Just Another Hero by Sharon M. Draper

go now? I really have to go to the bathroom.”
    He nodded, frowning still.
    She scurried upstairs, sat on the toilet, and cried and cried and cried.

KOFI
CHAPTER 13
    FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 11
    KOFI GLANCED OUT THE WINDOWS OF Mrs. Witherspoon’s class and wished he were at home, in bed, snuggled under something like a hundred blankets. Maybe with Dana.
    Fat, lazy snowflakes fell, covering the already snowy ground. It would be cold and wet on the way home tonight.
    Shortly after class began, Eddie called out in his gravelly voice, “May I be excused, please?”
    â€œPlease remember to take care of bodily functions before my class, Mr. Mahoney,” Mrs. Witherspoon said, giving him the hall pass. “If I can run to the bathroom in the five minutes they give us between classes, you can too.” The class giggled, but Eddie only narrowed his eyes as he left, pausing only at Dana’s desk to give her a long look.
    Kofi could feel Dana tense up, in the same way some people reacted to a snake—with great fear and the need toput distance between themselves and the reptile.
    â€œI wish I could get my classes changed,” Dana whispered to him.
    â€œHe’s the one who needs to leave—not us,” Kofi fumed.
    Mrs. Witherspoon drew their attention back to the lesson. “Well, group,” she said cheerily, “let’s continue with the life of our hero Beowulf. Is he a hero because he’s big and tough, or because he kills monsters?”
    â€œMaybe both,” Jericho replied thoughtfully.
    â€œSo what makes a person a hero?” asked the teacher.
    â€œHe saves the world,” Susan suggested.
    â€œWhat if he just saves a kid from drowning?” Arielle wondered.
    â€œHe’s gotta be strong,” Kofi added.
    â€œWho says it’s gotta be a dude?” asked Dana.
    â€œWomen back then just served the wine, and then they served the men,” Cleveland said with a laugh, “like they’re s’posed to do!” Dana threw a notebook at him, but he ducked.
    â€œCan’t a woman be a hero?” Dana asked again.
    â€œHeroine,” November corrected.
    â€œChanging the name makes her sound weaker,” Dana argued. “I think if a lady saves a baby from a burning house, she ought to be called a hero, not a wussy-sounding heroine.”
    â€œGood point,” Mrs. Witherspoon said, encouraging the students to talk. “But do you have to save somebody to be a hero?”
    â€œMaybe you have to kill somebody, like Beowulf did,” Cleveland said.
    â€œKillers aren’t heroes, stupid,” said November.
    â€œBeowulf was,” Roscoe insisted.
    â€œBut he killed monsters like Grendel!” Eric added.
    â€œGrendel’s mother musta loved him an awful lot,” Roscoe answered. “After Beowulf killed her son, she came back and kicked butt! So maybe monsters have feelings too.”
    Then Osrick, who rarely spoke up, raised his hand.
    A couple of kids giggled. Mrs. Witherspoon silenced them with a dagger look.
    â€œYes, Osrick,” she said with an encouraging smile.
    â€œGrendel’s mom just wanted revenge,” Osrick said in his soft voice. “The people who listened to this story would have understood that.” Osrick bowed his head then, as if he were embarrassed. “Sometimes people just have to get even for bad stuff,” he added even more softly.
    â€œGreat observation!” Mrs. Witherspoon noted.
    â€œWhich proves my point that women are strong,” Dana insisted.
    â€œBut she was uggg-leee!” Cleveland replied. “Green and slimy.”
    â€œSounds like your prom date,” Jericho teased.
    â€œEnough, enough,” Mrs. Witherspoon said. “Let’s read that line about how big and bad Beowulf was.” She began, without the crown and cape this time:
    That shepherd of evil, guardian of crime,
    Knew at once that nowhere on earth
    Had he met a man whose hands