The Ones by Daniel Sweren-Becker Read Free Book Online

their soccer game. Behind the field, Ms. Bixley was at the bake sale, and with a ball at her feet, Cody couldn’t resist ripping a shot in Ms. Bixley’s direction with the vague intention of startling her or knocking some cookies off the table. To Cody’s surprise and secret satisfaction, the soccer ball bounced squarely off Ms. Bixley’s face, and the blood that gushed out of her nose ruined every last baked good. Cody had apologized, of course, and the whole thing was written off as an accident, but any reasonable person who saw the location of the soccer goal might have drawn a different conclusion. Regardless, Cody knew she probably couldn’t get away with injuring Ms. Bixley a second time. So she tried her best to be civil.
    â€œYou are kicking the Ones out of the positions they earned,” Cody said. She assumed Ms. Bixley would deny it or play dumb, but her answer made Cody even angrier.
    â€œOf course we are. It’s a new day, Cody, and everyone is focused on equality right now. The Supreme Court, Congress, the Board of Education—they all think it best if we are a little more vigilant about giving everyone equal opportunities. I’m just following their new guidelines. Don’t you think it’s fair for those other students to get a chance?”
    â€œNot if they don’t deserve it. And not if they’re worse.”
    â€œ Deserve? Did the first group of students deserve it? Or were they just more fortunate?”
    Cody saw where Ms. Bixley was going: She was implying that the Ones hadn’t earned their accomplishments. Cody understood the logic, but in her case it just wasn’t true. Yeah, she was born with long legs and a strong heart, but those abilities were still totally organic to her. In fact, they might have existed no matter how she was born. There was no way to know, and Cody couldn’t stand being punished for that.
    â€œWhat if you got fired because the school hired someone less qualified?” Cody asked. “Would that seem fair to you?”
    â€œI earned this job. Through hard work and my God-given abilities,” Ms. Bixley said. “It wasn’t bestowed upon me in a petri dish.”
    Cody stared back at her, wishing she had a soccer ball. Then Ms. Bixley walked over to stand right in front of her. There was a different look on her face; she had dropped the perfect-principal facade and appeared more relaxed than Cody had ever seen her. This caught Cody off guard, and she stepped back, stumbling and falling onto the office couch. Ms. Bixley kept walking forward until she was standing right over Cody.
    â€œIt’s all right to be scared about what’s happening. You should be scared. Every last one of you.” Ms. Bixley kept staring at her calmly. “Now get the hell out of my office.”
    *   *   *
    â€œWe’re in trouble, James,” Cody said as they left school together. She had filled him in on her chilling encounter with Ms. Bixley, and since neither felt inclined to participate in their respective extracurricular activities, they were leaving early to hit up their favorite diner. “The green light has been given to mess with us. And people seem pretty happy about it.”
    â€œI think they’re just testing us,” James said. “They’re provoking us, and we’re failing.”
    â€œWe should let them do whatever they want? Come on, we have to stand up for ourselves.”
    â€œThe bricks, the ID cards, the demotions—it sucks, I’m with you. But what good does getting angry do? You almost died last night. And now you’ve got Bixley gunning for you. Fighting back has only made things worse.”
    â€œSo we shouldn’t even react?”
    â€œThat’s not what I’m saying. Just … react better. If they want to be violent, we can be peaceful. If they act petty, we stay classy. We do that, and this will all blow over soon