“You read me the first page.”
“He threw it away.”
Mrs. Chen stood.
“Who?”
Jonah said nothing.
She already knew.
After school she visited Mr. Wade’s classroom.
He was irritated.
“The assignment had clear parameters.”
“You destroyed a child’s work.”
“I demonstrated consequences.”
“You could have returned it.”
“He needs boundaries.”
Mrs. Chen stared at the trash.
Several pages remained visible.
She picked one up.
Mr. Wade immediately stepped forward.
“That’s student work.”
“Yes.”
She read two lines.
Her expression changed.
“Jonah wrote this?”
“Apparently.”
Mrs. Chen looked at him.
“Have you read the story?”
“I don’t need to read twenty-seven pages to know he ignored instructions.”
She gathered the pieces.
That evening, she called Jonah’s mother.
“I think you should see something.”
His mother came to the library.
