Rooney's class marched down the hall to the art room. Emily walked in back of Dawn Bosco. “What's your group making?” she asked. Dawn shook her head. “I can't tell. It's a secret.” Emily bit her lip. “What's your group making?” Dawn asked. “It's a secret too, I guess,” Emily said. They went into the art room. Mrs. Kara was waiting. “We have a neat project today,” she said. “We're going to make place mats.” “What's that?” Beast asked. “You don't know what a place mat is?” Sherri Dent asked. Beast shook his head. “It's for under your plate,” said Mrs. Kara. “At dinnertime.” “Oh,” Beast said. Emily looked at him. She smiled. She could tell Beast wasn't crazy about place mats. Mrs. Kara had material in her hand. Yellow squares. Pink squares. Ugly orange squares. Emily tapped Dawn on the shoulder. “What color—” Mrs. Kara frowned. “If you don't want to make a place mat, Emily—” “I do,” Emily said quickly. She sat up straight. Mrs. Kara began to walk around the room.
