Iris: The American Dream Series Book One

Go Back To Where You Came From

"This new unit is all about artistic inspiration," Mrs. Dana said with enthusiasm, moving between our pods of desks. "I've put you in three larger groups, and each group will be assigned to one of the sites we see on our field trip."

With two simple words: field trip, she had our attention. People around me buzzed, checking out their groups to see who they'd be forced to hang out with on the field trip. The last school trip I'd been on was to the Singer Museum back home in Laren in the 4th grade. A boy named Cortland had tried to kiss me on the cheek underneath a painting from the seventeenth century. But I wasn't too impressed with Cortland's moves because I knew he'd already tried to kiss my friend Griet by the water fountain, and that she'd pushed him away with a hard shove. We spent the rest of the day making loud kissing noises at him whenever he walked by.

"I guess we're in the same group," Felipe said, leaning in so I could hear him over the chatter. We'd been assigned to the same table cluster, but Abby was across the room with a different group. She reached towards me, lower lip pushed out like she was pouting. "Did you know we were going to San Francisco for a field trip?" Felipe asked.

"No, I hadn't heard."

"Okay, okay," Mrs. Dana said, holding her hands out, palms down to let us know we should stop talking. "Let's get back on task here." Everyone calmed down a bit. "We're leaving here first thing in the morning on Friday. Because it will take us almost an hour each way on the bus, we won't get back to school until about 3:30, so you'll need to get your parents to pick you up here. Does everyone understand that?"

Mrs. Dana paused and looked around, waiting for us all to nod our heads.

"Now, once again, we're looking at artistic inspiration on this field trip. Each set of students will be assigned to one of the sites we're going to see. You will be responsible—as a whole group, and as individuals—for creating something that you've been inspired to make based on your group's assigned site. For instance, these guys," Mrs. Dana walked over to us and put her hand on Felipe's desk, "are assigned to the Golden Gate Bridge. So while we're all there enjoying the bridge, they will be letting it inspire them. Felipe's crew might decide to create one giant work of art and present it to us, or each individual person might make their own project. Because this is English class, I'd love it if your project was a poem or a short story, but please feel free to be creative here."

A girl with two long braids raised her hand. "So does that mean I can do a painting or a drawing if I want to?"

Mrs. Dana nodded, pointing at her. "Yes, Piper, it does. A painting, a drawing, a photograph, a song—whatever you wish," she said, clasping her hands together. "I'm going to hand out permission slips now, and I'd like you to see if your parents are willing to chaperone. We need two chaperones for each group, so if you have a parent who can join us, please have them email me as soon as possible."

We got the rest of that class period to work at our tables. Our assignment for the day was to elect a leader for the field trip (if we wanted one), and to decide how we were going to approach our project. I glanced over at Abby's group, which was assigned to find some artistic inspiration in Chinatown, and noticed that she was already taking on the role of leader. The third team was going to do a project about Union Square, where we were stopping for lunch. Seated over by the windows, that table was mostly made up of popular kids.

Zach found me and Abby in the hall after lunch. He had a soccer ball wedged under one arm, and his cheeks were pink from hanging out in the soccer fields instead of in the cafeteria.

"Hey," he said, pulling Abby into a fake headlock and messing up her hair. "What's up?"

"Nothing. Quit being a pest." She swatted him away.