Part One: The Animal Ark

Georgie sees Ms. Rachel start to pull the bus out and decides to make the mad dash to see if he can catch a glimpse of Rebecca Poole. She always sits in the same spot. Right up beside Ms. Rachel. The bus driver does her best to keep the worst of the jeers at bay, at least for that short time on the way home.

While you aren’t exactly friends, Rebecca has never treated Georgie badly. She knows too well how that feels. Georgie makes his way across the yard, hoping that Ms. Rachel gets caught up in the traffic leaving. You’re about to step out onto a part of the road leading to the parking lot, when you hear a short, sharp beep.

Cuckoo Hernandez, still wearing his bicycle helmet, waves you back out of the way. You wait for him to pass before hurriedly taking up the chase again. As you reach Ms. Rachel’s bus, you see Rebecca Poole there, looking out the window at that communal exit from Ridgeview.

You stand there, at the side of the bus. She notices you looking up at her. She raises a hand in a kind of quizzical wave, and gives a timid kind of smile! The window is open a crack and the light is red... for now!

Confusion gives way to understanding, and she returns an appreciative smile and a nod! A nice moment soon interrupted with a chorus of

"oooOOOOooooh!"

from some of the kids cool enough to sit in the back.

"Poole and Spud?!"

As the bus pulls away, Georgie can hear a chorus starting up of:

"Poole and Spud, sitting in a tr..."

Georgie stands there, while the kids at the back of the bus shoot him mocking smooches!

Jaden, Andy, Georgie, Em and Mikey, you stand in the yard of Ridgeview Middle School. The crashing wave of students reduces to a trickle, and then to nothing at all. More teachers begin to climb into their cars. Last minute Christmas shopping awaits them, and then hopefully, some well deserved rest.

You tinker with your bikes, making small talk and busting each other’s chops. All at once, that feeling of it being time to go comes over you all.