Right then, I was thinking about gliders and June and getting my record. I said, Eliyahu, did your mood just change? He said, “Why should my mood change?” I said, Look at Main Hall. He said, “It’s filled with people who are desperate to get out of it. This I should celebrate? They will get out shortly and I will go to detention. This I should celebrate?” Benji said, “You drain my buzz, new kid.” The three of us headed through the Main Hall rush together, Benji in the middle and two steps in front of us, squinting his eyes, cutting a tunnel from the crowd with his elbows. 347ADAM LEVINTHE INSTRUCTIONSHalfway to the Office, I saw June putting books in her locker, talking to some shaved-headed girl I didn’t know, and my throat went dry and chokey. I had the poem to give her, and the Coke and the pass-pad I’d risked getting steps for, but I couldn’t give them to her in front of some girl I didn’t know, and even if I could, there was no table there to throw the pass-pad onto while I made the “I thought you might need a coaster”
