The math teacher''s apology died in his throat. He stared at her, aplex mix of relief and awe washing over him. She was letting him off the hook.


    He sighed, feeling a pang of shame for his earlier hostility. This girl had more grace than most adults he knew. He was certain she was destined for greatness.


    "If there''s nothing else, you''re all dismissed,” Salma announced, noticing Juniper''s impatient frown. The girl was clearly starving.


    "Wait!" the math teacher from ss Two called out. "ss One is already quite full. Why not transfer Juniper to my ss?"


    "Are you serious?" Juniper''s current math teacher shot back, his eyes shing with anger. "You''re trying to poach my student right in front of me?"


    "ss One already has Queenie to focus on. We have an open spot in ss Three, Juniper would be wee there," the literature teacher of ss Three added with a sly smile. A student with this level of talent was a golden ticket for the uing college entrance exams. She wasn''t just a top scorer for the state; she could be a national merit schr.


    "Hey!" Juniper''s literature teacher protested. "She''s perfectly happy in our ss. Don''t you dare try to unsettle her!"


    The chemistry teacher chimed in, craning his neck. "Juniper, how are you with the sciences?"


    Juniper, who had been quietly packing her bag, nced up and offered a faint smile. "They''re alright, I guess."


    That was all the encouragement he needed. "Salma, let Junipere to ss Three!" he urged excitedly.


    "ss two has a ce for her!"


    "Dream on!" her math teacher roared. "You want a seat for her? Fine, she can sit on the podium at the front of my ss!"


    The other teachers just stared at


    him. Was he insane? If a girl who looked like Juniper sat at the front of the ss, none of the other students would ever look at the ckboard again.


    As the teachers descended into a heated argument over who would im her, Juniper finished packing her bag.


    "Excuse me..." she began, but her


    ет


    voice was lost in the chaos. With a helpless shrug, she stung he backpack over her shoulder and


    slipped out of the room unnoticed.


    Just then, Keith burst in, waving a science exam paper triumphantly. "I found it! Juniper, let''s see you get a perfect score on this one too!"


    He had a feeling she''d been holding back before and wanted to see her true potential. But when he looked around, his smile froze.


    “Where did she go?” he demanded, his voice rising. “Where''s Juniper?"


    The arguing instantly stopped. The teachers looked around the empty room.


    With a frustrated smack, Keith mmed the test paper on the desk.


    "This is all your fault!" he fumed, his sses trembling on his nose. "You and your baseless usations! You scared her off before she could even take my test you two are happy with the perfect literature and math scores, but what about me?”


    The other two teachers could only look away, because truth be told, they were pretty


    happy.