, Sophia and Cliché sat in them, side by side.
“Where is the hippo … I mean, Janie sitting?” Sophia grinned. “I don’t wanna be too close, right?”
Cliché raised her hand to ask a question, and Sophia gave her a high-five.
“Nice or no dance!” I warned. I put the last two chairs in the circle. Mrs. Darling could’ve called this whole thing off before Janie got here.
Mrs. Darling walked out of her office, finishing a pear. “Greetings, fellow peer mediators.” She tossed the pear in the garbage can about ten feet away. “Soon we will get this peer mediation on the road.” She wiped her hands on a paper towel. “Remember, we need to take Janie’s feelings very seriously …”
I guessed she was planning on sitting in on the intervention. I thought this was “peer” mediation.
The library door swung open.
We all spun around expecting Janie.
Nurse Patty entered, squinting her eyes, holding up a piece of paper toward Mrs. Darling. “I got your note about the peer mediation.” In her white jacket and comfortable shoes, Nurse Patty looked like she belonged in a hospital. She was the only one who might’ve known what she was doing. Was she going to try to run the thing?
Mrs. Darling walked to the circle and sat. “Thank you, Nurse Patty, we needed a medical professional to round out our circle.” She tapped on the chair next to her, inviting Nurse Patty over with a wave. Looking as if the blue plastic chair would burn her, Nurse Patty sat.
“Zack has done some careful research and will be leading this meeting, but first I must warn you, ladies and gentlemen.” Mrs. Darling paused. “Serious matters deserve serious attitudes. I think this is wonderful how you care so much about a peer.”
Nurse Patty started to stand up to leave, but Mrs. Darling gripped Nurse Patty’s arm and pulled her down into her seat.
“Zack has explained to me that we are going to try to help Janie.” Mrs. Darling let go of Nurse Patty. “Janie is our concern here.”
Nurse Patty rubbed her arm.
“Zack, go over those guidelines for the peer mediation you mentioned.” Mrs. Darling waved her hand toward me and settled into her chair. “Let’s put on our listening ears.”
“These are the guidelines.” I felt everybody was looking at my too-long pants. It was hard to breathe, but it was go time. Stiffly, I pointed to the poster I’d made last night. I’d copied notes off the PDF from the TOO MUCH website. It wasn’t plagiarism though. I mean, I crossed out intervention and wrote “peer mediation” above it. I used my own words—like when it said him/her I only wrote her. And if I put the website I got it from on the poster, it was okay.
It took a while, but I read each of the tips on the poster to the circle.
“Janie will be here in a minute. We are supposed to follow these rules for the inter—the peer mediation to work.” Even though it was hard for me, I looked everyone in the eyes, even Sophia. “If we want this dance to happen, the first problem we have to solve is Janie. I mean”—I shook it off—“we have to help Janie solve her problem. Um, you know what I mean.”
“I still don’t see how this is going to get the money back,” Sophia interrupted.
“Well, Sophia,” I read off my notes, “in recovery we say, ‘First things first.’ Take care of the people first, and the rest will take care of itself.”
Mrs. Darling beamed.
“Whatever, Shrimp Delacruz, but you better get us this dance, or I’ve got two words for you: Ray-mond.” After mentioning her hulking boyfriend, Sophia bobbed her head back and forth like she was about to take off her earrings and jump me herself.
“Sophia, do you really think you’ll be able to stay?” Mrs. Darling asked.
“Yes, Miss, I can.” Sophia crossed her arms.
I had to make this work. I had everybody here. All that was missing was Janie. I checked the clock. I stood up. I sat down.
“Have you asked anyone to the dance yet, Marquis?” Cliché asked, straightening her skirt over her knees.
Marquis shot a look at me.
“First things first, Cliché,” I interrupted.
The metal library door slammed open.
CHAPTER 17
THE INTERVENTION PEER MEDIATION
“Where’s my burrito?”
Janie stomped into the library. Her eyes scanned the room, then the circle, then stopped on me.
“Zack,” Janie swallowed, “what’s going on? What are they all doing in here?”
“Come sit down next to me, dear.” Mrs. Darling tapped the empty chair next to her. Her bracelets clanked against the blue plastic.
“What is this?”
“It’s okay, Janie.” I leaned toward her.
She sank into her chair next to Mrs. Darling.
“All right, Janie,” I read from my notes. “We’ve all come together because we care about you, and we want to help you with your problem.”
“You all know about the Nation’s Best chocolate bars?” Janie’s voice became soft, and she looked to Mrs. Darling.
“Yes, dear, we all do, and we want to help you.” Mrs. Darling nodded.
In silence, Janie looked around the room. “I … I …”
“We will help you, Janie,” I cut her off. “All you need to do is listen.”
“Did you figure out a way to come up with the money?” Janie said, looking down at her shoes.
“JUST LISTEN!” Sophia screamed. “UUUUUgh!” She turned away from Janie.
“Sophia, be gentle and caring.” I pointed to my poster, bullet number one.
“I’m just being FIRM.” Sophia stomped over to the poster and tapped her orange fingernail on bullet number six.
“FIRM, dear. This isn’t a street fight; it’s still a library.” Mrs. Darling’s right eye twitched.
Sophia pulled her skirt down and walked back to her seat.
“So far, I’ve found eighty-seven cents in my dad’s recliner,” Janie said.
“What’s this about money?” Mrs. Darling asked.
I had left out the money part when I told Mrs. Darling about the peer mediation.
“The money for the chocolate bars,” Janie explained.
“One hundred ninety-two dollars,” Marquis said as he nodded.
“Well, Janie dear, we’re here to
talk about your problems.” Mrs. Darling straightened her back. “That’s why we are all here—to help you.”
Janie spun toward Mrs. Darling. “Wait, are you going to help us pay for the candy bars?”
“Well, that’s not really the point, Janie.” Both Mrs. Darling’s eyes twitched now.
“Well, Mrs. Darling,” I added, “it wouldn’t hurt.”
Mrs. Darling’s eye twitching sped up.
Nurse Patty’s mouth kept opening like she was going to say something, but then she’d look at Mrs. Darling’s twitching face and go silent.
I had to say something to get this intervention back on track, but my words got trapped in my throat again, like they always did.
“Maybe it’s time we hear from our medical professional, Nurse Patty,” Mrs. Darling managed to sputter out.
“Oh, uh, yes, well … have any of the rest of you had a problem like this?” Nurse Patty looked at each face in the circle, almost begging us with her eyes to respond.
But El Pollo Loco couldn’t stand silence.
“Once I ate a whole value pack of Pop-Tarts—all sixteen of those brown sugar cinnamon ones from Walmart. My stomach swelled up like a tick on my dog, Donna.” José stood up, stuck out his belly, and arched his back. “Aye, I was so full.” He rubbed his belly with one hand and wiped his brow with the other.
“José, sit down,” Mrs. Darling snapped.
“Oh”—El Pollo Loco pointed at Mrs. Darling’s stomach—“did you eat a value pack of brown sugar cinnamon Pop-Tarts too, Miss?”
“Well,” Mrs. Darling shifted in her chair, “now that you mention it. I did eat an entire Sara Lee cherry cheesecake once while it was still frozen, but that’s not why we’re here.” She hit her knee with her hand. “We’re here for Janie.”
“And the money to pay for the chocolate bars Janie ate,” Cliché said. “So we can have a dance.”
“You only have to be brave enough to see … MONEY!” Janie stood. “Brave, two thousand twelve, starring Princess Merida.”
“Mon-ey! Mon-ey!” Sophia and José started to chant and clap.
The others joined in.
“Zaaack!” Mrs. Darling yelled above the chanting and clapping. “That’s not what you said this meeting was for when you asked for my help.”
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