Read Because of Mr. Terupt for Free Online

why you’ll go in groups. I hope you’ll feel different afterward, too.”
    Act 3, Scene 2
    My group consisted of Anna and Jeffrey. I still hadn’t quite figured Jeffrey out. On the other hand, I’d been eating lunch with Anna ever since being ostracized by Alexia and her clan. Danielle was back in; I was out. But I didn’t want back in. I much preferred my time with Anna. She’s quiet, but she’s a lot smarter than everyone thinks. She’s the only girl smart enough to stay out of Alexia’s nonsense. Her mom’s advice, she told me. We haven’t talked about her mom or any of the stuff I learned from Danielle, and I haven’t told her anything about me, either. For now, we’ve kept our secrets, and that’s okay. I like Anna. She’d make a great friend to a character in a book, or in one of Dad’s plays. I know she’s going to be a great friend of mine.
    We were very quiet on our first trip downstairs. Not one of us uttered a single sound. My hands longed to hold a book, but I hadn’t brought one, so I bit at my fingernails and cuticles instead. It’s funny how when you’re anxious to get somewhere the journey seems to take forever, and when you’re not too anxious the journey is over in no time. My journey from California lasted about as long as a ride on the Viper roller coaster, and our journey to the Collaborative Classroom took no time at all, either.
    When we arrived, it was clear the teacher was expecting us.
    “Hi, guys,” she said. “Welcome to our Collaborative Classroom. I’m Miss Kelsey.” We introduced ourselves and then she led us inside. “This is Joey.” Miss Kelsey pointed to a little boy with boogers all over his face. “Can you say hi to our friends, Joey?” Miss Kelsey asked. Joey waved in our direction. A gigantic smile stretched across his face. “And this is James over here,” Miss Kelsey said, pointing to a different boy. James looked pretty normal to me. He didn’t say hi to us, though. He didn’t even look at us. “This is Emily over here.” The little girl Miss Kelsey pointed to was very cute. She had drool all over her face and hands and arms, and she moaned a lot. A different teacher used sign language as she tried to communicate with Emily. The teacher struggled to maintain eye contact with her. She told Emily to say hi. “That’s Mrs. Warner helping Emily right now.” Emily tried to say hi to us, but I could tell she wasn’t particularly good at talking.
    There were a few other children in the room and Miss Kelsey eventually introduced us to all of them. I became distracted at this point because Jeffrey had walked over to Joeyand started playing the game Memory with him. I couldn’t believe it. I heard him say, “That’s a great job, Joey. You’re really smart.” And Joey smiled. Anna and I were on our way out with Miss Kelsey and James and Emily to help them do their “jobs.” Before we left the room I saw Joey giving Jeffrey a big hug.
    Act 3, Scene 3
    Jobs turned out to be sorting the plastic forks, spoons, straws, and napkins for the cafeteria. Miss Kelsey poured the utensils on the table and James said, “Seven hundred twelve.” I looked at Anna, puzzled.
    “What do you mean, James?” I asked.
    “Seven hundred twelve,” he said again, looking down at the table.
    “Does he always say seven hundred twelve?” I asked. I figured he was yelling out random numbers.
    “No, James is telling us that there are seven hundred twelve utensils on the table,” Miss Kelsey said.
    “Seven hundred twelve utensils on the table,” James repeated, this time looking at Anna and me and swaying a little as he stood.
    “Great job, James!” Miss Kelsey sounded so excited. “You looked at our friends when you said that!”
    “Miss Kelsey, do you mean James is right?” Anna asked. “Are there really seven hundred twelve? Is it the same amount every day or something?”
    “Well, I haven’t actually counted them to double-check, and no, it’s not always