“There’s the freak! Freaky Flynn!” Dania yelled and Ellie laughed. She looked at me and her face looked funny.
I got mad.
“You can’t come over! I hate you!” I yelled to Ellie and turned around and ran down the hallway.
I was sad when I went home. I didn’t eat any banana bread and Mom said she was worried about me.
I told her about Ellie and she got upset. She said she was going to call the school and make them do something.
I told her not to.
I didn’t want Ellie to get into trouble.
I told Ellie I hated her but I didn’t hate her.
She still made my stomach feel funny but now she made me sad all the time.
She never laughed anymore.
Mom said she wanted to call the principal. That maybe he could help me. That he’d make sure Stu and Dania and Ellie couldn’t be mean to me anymore.
I liked the sound of that.
I didn’t want Ellie to get into trouble but I didn’t want them being mean to me either.
I said okay. And Mom smiled. She said she’d handle it.
Mom was yelling at me to get up. She was shaking me and I hit her to make her stop.
“Flynn! We have to get out of the house!” she yelled.
I opened my eyes and my room was full of smoke. I started coughing and my eyes stung. It smelled bad. Like when Mom would burn the pot roast.
“Hurry up, Flynn! The house is on fire!” she yelled, shaking me again.
I didn’t like her shaking me but I was scared. The house was on fire. The smoke was bad. I couldn’t breathe.
I coughed and coughed and coughed.
Mom pushed open my door and the smoke was worse in the hallway.
I started crying.
“Where’s Marty?” I yelled but Mom kept telling me to go down the stairs and get outside.
Where was my dog? Where was Marty?
I cried harder and yelled at Mom to find Marty.
She was crying too. We ran out of the house. I couldn’t breathe. My eyes burned. Mom hugged me and I let her.
“Mom, go get Marty!” I yelled but she kept saying she couldn’t.
The firemen came and started spraying stuff at my house. I yelled at them to get my dog. I was getting really angry that no one was listening to me.
“Where’s my dog?” I screamed and Mom tried to hug me again. I pushed her and she fell.
One of the firemen tried to pull me back and I tried to hit him.
