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teacher I respected the most in the whole school.
    â€œPeople who aren’t willing to work together are not welcome. No exceptions, no excuses, no reason to accept failure.” He paused. “Are there any questions?”
    Julia’s hand shot up instantly. He motioned to her.
    â€œI was wondering what role—”
    â€œExcuse me,” Mr. Roberts said, cutting her off. “Could you please stand up and state your name.”
    â€œYeah, sure,” she said and got to her feet. “My name is Julia Brown—and I’m the student president.”
    â€œPleased to meet you, Ms. Brown,” he said. He walked to the edge of the stage, bent down and offered his hand. They shook.
    â€œWhile we are all equally important, it is nice to meet somebody who has taken the initiative to take on a leadership role. I respect people who are leaders. Please, your question.”
    â€œIn your last school you made a lot of changes,” Julia said. “Will you be consulting with student government before making changes here?”
    â€œI’ll talk to anybody who wants to talk.”
    â€œSo your door is open to the student president?”
    â€œMy door is always open to you, as it is to all students. The president part is not as important to me as the student part.”
    â€œBut as the president I represent the students at the—”
    â€œI’m hoping students will feel free to represent themselves.”
    â€œBut I was democratically elected.”
    â€œIt’s important to remember one thing. This is not a democracy. We’re not having a vote or counting the ballots.”
    â€œBut if all the students want one thing and you want another, don’t you think that it makes sense that you should change your position?”
    â€œJust because something is popular doesn’t make it right, and because something is right won’t always make it popular. In the end, I’m going to do what I think is right, whether you agree or not.”
    Julia looked angry and confused, as if she wanted to say something, but she just didn’t know what to say. Julia at a loss for words—what a concept.
    â€œAre there questions from
anybody
else?” Mr. Roberts asked.
    Julia continued to stand there for a few seconds. She suddenly looked embarrassed— she knew she’d been dismissed in front of the whole school. She slumped down into her seat.
    I was really,
really
starting to like this guy.

chapter six
    Julia slammed her tray onto the table, and some of her soup sloshed out of the bowl. She took the seat beside Oswald.
    â€œI really don’t like that man,” Julia said.
    Oswald shot me a look. We knew who she was talking about. We’d just been talking about how we liked him, but you’d have to be stupid to mention that to her right now.
    â€œI like him,” Oswald said.
    Okay, maybe not stupid but determined to try to tick her off. Oswald actuallyseemed to like doing that. For that brief time they’d been together, he’d agreed with everything she said. He’d spent the last five months making up for that.
    â€œNo,” Oswald said, “not just like. I really,
really
like him.”
    â€œI can’t believe that anybody would like him...except for you.”
    â€œMaybe not just me. What do you think, Ian?”
    Setup. “It’s a little early for me to make a judgment, one way or the other. I’d need more information.”
    I smirked at Oswald. He shot, I dodged.
    â€œWell, let me tell you more about him,” Julia said. “He’s a former sergeant in the marines.”
    â€œFormer?” I asked. “I think once you’re a marine, you’re always a marine.”
    â€œWell, he does like to run schools like they’re a military base,” she said. “For example, at his last school he banned the use of cell phones.”
    â€œLots of schools have done that,” Iargued.