Zero Tolerance by Claudia Mills Page B

next thing he knew they were married.
    Colin looked up from his seat by the window. He didn’t give her a full-fledged wave, but he held his hand up in greeting and gave her a big smile.
    Back in the suspension room, eating her hot dog, crinkle fries, and iceberg lettuce with Thousand Island dressing, Sierra thought about Colin’s smile. And she thought about it some more as she turned the pages of Anne Frank’s diary.
    She had expected the book to be mainly about how terrible the Holocaust was, how horrible it was to be Jewish in a country under Nazi occupation. But it wasn’t that way at all. It was mainly about Anne’s intense feelings as a teenager—her quarrels with her mother, her crush on Peter, who was living in hiding with her. If Anne Frank were alive and going to Longwood Middle School, Sierra could have talked to her about Colin, and Anne would have understood completely.
    Sierra was lost so deeply in Anne’s life that it was a few seconds before she realized that she could hear Mr. Besser’s voice, talking to Ms. Lin. Even in one-on-one conversations, his voice projected as if the only style of speech he had was addressing the entire student body at an assembly.
    â€œâ€¦ Attorney for the district,” he was saying. “Tomorrow morning at ten.”
    â€œStephen was in this morning while you were out,” Ms. Lin said.
    Mr. Lydgate’s first name was Stephen.
    â€œHe’s worried that there may be a problem with the choir trip to the Springs.”
    â€œWhat kind of problem?” Mr. Besser asked.
    Sierra crept out of her seat and flattened herself against the hallway just beyond the rear entrance to the main office so that she could hear better. From where she had positioned herself she could see Mr. Besser but not Ms. Lin.
    â€œIf the Shepard girl isn’t allowed to go on the trip,” Ms. Lin said, “it’s going to spoil the balance of the voices. Something like that.”
    â€œShe can’t go. I told him that already. First, she’s suspended, and that’s what suspension means : no participation in any school activities during the suspension period—sports, theater, choir, anything. Second, Friday is the day of the hearing.”
    â€œWell, he said he’s coming to talk with you once school is dismissed.”
    Mr. Besser turned to leave. His jaw was twitching in an irritated way.
    â€œOh, and he said that one of the choir members is trying to get the others to refuse to go if Sierra can’t go,” Ms. Lin continued. “Organizing some kind of a boycott.”
    Was it Colin? Please, please, please let it be Colin. One thing Sierra knew for sure: it wasn’t Celeste.
    Mr. Besser stopped and whirled around.
    â€œWhich member? When do they rehearse? I’ll go talk to them myself and put a stop to this nonsense.”
    Sierra jumped as his office door shut, too loudly, but she managed not to give herself away. She slipped back to the suspension room undetected just as the closing bell sounded for the day.

 
    24
    Â 
    There were no reporters waiting in the parking lot. Even though Sierra was relieved not to have to see her sad self on TV again, she felt a pang of disappointment, almost irritation. So that was it for her fifteen minutes of fame. She could be expelled without anybody knowing or caring, supplanted by the story of how the city hadn’t sent out enough snow plows because of budget cuts.
    She saw their Volvo and slid into the front seat. Her mother’s face was lit with the same kind of excitement as when she was in the middle of writing a play.
    â€œWhat?” Sierra asked.
    â€œDon’t tell your father.” Her mother backed out of her parking space into the long line of cars waiting to crawl into the exit lane. “We’re just going to stop by Beautiful Mountain so you can meet the principal and see what you think.”
    â€œBut I already said I don’t want