Read Because of Mr. Terupt for Free Online Page B

I had no choice. Boy, was I ever angry with her. Angry like I’ve never been before. I figured my dad was dumping her, not me, so why did I have to leave, too? Silly, right? I could never live without my mom.”
    I stayed busy with my cards ’cause I didn’t know what else to do. I didn’t want to ruin it for Jessica. She had a lot to tell. So I stayed quiet.
    “What I didn’t know at the time was that my dad wasn’t only dumping my mom, he was dumping me, too. The last time I talked to him was back in the beginning of the school year. He phoned to talk to me, but he hasn’t called since.”
    I knew what it was like to have a parent that didn’t talk to you. I had two. But I didn’t know what to say, so I said nothin’. Then recess ended.

anna
    I was pretty scared when Mr. Terupt first told us about going to the Collaborative Classroom. I didn’t know those kids, only that they were gross and messy. But I didn’t complain.
    I was happy when I found out Jessica was in my group. She and I have been eating lunch together. She’s always reading and she’s smart, but she doesn’t act like a know-it-all. She tells me about her books if I ask, without giving away too much of the story. I wasn’t expecting or looking for a special friend, but Jessica showed up this year all the way from California, and I like her a lot. I’d like to ask her over to my house, but no one has ever come over before. I’m not sure what Mom would think. I’ll have to think about it some more.
    Jeffrey was in our group, too. All I know about him is that he always seems mad at everyone.
    That wasn’t how it turned out, though. Jeffrey was nice with the kids. Really nice. And I didn’t feel scared, because Miss Kelsey and Jessica were with me. Miss Kelsey knew I was nervous, and she helped me get used to everything a little at a time. I noticed she didn’t wear a wedding ring. Mr. Terupt had a lot of options.
    Little Emily was so cute. I didn’t want to touch her hands because she always had them in her mouth and had slobbery spit all over them, but Miss Kelsey gave us this handkerchief to wipe her up with every once in a while, and then it was okay to touch her. I held her hand on the way to do jobs and on the way back. She smiled at me, and then I felt like I was going to cry. I hadn’t expected that.
    One day, after everybody had been to visit the Collaborative Classroom at least once, Mr. Terupt decided we needed to discuss our group experiences.
    “Mr. Terupt,” I said, before we got into a serious discussion, “did you know that Miss Kelsey doesn’t wear a wedding ring?”
    “Is that so?”
    “Yes, and neither does Ms. Newberry from across the hall.”
    “I did know that, but thanks for those observations, Anna.”
    Then Peter started in, “Oooh, Terupt and Newberry sitting in a tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-G.”
    “Okay, Peter. Ha-ha.” Mr. Terupt held up his hands. “Enough of the matchmaking, though I appreciate your looking out for me, Anna. Now, how about sharing your experiences?”
    I wanted to tell Mr. Terupt that my mom didn’t have a wedding ring, but he’d moved on.
    Jessica was the first to speak up. “Mr. Terupt, why is James in that room? He seems really smart.”
    “Yeah,” Peter said, “he knew how many forks and stuff were on the table without even counting them. You should do some math with him, Luke.”
    “Not exactly a retard, then, huh, Peter?” Mr. Terupt said.
    “No.” Peter’s voice lowered and so did his head.
    “He’s autistic,” Jeffrey said.
    No one said anything, probably because we were so shocked that Jeffrey had spoken at all. And because we didn’t know what he meant.
    “James has some things that he’s really into, and he knows everything about them,” Jeffrey went on. “A lot of autistic people have a special talent. James is great with numbers. But he has his problems, too.”
    “Hey, we should have had him tell us how many blades of grass were in the soccer field,” Peter