The Thing About the Truth by Lauren Barnholdt Read Free Book Online Page B

ideas first because he doesn’t actually have any ideas of his own. So I’ll give mine, and then we’ll decide on one of them being perfect, and that will save him from the embarrassment of having to admit that he has no idea what he’s even doing.
    “No, that’s okay,” I say sweetly. “Why don’t you go ahead?”
    “You sure?”
    “Positive.”
    Isaac shrugs, then reaches into his bag and pulls out a black leather notebook. Taped to the front is piece of computer paper with the words “Face It Down” printed in swirly script on the front. He opens up to the first page.
    “Now,” he says, “this is just an overview, of course. I was hoping we could get into the specifics later, if we do decide to move forward with the project.”
    “Of course,” Mr. Colangelo says, like this makes perfect sense. He nods and leans back in his black swivel chair.
    My mouth has dropped open.
    Isaac turns his attention back to his notebook. “I was thinking that what we all need is some understanding.”
    I snort. Because honestly, what does he know about understanding? I mean, that sounds so political. He’s acting just like a politician, someone who wants to get along with everyone, someone who wants to be one of the little people or whatever, while meanwhile, I’m sure he surrounds himself with people who are just like him. Not to mention that “what we all need is some understanding” are song lyrics. At least, I’m pretty sure they are.
    “Something funny?” Isaac asks.
    “No,” I lie.
    “So what I’m proposing ,” Isaac says, giving me an admonishing look out of the corner of his eye, like I’m a child who’s interrupted the teacher during an important lesson, “is that we set up a group of students who are interested in advancing the idea of understanding and acceptance for everyone. We could work on spreading these things throughout the community. For example, I was thinking our first project could be setting up Face It Down Day, where students from Concordia Prep and Concordia Public join together and talk about how even though we come from different backgrounds and families, we’re basically all alike, facing the same challenges and insecurities.”
    I’m speechless. The idea is so simple, and so brilliant, that I’m pissed I didn’t come up with it myself. Mr. Colangelo is eating out of Isaac’s hand. He’s leaning forward over his desk,his eyes on Isaac’s. Which makes me even more angry. I mean, it’s not enough that Isaac has this kind of effect on girls, now he has it on guys, too, including the principal?
    “That sounds absolutely amazing,” Mr. Colangelo says, sounding like a smitten schoolgirl. He pauses, leaving the unspoken question hanging in the air. I resist the urge to roll my eyes.
    “And I’m sure my dad would be happy to get involved,” Isaac says, realizing what Mr. Colangelo is looking for. Which means that he’s a lot smarter than I first gave him credit for. “You know, with money or whatever.”
    “Fabulous,” Mr. Colangelo says. Seriously, he’s about three seconds away from clapping his hands in glee. “So you two can get together and work on the club, and then report back to me about how it’s going. You’ll want to get it up and running as soon as possible, I’m assuming?”
    “Don’t you even want to hear my ideas?” I ask. Obviously, I’m not going to bring up the idea of a book club now, since Isaac’s idea was so good, but you’d think Mr. Colangelo would at least pretend to want to know my ideas.
    “Well, we’re running out of time,” Mr. Colangelo says. He’s looking at the clock again and picking up his phone. Ugh, ugh, ugh.
    “Sounds great,” Isaac says. “Me and Kels will get to work on this right away.”
    Kels?
    “Yeah,” I echo weakly. “Sounds great.”

The Aftermath
    Kelsey
    The superintendent’s office is actually really nice, with a big huge oak desk in the middle and floor-to-ceiling windows that let in stripes of