Don't Care High by Gordon Korman Page B

repaired.”
    â€œHe fixed the can!” added Wayne-o breathlessly.
    â€œWait a minute,” said Mr. Morrison. “Who told you all these things?”
    There was silence for a moment, so Paul yelled, “Everybody knows it! It’s all over the school!” And there was general agreement.
    â€œAnd it was in the paper,” Wayne-o added earnestly.
    Mr. Morrison tried to choose his words carefully. “What would you say if I told you that Mike knows nothing about that paper and did none of those things?”
    â€œBut you’re a teacher!” blurted one of the LaPaz triplets. “You have to say that!”
    Paul spoke again. “They’re trying to take away our duly-elected president!” As the words “duly-elected” passed through his lips, he went a little red and sat down.
    â€œBesides,” said Wayne-o, “it has to be Mike’s paper. His picture’s on it. And it’s all about him.”
    Mr. Morrison gawked. “You
read
it?”
    â€œOf course I read it,” said Wayne-o, almost belligerently. “Okay, so I don’t read a whole lot. But when the guy who fixed the can takes the time to publish a newspaper to keep me informed, I read it.”
    Mr. Morrison sat down at his desk, overcome by his homeroom’s reaction. “All right, everybody. Go to class.”
    And suddenly Paul was on his feet again. “But if you support Mike, tell your friends about it! We can’t let this snow-job go through! Remember, when we needed it, Mike was there to fight for us!”
    The class dispersed, humming.
    Paul went through his day as though in a coma, hardly understanding his own reaction. Classes were a blur. He felt great anger over Mike’s dismissal, even though he was fully conscious of the fact that President Otis had sprung from the diabolical imagination of Sheldon Pryor. Yet when he saw a discarded and trampled copy of
The Otis Report
, he felt a rush of emotion and outrage that almost alarmed him. Mike’s humble beginnings were unimportant now. He
was
the president. They couldn’t impeach him. It was not fair.
    When he arrived in photography class and saw Mike, it was all he could do to keep from running up and embracing the deposed leader. He did say, “Raw deal this morning, Mike, but the war’s not over yet,” and received a confused stare in reply.
    A murmur went up in the room, and Paul could make out a few “That’s him” and “That’s Mike Otis.”
    Twenty minutes later, when the class was already under way and Wayne-o was making his entrance, the latecomer walked straight to Mike’s desk, clapped a friendly hand onto his shoulder and announced, “Hang in there, Mike. We’re with you all the way.”
    Poor Mr. Willis just stood there, the progress of his chalk arrested halfway through the diagram of a camera. He stared in amazement as all his students turned to Mike Otis and offered murmured words of comfort and support.
    After school, Paul went home and took possession of the phone. He was grateful that Cheryl and Lisa had been able to return home, but in his fervour, even this blessed event seemed unimportant. He called the Pryor house every fifteen minutes, finally reaching Sheldon on the fifth try.
    â€œShel, we have to meet. It’s an emergency.”
    â€œWhat’s up?”
    â€œDon’t Care High threw Mike Otis out of office.”
    There was a pause, then, “I’ll be right over.”
    So urgent was the situation that the boys passed up their customary snack and did not even consider the radio. Sitting in Paul’s room with the door closed, Paul outlined the events of the day while Sheldon listened gravely.
    â€œWell, obviously we have to do something,” said Sheldon. “But we
are
only two guys against the whole staff.”
    â€œNo we’re not!” said Paul vehemently. “I watched an entire class stop right in