Mr. Buchwald is openly impatient—he checks his watch and half-asses the cross-examination with the cops, and he even declines to cross-examine the physics woman. When Judge Scherr asks him, he just waves his hand like, Get on with it, and I catch one of the jurors looking surprised. I wonder how that made my dad feel. But tonight’s prom. So tonight, just for the night, I’m not going to think about any of it. At lunch, just before the bell rings, Maddie finds me and tells me to come at six for dinner with her parents. “Great,” I say. I’ve done my research this time and I have a corsage for her ready to go, and the necklace wrapped up. “Should I bring anything? I could pick up a pie or something.” “No, it’s okay.” She looks around like she realizes for the first time where we are. “What are you doing in Señora Díaz’s room?” “I’m studying.”
