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“You wouldn’t understand.”
    I imagined how Tara would react when Harry Potter’s publishers contacted me with a book deal. The thought put a big smile on my face.
    Tara stood up. “What happened to your friends from before? You three were glued at the hip.”
    “Go away!” I screamed.
    Tara shook her head and left the room.I sat very still for a moment. I tried to think happy thoughts.
    My Manual on the shelves in bookstores.
    Book signings all over the country.
    When I’d calmed down I turned back to the computer and continued helping the kids who had e-mailed me.
    Sometimes I thought I needed them as much as they needed me.

    The next day I met Tanya outside our classroom. My heart of gold melted with pride.
    Her hair was brushed back into a ponytail, and she was wearing a sparkly pink headband with matching pink earrings.
    “I borrowed them from my cousin,” she said shyly, when I asked her where she’d been hiding such gems.
    She was wearing a pair of jeans (thank goodness, no track pants) and a plain white T-shirt with a cute pink collar. There wasn’t a knitted furry animal in sight.
    The best part was when she showed me her cheese sandwich.
    “And it’s not even the smelly kind!” she boasted.
    I gave her a quick hug.
    I walked into class with Tanya proudly at my side.
    Chris saw her and yelled out, “What happened to you, Electric Shock?”
    “Shut your trap!” I snapped at him. “At least Tanya doesn’t wear the same underwear all week!”
    I didn’t know if that was true, but I guessed with a creep like Chris he’d be disgusting in every way.
    Some of the class burst out laughing.
    “I only change ’em on the weekends,” he said and winked at the class.
    “What a loser,” I muttered to Tanya.
    Ms. Pria was at her desk, holding a cup of tea. She ordered us to sit down quickly.
    Emily was sitting next to Bethany. I made sure to lock eyes with Emily and tried not to look too happy with myself. But she just smiled at me, totally unaffected by Tanya’s transformation.
    To my delight, Bethany looked just the same. Emily hadn’t bothered to give her a makeover. Bethany always dressed like she was going camping. She wore army-colored pants with heavy boots I’m sure she bought from the boys’ section in the store, and hand-knitted cardigans in odd colors. Her hair was always in a million braids or else she bunched up sections of it into little buns all over her head.
    She was a bully’s dream.
    Tanya and I sat down. I had to stick with her until I found her a friend.
    Also, it was her first day as the new Tanya. She needed some extra support.
    Ms. Pria started telling us about our math lesson. She jiggled her tea bag up and down in her cup and then took it out and threw it in the garbage.
    Bethany’s arm shot up. “Ms. Pria, you can’t do that!” she shrieked.
    “What are you talking about, Bethany?”
    “You have to recycle the staples and little paper tag in the tea bags. That’s what we do at home.”
    “What nonsense!” Ms. Pria scolded.
    “But you have to!” Bethany said. “The paper and staple are recyclable. And you can reuse the tea bag.”
    Other kids in the class were groaning. I would have felt sorry for Bethany but I had to think of Tanya’s interests. I stole a glance at Emily. Amazingly, she looked calm. She should have been panicking. Who will want to be Bethany’s friend now? She was just so
obsessed
.
    “That’s enough, Bethany!” Ms. Pria yelled.
    She was always losing her temper. I didn’t think she liked being a teacher very much.
    “This humble cup of tea is not going to ruin the world! Now, can I explain fractions to the class?”
    “Yeah, go on, Ms. Pria,” Toby called out. “We’d rather learn math than listen to Bethany go on about tea bags.”
    Some of the kids giggled.
    What a disaster for Emily!
    When the bell for recess rang and we were all putting our things away, Emily stood upand said, loud enough for most of the class to hear, “My