Maybe she would pick him. Wayne liked fish a lot. She could cut out fish pictures. She could draw fish in a bowl. She could buy fish food so he could feed the class fish, Drake and Harry. Wayne was a perfect special December person. Emily waited until the bell rang. Everyone lined up to go home. They raced out the door. Emily went up to Ms. Rooney's desk. “I picked a secret person,” she said. “Nice, Emily,” said Ms. Rooney. She pulled out a notebook. “I'm writing down all the secret persons. That way, no one will get left out.” “My secret person will be Wayne,” Emily said. Ms. Rooney looked at her book. “Sorry, Emily. Someone chose Wayne already.” “Oh,” Emily said. “I was going to pick Beast, but—” Ms. Rooney shook her head. “Someone picked him too.” Emily looked at all the desks. She tried to picture who sat at each one. Should she pick Sherri Dent? No. Linda Lorca? Not really. “How about Dawn?” Ms. Rooney said. Emily thought about the green stain.
