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Norbert stared at the e he needed a er word than befuddled to explain how he felt now Finally, shaking his head, he reached down and grabbed the box containing Master George’s letters

"These are going out tonight," he said, though no one was in the rooe Letter

Atticus Higginbottoarten--stood inside the darkness of his own locker, cramped and claustrophobic He desperately wanted to unlatch the handle and step out, but he knew he had to wait fiveBoss of Jackson Middle School in Deer Park, Washington And what Billy "The Goat" Cooper commanded must be obeyed; Tick didn’t dare do otherwise

He peeked through the metal slats of the door, annoyed at how they slanted down so he could only see the dirty white tiles of the hallway The bell ending the school day had rung ages ago and Tick knew that by nowfor their buses or already walking hoh, and one of the

"Hope you get out before suppertime, Icky Ticky Stinkbotto a terrible bang of rattled h Tick’s ears "The Goat sentyou’re still in there I can see your beady little eyes" Another kick "You’re not crying are you? Careful, you et snot on your Barf Scarf"

Tick squeezed his eyes shut, steeled hinore the idiot Eventually, the bullies alwaysback, on the other hand

The boy laughed again, then walked away

In fact, Tick was not crying and hadn’t done so in a long time Once he’d learned to accept his fate in life as the kid everyone liked to pick on, his life had becoh Tick’s attitude seemed to annoy Billy to no end Maybe I should fake a cry next ti

When the hall had grown completely still and silent, Tick reached down and flicked the latch of the door It swung open with a loud pop and slaainst the locker next to it Tick stepped out and stretched his cras and ar of duht hi syste holidays were just around the corner He felt perfectly happy

Glancing around toaround to torture him some more, Tick adjusted the red-and-black striped scarf he alore to hide the hideous purple blotch on his neck--an irregular, rusty-looking birth he hated most about his body, and no matter how much his parents tried to convince him to lose the scarf, he wore it every hour of every day--even in the suh in dark blotches Nointer settling in with a vengeance, people had quit giving hie looks about the security blanket wrapped around his neck Well, except for the jerks who called it the Barf Scarf

He set out down the hall, heading for the door closest to the street that led to his house; he lived within walking distance of the school, which was lucky for hione He rounded the corner and saw Mr Chu, his science teacher, step out of the teacher’s lounge, briefcase in hand

"Well, if it isn’t Mr Higginbottoe s around here? Anxious for ht black hair fell almost to his shoulders Tick knew his ht he looked cool

Tick gave a quick laugh "No, I think you gave us plenty--I’ll be lucky to get half of it done by Monday"