Page 86 of The Falcon and the Foe

I craned my neck over the sea of seafoam green munchkins, but there was no Josh in the mix.

The corridors filled up with classes and parents heading to the class cheer assembly. I wished Cal were by my side for commentary.

Quentin ran up to me before I joined the wave.

“Hey Q, where’s Josh?”

“He’s in the bathroom.” Quentin leaned in. “Crying.”

My heart instantly went on alert. “What happened?”

“He’s not wearing the right color.”

Quentin directed me to the bathroom. Josh sat in the last stall, cheeks smeared with tears, so helpless. I wanted to wrap him in a hug.

I squatted across from him. “Hey, buddy, what’s going on?”

“I—I’m not wearing seafoam green. I can’t participate,” he managed through sniffles that shook his whole frame.

Josh had on a neon green T-shirt adorned with Koopa from Super Mario Bros. In the green family, but it hued yellow, not the aqua hue of seafoam green. Cal probably thought it was close enough. He didn’t have the time to scour clothing stores to find seafoam green items like the other parents did. I scooped up my outfit on Amazon as soon as the class voted.

“You’re wearing green,” I told him.

“It’s not seafoam green.”

“So what? If a colorblind person looked at you, they’d see seafoam green.”

He cracked a tiny smile before it vanished in a wave of tears.

“That’s a cool shirt,” Quentin said behind me. “I want one.”

“Class spirit is what counts. You wore green with your class. You’re going to perform a cool song with them, and everyone is going to cheer. Nobody will care that your shirt doesn’t exactly match. Psshhh. I saw plenty of kids out there who weren’t wearing the exact color they should.” A white lie, but desperately called for. “In fact, everyone knows that neon green is the best shade of green. It’s my favorite green.”

Josh wiped his hand across his eyes.

“We only voted for seafoam green because Keeley said it’s her favorite color,” Quentin said. She seemed like the kind of kid who always wanted her way.

“I think secretly, your class wanted neon green, so they’re jealous that you were smart enough to wear it,” I said in a stage whisper. “But you know what, why don’t you take my hat.” I plunked my baseball cap on Josh’s tiny head, where it sank over his eyes. “You look awesome!”

Josh and Quentin laughed.

Quentin took off the bandana tied around his head, and I tied it around his friend’s neck.

“Perfect!”

I took out my phone to text Cal, but he’d already written me back. “Your dad texted, and he’s on his way! Now let’s get on out there!”

“Yeah, don’t listen to Mrs. Ashton.”

“Wait, what?” I turned around to Quentin.

“Mrs. Ashton told Josh he couldn’t participate because he wasn’t wearing seafoam green.”

I was about to look like Christmas as I felt my face redden with shards of anger. “She said what?”

Josh nodded with confirmation. “She said that I wasn’t wearing the class color, so I couldn’t go on stage and do the class cheer.”

“Did she now?” My jaw tightened, and I did my very best to keep on a happy face, despite my growing rage. “Well, I’m over-ruling her.” I stood up and adjusted the baseball cap to see Josh’s watery eyes. “You are performing that cheer, Joshua.”

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