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warden leaned in the doorway to his office. “What’s this about a walk home?”
    â€œDane walks with me so other kids won’t pick on me,” Billy said.
    â€œThat true?” The warden raised an eyebrow at me.
    No
, I thought.
Well, not entirely, anyway
.
    Three walks sure didn’t make me a bodyguard, and I’d tried to dodge every one. But it wasn’t a total lie, either.
    I looked from Billy to the warden. “Kind of.”
    â€œWell,
kind of
won’t get you out of detention.”
    That perked my ears up. I crossed my arms, the detention slip still in my hand.
    The warden looked back and forth between me and Billy. “I think Principal Davis would like this,” he said.
    â€œLike what?”
    â€œYou helping a new student. Billy here could use a—a—” He snapped his fingers. “An ambassador, of sorts—someone to show him around.”
    â€œSo?”
    â€œSo volunteering to be that ambassador could go a long way toward cleaning up your record.” The warden nodded at the paper clutched in my fist. “Maybe it could even get one or two of those black marks expunged.”
    â€œSo … what? You’ll erase my detentions if I carry his books or something?” I gestured at Billy, who was on the edge of his seat, listening.
    The warden lifted his chin. He knew he had me. “I’ll have to run it by the principal, but for now let’s just say … Billy is in here every day. If he says you’re being a good ambassador, perhaps your next detention won’t be an automatic suspension.”
    â€œPerhaps I won’t
get
another detention.” I mocked his condescending tone.
    The warden laughed. It was three months to the end of theschool year, and we both knew the chances of me going that long without a detention were nil.
    â€œFine, I’ll show the shortstop around.”
    Billy huffed. “I’m not a shortstop. I’m Billy D.”
    â€œWell,
Billy D.
” I spread my arms to indicate the room. “This is the disciplinary office.” I jerked a thumb behind me. “Out there’s the hallway. All those little doors? Those are classrooms.” I cocked my head at the warden. “I can show him the bathrooms, too, but I’m not going to hold his—”
    The warden was in my face in a flash. “This is serious,” he hissed. “You are One. Mistake. Away.” He jabbed my detention slip with his finger on every word. “From getting suspended. After that—expulsion.”
    â€œI know.” I was ashamed to hear a tiny squeak in my voice.
    â€œI am offering you a chance. Principal Davis thinks you’re smart—so smart that keeping you in school keeps him off my ass.”
    I heard Mrs. Pruitt clear her throat.
    â€œSo prove it. Prove you are smart enough to take a deal you don’t deserve.”
    â€œOkay,” I said, shifting uncomfortably under his towering stance. “How does this deal work?”
    The warden backed off a step and looked over his shoulder at Billy, whose eyes were bulging now at the scene. “Billy D., you said Dane helped you out with some kids who were picking on you?”
    â€œNo,” I said. “I never even met—”
    â€œI’m asking Billy,” the warden interrupted me.
    â€œHe walked me to school, and no one bothered me,” Billy answered honestly.
    The warden pulled the detention slip from between my fingers, crumpled it into a ball, and tossed it expertly into a trash can by the door. “That’s a good start,” he said.
    I gaped at him. “No detention?”
    â€œIt’s still on your record.” He pointed at the crushed paper in the trash can. “Still number six. But you don’t have to serve it here at school. You walk Billy home tonight instead.”
    I’d rather be in detention
.
    â€œLike getting out of prison for good behavior,” I