Free Also Known as Rowan Pohi by Ralph Fletcher Page A

expanse where various stars and other celestial bodies would be projected. The cushy seats were unbelievably comfortable, and I felt my eyes beginning to close. It might be hard to stay awake in this room, especially in the dark with your seat tilted back.
    "My name is Dr. Kokoris," a teacher began. He was in his late fifties, with a shock of white hair that made me think of Einstein. "Every day, in this room, I will create the universe and its galaxies in a manner not unlike God Himself."
    The other kids giggled.
    "What were God's first words?" Dr. Kokoris demanded.
    To my horror, I realized that he was pointing directly at me.
    "Ah, umm...'Let there be light'?" I guessed.
    Dr. Kokoris grinned. "This young man knows his Genesis! Yes, those were God's first four words:
Let there be light!
And those are the first words I will say every morning as we begin to explore celestial worlds. To do so, we will rely on powerful telescopes that will transport us billions of light-years away."
    To this, a boy behind me cracked: "All the way to Uranus."
    Someone laughed. Dr. Kokoris whirled around and glared suspiciously at me.
    "This planetarium cost more than twenty-five million dollars, so you must take very good care of it," he declared. "You
will
take care of it, understand? No eating. No drinking. No chewing gum. No putting your feet up on another seat. No
breathing
without my permission."
    More giggles.
    "Remember: in this planetarium I am God, and I will find you," Dr. Kokoris concluded. He paused to clear his throat. "Now, let's take her out for a little spin, shall we?"
    The room went dark. I tilted my seat back farther just as a tiny blue spot appeared on the black screen. It grew larger and larger until I could see it was the Earth. This was followed by an asteroid incinerating itself as it plummeted to Earth. Soon all sorts of weird nebulae, galaxies, white dwarfs, black holes, shooting stars were flashing across the expanse above us. It ended with some mind-boggling photos showing what Kokoris called star nurseries, or EGGs ("evaporating gaseous globules"), where new stars were being born.
    "That Dr. Kokoris has a God complex," I muttered as we filed out.
    Robin smiled. "If so, he's found the perfect job."
    Â 
    My first-period class was English. There were only fifteen students. I took a seat next to a tall kid with short, frosted hair. The English teacher introduced himself as Mr. Nardone.
    "In tenth-grade English we will be reading and discussing lots of great literature," Nardone began. "We'll start the year with
To Kill a Mockingbird.
"
    The tall kid next to me glanced over and caught my eye.
    "I read that book over the summer."
    "Like it?" I whispered.
    "Do you like Chinese water torture?" he replied.
    After English I had Spanish, which was
much
harder than anything I'd had at Riverview.
Señor
Backman spoke in nothing but rapid Spanish; I understood about 10 percent of what he said. I was the only boy in the room. The class was jammed with nerdy girls who looked like they had nothing better to do every night than study for umpteen hours. For the first time, I got a sinking feeling, like I was in way over my head.
    It was a relief to go from Spanish to biology. Heather Reardon sent me a wink from the far side of the room as Mr. Rasmussen passed out the syllabus. Biology seemed like it would be manageable. In fact, except for Spanish, the classes at White-stone didn't seem like they'd be too hard, so long as I kept myself organized and didn't get behind in my assignments. Actually, the classes weren't much different from Riverview's except there were fewer kids in each class, and the teachers smiled more.
    The chicken fingers they served for lunch were phenomenally tasty; I had to force myself not to eat too fast. The kids at the other end of the table all knew each other and chattered nonstop. I wondered how long it would take for me to make a few friends.
    When the other kids got up to leave, I still wasn't done. As