Cassidy said, “Hi, Nerd Herd!” to the entire honors group (including Nikki) when the classes switched rooms between periods, and in the notebook, she told Alice that Nikki had started spending a bit more time after ballet. She’s not saying a lot, but I think she’s just warming up to us. It’s nice that she’s part of the group, Cassidy wrote. With the musical over, they now had more time to write and to fill up the last few pages of the notebook. But how could Alice get Cassidy and Nikki to get to know each other the way she knew them? “All right, guys, this is a tough one,” Mr. Nichols announced in English. “If you don’t cry, I’m probably going to mark you down a grade.” He passed out the latest book they were to study: Old Yeller. “Oh jeez,” said Aaron Woolsey, looking at the cover, which featured a very sad-looking yellow Labrador. “I’m worried I’m going to cry right now.” “Crying gets you extra credit,” said Mr. Nichols, and soon the room was filled with the exaggerated boo hoos of everyone pretending to cry.
