If you commit a crime,
But don’t know you’re committing it,
Are you still busted?
EMILY
Status:
Dear Hope,
The police officers said our parents are on the way. But in the meantime they keep coming back in. And trying to scare us so we’ll never do something “this stupid” again.
The first time, they showed us this website that lists how many sex offenders there are in the city. Scary. The second time, they brought in photos of all the missing and exploited kids in our state. Scary. The third time, they reminded us that some of our parents discovered we were missing FIVE hours ago. That for five hours they thought we’d been stolen and hurt or killed.
I couldn’t stand hearing any more. I spoke up and told the police officer that none of us would EVER do something this stupid again, that we were just trying to research what it was like to be homeless for our social-issues assignment.
The police officer’s eyebrows sprang up. “This was for an assignment?” he asked all barky. “What school do you all go to? And who is your teacher?”
Oops.
So so so so so so so so so so unlucky,
Emily
SHARON
Cecilia has been crying for an hour.
Nonstop.
Not just a little.
She’s crying an ocean.
Her whole face has puffed up.
I pat her knee and
Marinate in guilt.
This was my idea, after all.
Nothing I say or do helps.
She cries and cries and cries
Like her life is over.
Except for Cecilia’s
Raggedy gasps and whimpers,
Everyone else is silent.
They all must hate me.
I wish this horrible idea
Had never ever entered
My stupid head.
KAI
Dear Frog,
On the way home from the police station, it started to pour. The rain hit the roof of our car, and it was so loud, I felt like the sky was angry with us.
I can’t make myself write down what my parents said on the way home. I’ve let them down, big-time. There’s nothing worse than seeing disappointment on my mom’s face.
CECILIA
Hola Abuelita,
I am home now, in the bathroom. My head aches from all the crying. Mami didn’t enter one foot into the police station. She couldn’t. She wouldn’t. Instead she sent our neighbor, Señora García, who’s a citizen. La Migra can’t take her. I’m sure the police are suspicious—they must wonder why my mother didn’t pick me up. What if they report us? My family will be ripped into pieces. This is terrible!
I like the United States…but I won’t stay here without Mami. My home is where Mami is, not the country where I was born. I appreciate all Mami’s sacrifice to get me here. But no joke—I will leave this place in a second.
The world is crying with me. It has not stopped raining.
WORDS TO PRACTICE
No words—I’m ripping this to shreds.
Besos y abrazos,
Cecilia
EMILY
Status:
Dear Hope,
I am in trouble. HUGE trouble. Mom did not speak to me the whole way home. She drove with her hands tight on the wheel, jerking it left and right to change lanes. Her knuckles turned white, and her jaw was set like it was made of cement.
When we got home, she slammed the car door shut, leaving me to sit in the car. Now I’m staring at the headrest of the front seat. And trying to decide whether to go in. I’ve never seen her this mad.
Love and luck-I-need-you-bad,
Emily
KAI
Dear Frog,
My parents are unhappy that I made such a poor decision.
My brother, Thomas, looked at me sideways and said he thought I was smarter than that. My sister Brianna hugged me hard like she used to when we were small, and little Jayla climbed in my lap and wouldn’t let go.
All my tech privileges are revoked for the next month. I told them they don’t need to punish me, because I feel bad enough myself. Dad said “nice try” on that one, but I’m not lying. I couldn’t feel any worse than I do now. Mostly because of Cecilia. I have never in my life seen someone fall apart like that.
I’m so upset I can’t even read.
CECILIA
Hola Abuelita,
Tonight Mami gathered my hands in hers and told me we have to move. At first I said, “But Mami…” Only then I stopped. I know she’s right. We can’t take a chance. We’ve moved many times before. I hate it. A new start. A new school. And just when I was making friends! I miss Emily, Sharon, and Kai already, so much that I ache.
I can’t believe I did this—I brought this upon us. I have no one to blame but myself. After all Mami has done for us, I went and did something stupid that could ruin it all. What was I thinking? I’m una idiota for taking a chance.
WORDS TO PRACTICE
Destroying this letter. I hate the world.
Besos y abrazos,
Cecilia
EMILY
Status:
Dear Hope,
This morning I figured out that I’m in even BIGGER trouble than I thought. Dad flew in from Lebanon last night. Mom called him when she thought I’d been kidnapped, and he grabbed the next plane. They found me when he was midflight, so he didn’t even know I was okay until he landed.
When we picked him up at the airport, Dad hugged me so long and hard that I could barely breathe. And the stubbles on his cheeks prickled me.
He didn’t talk about how disappointed he was until midway through breakfast. He said he thought I knew better than to do something like this. I concentrated on stabbing tiny bites of scrambled egg with my fork.
Mom said I’m the most important thing in her life and how she needed to know I’m safe. It sure doesn’t feel like I’m the most important thing in her life.
And then my dad was all “you’re usually responsible” and “we trust you” and “you gotta tell us if you’re not okay.”
But here’s the thing. I’m not okay. All of a sudden I wished I hadn’t been eating all that egg because it was about to come right back up along with every little detail about Kayley and Aviva and private school and Ms. Graham. So I tried to explain that if I did something great to make a difference, I thought they’d be proud?
And then they rushed in, all knee-jerk fast, to reassure me that of course they’re proud, they’re always proud…and something about it irritated me.
So I stopped them and said what I really meant. That I thought Dad would make more time for me. And Mom would go back to being her regular self, the way she was before they got divorced.
Then they were totally quiet. My dad shook a salt snowstorm all over his food before he even realized.
I think they heard me?
I hope they heard me.
That was the strangest lecture I’ve ever had. I went out to eat, somehow got both my parents at the same table for an hour without killing each other, and kind of told them off. Bizarre.
Love and luck,
Emily
SHARON
Ms. Graham keeps the three of us in at recess.
Me, Kai, and Emily.
Cecilia is absent.
She tells us how Disappointed she is
That we took such a risk.
I try to look Ms. Graham in the eyes
But I cannot.
Because this was MY idea.
KAYLEY
Dear Ms. Graham,
Wow! Emily and her team got themselves into major TROUBLE!<
br />
Ms. Graham, are you stressed out by the whole thing? You seem stressed out for sure. It’s not your fault that your students did something so dumb. I think you should give them an F. They deserve that.
Our presentation, on the other hand, will be stellar. It turns out that Blake Benson is a whiz with the computer. We’re going to do a PowerPoint instead of a Poster, and he thinks he can embed all these super-cool videos into the PowerPoint. (He has No Clue he’s my secret project.) Our research and presentation are both gonna rock, but we’re not exactly sure what we’re going to actually do to make a difference. Aviva wants to tutor little kids, and I’m doing this experiment for Blake, but I can’t tell anyone about that.
Our team is meeting at my house on Wednesday. I might ask Blake to stay longer, since his mom works late and I can use the help.
This will be the best Presentation ever! Can’t wait to work on it this Wednesday!
* * *
—
EMILY
Status:
Dear Hope,
Friend: Someone who cares about you. Someone who stands up for you when she hears someone else say something mean. Someone who’s there for you no matter what. Someone who makes you feel good about yourself.
Ms. Graham gave us fifteen minutes to write and draw. And then she said softly, “Now I want you all to think about your own friends. Does the definition you wrote describe your own friends? And does it describe the kind of friend you are to other people?”
The room got quiet all of a sudden.
I realized that I’ve still been thinking of Aviva as a friend. Which may be ridiculous, because that does NOT describe her. She’s turned into a flimsy kite that gets blown in whichever direction the wind is going.
So if the people I thought were friends don’t meet my own definition of friends, what does that mean? That I have no real friends? Or that my definition is wrong? Sharon, Kai, and Cecilia seem more like friends than the girls I considered my closest friends for most of elementary school. Although we clearly made a stupid choice together, so what does that say about us? Are we bad influences on each other?
Feeling lonely,
Emily
PS Ms. Graham stopped us again. She said we get to decide what kind of friend we want to be to other people. And we get to choose who to be friends with too.
AVIVA
Date: December 11
That whole “friendship” discussion felt like it was directed at me. I’ve been a rotten friend. So today I asked Bologna Betty (our lunch lady) if I could get a list of ingredients for the school pizza. She looked at me kind of funny, but she ripped off a part of the box they come in. Then I brought it to Emily. I almost couldn’t watch while she read it. All I saw on her face was confusion. So I explained that there-is-no-meat-in-the-school-pizza. That Kayley lied and I thought it was a mean trick. I said I was sorry and I should have told her a long time ago. That I’m no good at speaking up.
Emily stared at her feet and nodded, but then she looked up at me and added, “But I can tell you’re trying. Thank you.” Then her voice got all shaky, and she said that just because we’re going to be at different schools next year, that doesn’t mean we can’t be friends.
My throat closed up so fast that I could barely whisper “I know” without crying. I swallowed a couple of times and then I told her how I was really worried about her this weekend and how glad I am that she’s okay and that I know I haven’t been a very good friend to her.
It was really scary to tell Emily the truth. I worried she might get mad. But I said it anyway.
BLAKE
HENRY
SCENE: Classroom—everyone working quietly.
HENRY: (softly) So, Kayley, am I your friend?
KAYLEY: I like quiet friends. You. Are. Not. Quiet.
HENRY: (laughs) That was funny!
KAYLEY: (ignores laughter) Like Aviva. See how quiet she is?
AVIVA: (quietly holding Kermit, as if to make Kayley’s point)
HENRY: Blake’s pretty quiet.
KAYLEY: Blake’s growing on me. You’re my friend, Blake.
BLAKE: Uh. Okay.
KAYLEY: I’ll tell you what, Henry. If you can be quiet for the next thirty minutes, I’ll be your friend.
HENRY: That was funny! You’re learning, Kayley. I’m teaching you well.
KAYLEY: I’m not teasing. I’m serious. Thirty minutes. Silence.
HENRY: I can do it. Just wait—you’ll be begging me to talk in about five minutes.
KAYLEY: You’re talking. No talking. Silence.
HENRY: (tries not to answer)
KAI
To the Frog,
Apparently…friends disappear.
Cecilia hasn’t been in school at all this week.
I don’t have her phone number. It’s not on the class list (maybe they don’t own a phone?). I don’t know where she lives. What can I do?
* * *
—
Dear Ms. Graham,
We are so very sorry about what happened. We didn’t mean to break your trust or the trust of anyone else.
From
Emily, Sharon, and Kai
* * *
—
Dear Emily, Sharon, and Kai,
Life is about learning. Sometimes we do our best learning from our deepest mistakes.
I’m not angry. I’m just glad you are all okay.
With warm regards,
Ms. Graham
* * *
—
Dear Emily,
I will try to be a better friend to you.
From
Aviva
SHARON
Our table group slunk back from lunch
To find a sticky note
In the center of each desk.
Mine read,
“Today is a new day.
Start fresh.”
Emily’s was
“Look. Listen. Learn.”
And on Kai’s she’d written
“Breathe.”
Cecilia had one too.
“Missed you today”
Was all it said.
EMILY
Status:
Dear Hope,
Mom’s cell phone buzzed on the kitchen counter. Mom was painting in the studio, so I peeked at the text message. From Mrs. Barrette. Requesting all B-5 parents come to our house tonight at 5pm to discuss Serious Concerns about our children’s learning environment. Parents Only.
My heart sank to my toes. Ms. Graham! I massively screwed up by telling the police that we’d gone to the shelter for an assignment. Now there was going to be trouble, and all because of my big mouth! Ms. Graham did NOT assign us to sneak out overnight. That was all US.
I had to DO something. I had to go to Mrs. Barrette’s meeting too.
But Mom and I are trying to rebuild “trust.” And since she’s been making this HUGE effort to talk to me (put her work away, sit down for dinner, that kind of thing)—lying to her did not seem wise.
So I tiptoed into her studio, eyed the paint splattered all over her arms, and told her the Barrettes were hosting a meeting. That it was about Ms. Graham and I thought WE should go. I did not mention “parents only,” but I didn’t lie either.
Her brow furrowed like she was concerned, and she said, “Yes. We should go.”
I feel like I’m heading into battle. This can only mean TROUBLE.
In desperate need of love and luck,
Emily
HENRY
SCENE: Kayley’s house for the big teacher roasting. Henry is waiting outside.
EMILY: (walking up with her mom) Go on in, Mom, I’ll stay and talk to Henry. (tries to smile but looks wo
rried)
EMILY: What are you doing here?
HENRY: Counting the ants on the sidewalk. Waiting for my mom. Thinking of ways to get rich and famous. What are you doing here?
EMILY: I’ve got to hear what the parents are saying. This is all my fault.
HENRY: Don’t blame yourself. It’s more like seventy-five percent your fault. Twenty-five percent goes to these parents. They need a hobby.
EMILY: Gee, thanks. That’s really comforting. I’m going to sneak in. Want to come?
HENRY: Sure. That’s got to be more fun than counting ants on the sidewalk.
(Henry and Emily slip in through the front door and sit on the stairs in the hallway, not able to see who is talking.)
PARENT #1: We’re sending our children to school to learn English and math, not sneak into homeless shelters, or be the subjects of social experiments!
PARENT #2: How long has she been teaching, anyway?
PARENT #3: Does it do any harm if she teaches them about social issues? As long as she gets the math and the English in there too?
PARENT #4: It’s not really her fault if some of the students took this project into their own hands.
PARENT #1: Social issues and values should be taught at home, not at school.
PARENT #3: Well, what do you propose we do?
PARENT #2: Lodge a formal complaint with the school board?
HENRY: (whispers) Okay, maybe it’s ninety percent your fault.
KAYLEY: (winds her way down the stairs and whispers) What are you guys doing here?
HENRY: Training to become professional spies.
KAYLEY: Come up to my room so they don’t hear you.
HENRY: (pads upstairs) Emily’s corrupting me.
KAYLEY: This is all your fault, you know. (points her finger at Emily)
EMILY: (with an amazing amount of venom for someone who seems so sweet) Who are YOU to talk?!!!!
HENRY: (looks for an escape route)
KAYLEY
Dear Ms. Graham,
Emily thinks she’s such Hot Stuff, barging into my house and dragging Henry along. Once I got her in my room, she started asking me why I told her the cheese pizza had meat in the sauce. Can’t she take a joke? She acts like it’s this Huge Deal. Puh-leeze. And then she was all “we used to be friends” and “I don’t understand” and “what’s going on?” All I can say is that girl needs to take a chill pill.
Operation Frog Effect Page 10