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school?” she asked.
    â€œNo!”
    I hadn’t meant to shout, but the image of pedaling along while the sun turned my face to a charcoal briquette had very little appeal.
    Dawn turned and walked away. I felt bad, but I had other things to worry about. I glanced down the hall, and there was Bud Mellon. I realized I wasn’t afraid of him, but I hoped he didn’t recognize me and start trouble.
    He walked right past me. I guess he had no idea who’d been beneath the jacket. I watched him trudge down the hall and join up with Lud. Then, I listened to their conversation.
    â€œSome of those little kids are pretty strong,” Bud said.
    â€œYeah,” Lud said. “Some are.”
    â€œPretty strong,” Bud repeated.
    â€œYeah, pretty strong,” Lud agreed.
    â€œNot all of them,” Bud said. “Just some of them.”
    â€œYeah, just some.”
    I tuned them out.
    School was very easy. I could touch a quiz and see the answer in the way the question had been written. No, that doesn’t really explain it. Let me try again. When the teacher wrote a question, the answer was in the teacher’s mind. So the answer was written in the question.
    I did great in gym class, too. The hardest part was holding back my strength.
    I thought I was past any problems. Everything was fine. Everything was just about perfect. And then I got to science class, and Miss Clevis brought out the slides and the microscopes and explained how we were going to learn about blood today.

 
    Twelve
    THIS WON’T HURT A BIT
    â€œSettle down, class,” Miss Clevis said. “We’re going to be taking a look at human blood. We’ll be working in pairs. Pick a slide and find a partner.”
    The room was filled with exclamations, and not happy ones. There were cries of “Yuck,” and “Icky,” and other hints that nobody was thrilled with the idea.
    â€œWhose blood?” someone asked.
    â€œNot yours,” Miss Clevis said. She smiled. “Nobody has to worry. No pins, no pain. These are prepared slides. All the bleeding’s been done for you.”
    That was a relief. I had no idea what my own blood looked like now. Maybe, under the microscope, my blood cells would show up as tiny bats or little coffins. I was pretty sure my blood wouldn’t pass for anything Miss Clevis would accept as normal.
    Before I could go up to the front, Dawn plunked into the seat next to me. “Hi, partner,” she said, dropping the slide on the table as she set down the microscope. “I got all the stuff.”
    The slide hit the table too hard and made a tinkling sound.
    â€œOh no,” Dawn said. “I broke it.” She reached for the broken pieces of glass.
    â€œCareful,” I said.
    She started to pick them up, then jerked her hand back. “Ouch.”
    My eyes followed her fingertip. I saw a small scratch on it. For an instant, nothing happened. Then a tiny red fleck appeared at the center of the scratch. It swelled upward, expanding, blooming, growing into a perfect crimson drop. A deep, dark, delicious hemisphere of wonderful … I shook myself. I had to get away.
    I leaped off my seat and sped from the room. Some part of me, some newly gained cunning or some century-old survival wisdom made me hide the real reason for my flight behind a loud stream of gagging sounds. I held my hand over my mouth, pretending the total opposite of what I felt. Behind me, I heard laughter.
    I ran to the boys’ room. I burst inside. There were a couple of kids hanging out. I looked past them at the row of mirrors over the sinks. No good. I turned and dashed out. I ran right into Miss Clevis.
    â€œIt’s okay, Sebastian,” she said, giving me an understanding smile. “The first time I saw blood, I fainted dead away. I just dropped to the floor like a rock. But now, I can slice up a frog without giving it a second thought. Swish, swish, snick, ” she