Just Add Water

home is where the heart is

He wasn't even sure why Mr. Bruner had found him in the first place. Movie Night wouldn't happen until...nighttime. He hadn't exactly pegged his teacher as a liar, but he didn't care. He'd saved him from that scary woman.

"How'd you know I was with her?" Percy asked.

Mr. Bruner glanced at Percy as his hands worked, making the wheelchair move at Percy's pace.

"What can I say? I was close by."

"And you lied. Everyone knows lying is bad."

But not everyone. I know it isn't that bad. Mom knows it, too.

His teacher's eyes twinkled. "Is lying bad? She wasn't supposed to have taken you, but she did; I had to do something." Then he muttered, "Only worse is that she'd get away with it."

"Are you going to tell the Headmaster?"

He paused in his tracks, and Percy paused with him. He looked ancient. Tired. "I don't think so."

"Oh."

His hands moved over the two wheels again. "But I didn't entirely lie. Your friends are waiting for you. And later on, you will have a movie night."

"I guess so."

When Percy turned to him, his eyes were as serious as he'd ever seen them.

"I will be chaperoning for Movie Night, but I advice you, child—the room that we'll be in has windows. Shut them tight."

His conversation with both teachers stayed with him throughout the day.

Did Bruner know? What about Mrs. Lambert? Why had she mentioned the moon?

The only one who knew his secret was his mom—and also the merman, he supposed.

But he'd been careful. He'd been a smart boy. He'd kept his secret. The three times that the full moon had graced the sky, he'd shut the blinds tight and hid under the bed-covers.

But these two teachers made him reconsider everything.

Where they even normal?

This, he mused as his shaking legs carried him up the stairs with Grover. It was almost nighttime. Soon, the moon would rise. And that was another thing: today would be the day that he'd leave the safety of his room during this event. He was at risk of what his mom called the Moon Spell. But again: how could they know if they'd never witnessed him under the this spell?

The room we'll be in has windows. Shut them tight.

No. Mr. Bruner knew. He was sure of it.

The question here was how he knew.

Grover panted, leaning against the left wall. He realized then, that they'd reached Yancy's last floor: the TV room. Sharp footfalls resounded, reaching his ears. A blur of pink and brown hurtled toward them, and suddenly Xime was there, hugging them both at record speed.

"Finally!" she shouted. "Look what I brought!"

She shook a cassette in their faces. The design on the front was of two girls, one dressed in pink and the other in a blue.

"Woah!" Grover said. "You really did have it!"

"Told ya! Oh, and by the way, Mr. Bruner made us popcorn. Best teacher ever!"

Percy wasn't so sure anymore. At least not on that.