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you?”
    â€œNo!” I exclaimed.
    â€œAre you ever afraid of your father, Melody?”
    My mouth went dry. I stared at Mr. Daniels.
    â€œMelody, do you have pets? Do they ever get in trouble? Has anyone ever been mean to them?”
    I felt myself standing up, gathering my books. I didn’t want to answer any more of their questions.
    But they continued: “What happens when your parents don’t agree? Do they argue?”
    â€œI have to go now,” I said. I could hear my voice waver.
    I hoped they wouldn’t stop me as I moved toward the door.
    But Mr. Daniels stood and reached for me. When he did, his jacket fell open, and I could see the gun he had tucked in a black leather holster.
    â€œMelody,” he said, grabbing my arm, “are you afraid to go home?”

5
    Claire
    Dear Mrs. Fernandez:
    You asked me to tell you what Mr. Mattero did and all the details so I will try. Thank you because I would be so embarrassed to be saying all this out loud. Please don’t call my parents until I tell you to because they don’t know anything about it. We have been like scared to death to say a single word to anyone.
    It all began at lunch Monday. Monday is when Mr. Mattero came to our table in the cafeteria and asked did anyone in study hall want to put away Peter Pan stuff. I wasn’t in the play because of the flu. I missed six days of school because of the flu, and my mother thought I shouldn’t overdo it. But my best friend Jenna Cartwright was a pirate and my other best friend Suzanne Elmore, her and her mother helped make costumes.
    So we were eating lunch. Actually Jenna and Suzanne were eating lunch. I already ate my apple and was sucking on a Tic Tac because I am on a diet and have lost eighteen pounds since sixth grade. Jenna said we should volunteer to help Mr. Mattero so we raised our hands and he said great did we need a note but we didn’t think so.
    Last period we signed out of study hall and went to the music room, where Mrs. Reicher and another mom showed us what to do. Mrs. Reicher said to fold up the Indian costumes and tuck the wigs with braids into a Ziploc bag and put them all in one plastic box. Then she said to take the lost boy costumes off the hangers and fold each one neat and put them in another tub.
    We started working. Mrs. Reicher and the other mom who I think might be Carlisa’s mother stood on the side of the room under the wall clock and Mrs. Reicher started bragging about her daughter Marcie who was Wendy in the play. She went on and on about what a fantastic voice Marcie had, blah, blah, blah, and how Marcie was having voice lessons from a music professor at the university and how she might go to a special arts high school in Baltimore.
    After those mothers left, Jenna said let’s try on the Indian dresses for fun. Suzanne and I said do it over our jeans, but Jenna said it wouldn’t look right so we got undressed behind the piano in case someone came in the door.
    We were halfway undressed when Mr. Mattero came back. We only had our underwear on so we held the dresses in front of us. We were really scared. Mr. Mattero started laughing. He came over and gave Jenna a hug. Then he put his arms around me too and patted me on the butt. He tried to hug Suzanne. He ran his hand up and down her back and touched the back of her bra. She said, “Please don’t do that, Mr. Mattero” and started crying.
    When he walked away, he was still laughing. We were scared. We said let’s get out of there. We got dressed and went back to study hall. That is what happened.
    Â 
    Â 
    Claire Montague

6
    Melody
    MR. DANIELS SAW ME STARING AT HIS GUN.
    â€œIt’s all right,” he assured me, releasing my arm. “I’m a police detective.”
    I took a step backward. “But I don’t understand. Why are you asking me these questions? What kind of a survey is this?”
    â€œLook, Melody,” Detective Daniels