Riley

18

The explanation of Mrs. Fletcher, the French teacher, was slower than the gait of the snail outside the window. Riley had been studying it since the beginning of class; it was not the first time she had seen it pass by her. That little snail had a very dark, brown shell that gave way to black as it rotated toward the center.

She could think of nothing else but Sally's plan. Her role was paramount: to go to a classroom and look for people who would be willing to join her and her friends. Her goal, like Theo's, was to convince as many people as possible to take part in their rebellion.

She wondered if those two seventh graders, Zoe and Toby, would also contribute to their cause. From what Theo had said, she would certainly not back down and he would follow her without batting an eye. Most likely they were doing this because they didn't want Katrine and her colleagues to start bothering seventh graders like them.

She let that last thought go. She needed to focus on herself and not get lost in the meandering forest of thoughts. And if the teacher saw her distracted, she would call her to the blackboard. So she tried to follow that hag, to no avail.

What Sally had said the day before had discombobulated her to the point where she wondered if what she had planned was worth the risk. "It has to work!" she kept telling herself as a form of reassurance, but that did not make her even more anxious.

She let go in the back of her chair, then glanced at the last few rows. Only Sally was there; Theo was on the ground floor talking to Zoe and Toby. She sighed dejectedly. What if it doesn't go well? What if it ends in the worst way?

"Are you okay?" whispered Ferg, who was her desk partner for that day of the week, to her. "You seem restless."

"There's nothing wrong with me," she replied unconvinced. "I'm trying to follow the lesson."

Ferg quickly cast a glance at the blackboard, Mrs. Fletcher's back to them all. He leaned his back against the chair as his deskmate and directed a welcoming, confident look at her. He told her, "I know that look. Luz does that too, and talking usually helps."

"Well... I'm not in a... let's say... I'm afraid of... I don't want to take part in..." mumbled Riley and her friend interrupted her.

"Breathe, think, and then speak," he ordered her. "I can wait."

Riley obeyed. She inhaled, exhaled, inhaled and exhaled.

"I'm afraid of disappointing my friends, as well as being targeted by Katrine and the others."

"If you are afraid of disappointing them, then why don't you try to tell yourself that you will do your best not to let that happen?" questioned Ferg.

"If only the human mind were that easy to manipulate," Riley complained. "I repeat it in my head over and over, but nothing changes. I still let them down!"

"If you've never tried, you can never say you've failed. But if you never try, you will fail from the beginning," Ferg told her in a wise voice. "Could you take away one curiosity?"

She nodded.

"Do we have to convince all our friends to stop Katrine?"

Riley was surprised by that question. Wasn't it her and Theo's job? This was a game changer.

"You know about Sally's plan, too!"

"Yes," he confirmed," she explained it to me last night. Then I told Luz about it. Later we're going to go around and recruit some people, I know some friends who owe me a favor."

"Is it okay if Theo and I join you two?" she offered unsurely. "Four of us might be more convincing."

Ferg raised his left eyebrow. "Why?"