Flying Solo

A student from another class comes to get their book club orders and doesn’t believe them when they say they have no teacher. Another student, Morgan, strolls in and finds out that their sub never showed. He leaps up on Mr. Fabiano’s desk and starts to dance on it. When Morgan starts to look through the desk, Bastian threatens to break his arm. Morgan makes fun of the class for doing work even though there isn’t a teacher, but he leaves once he tells them that his teacher needs a specific book. Once the class finds the book, Sean volunteers to bring it to the other teacher. Sean loves walking in the halls alone because “those were the only moments in the whole school day when he felt really free” (58). When Sean returns to class, it’s time for more writing. He tries to catch Rachel’s eye, but she is busy writing.

While writing during their Connections class time—another writing exercise—Bastian can’t help but worry about his dog Barkley having to quarantine when his family moves to Hawaii. He thinks it’s “stupid and cruel” to quarantine a healthy dog for four months (61). Sean writes about Rachel and how she must talk or hum a little when she’s alone at home.

It’s share time. The students all move to the classroom’s Share Area, and a boy named Robert shares that he thinks their class being left alone might be an experiment. Another boy, Christopher, shares a story about a knight that farts a lot. Jessica shares that she thinks they are “playing with a loaded gun” (66) because if something in class goes wrong the school could get sued. Then Rachel shares, and Missy reads aloud for her. Rachel wrote about how they are “trying to see if we can survive on our own without any grownups” (68) and partially agrees with Jessica’s stance that it is dangerous. Sky, the new kid, shares his experience surfing before the bell rings for lunch.