CAME the gravelly voice of the principal, Mr. Hardcastle. “Several announcements, if I may have everyone’s attention, please.” Zoey caught Aisha’s attention and rolled her eyes at the P.A. Homeroom lasted fifteen minutes and came just before the first lunch. By this point in the day, everyone was hungry, and no one wanted to hear Mr. Hardcastle go on about rules, regulations, meetings, events, rallies, and the other stuff he went on and on and on about every day. To make matters worse, the day before, Ms. Lambert, their homeroom teacher, had demonstrated the annoying habit of taking all the announcements seriously and actually asking them questions afterward to see if they had paid attention. Ms. Lambert was new, of course, this being her very first class. Sooner or later she’d learn to chill a little. “. . . a matter has come up that requires some clarification,” Mr. Hardcastle said. “It is against school policy to allow students to smoke cigarettes on campus. This policy applies whether or not the student actually lights the cigarette.”
