The Perfect Score

When Trevor says that the CSAs “suck,” Mrs. Woods keeps him in from recess to write a paper about the proper use of the word, complete with appropriate synonyms to use instead. This time, Trevor does the assignment and offers three synonyms—the names of his older brother and two friends who torment him. Mrs. Woods says nothing when Trevor explains, and Trevor thinks, “That was a smart move” (60).

In Mrs. Magenta’s class, the kids dissect flowers, pasting the pieces in their notebooks and labeling them. Trevor gets Scott to rub orange pollen all over his face and makes everyone laugh at him. Mrs. Magenta misses the whole thing, and Natalie laments that, without Mrs. Woods, “there [is] no one to look out for Scott” (62).

Partway through Mrs. Magenta’s class, Scott gets called to the principal’s office to discuss how he urinated on the slide at recess. When Scott’s done, the principal agrees not to tell Scott’s mom what happened if he joins Mrs. Magenta’s art program. Scott says that they have a deal and then leaves, commenting that this deal “wouldn’t be the last one [they] made” (66).

After school, Natalie tells her mom about the art program. She wants to join because it feels like the right thing to do, even if it means that she won’t be able to help her parents at the office some afternoons. Natalie’s mom is thrilled about the program and signs Natalie up immediately. The chapter ends with Natalie thinking that if she knew then what she knows now, “[she’s] not so certain [she] would’ve joined—even if it was the right thing to do” (68).

While hanging out and tossing a football around, Randi and Gavin discuss Mrs. Woods’s class and Mrs. Magenta’s art program. Randi feels pressured to maintain her grades and do all her homework—even more now that her mom signed her up for the art program, too. Randi’s mom arrives to take Randi to gymnastics practice, leaving Gavin to tease his sister about implying that he and Randi are a couple. The easy banter between them makes Randi wish that she could just babysit instead of going to practice, “but that [i]sn’t part of [her] destiny” (72).

Gavin is shocked when his parents tell him that he can participate in Mrs. Magenta’s program. Even more, they explain that things are starting to look up financially and that Gavin might be able to play football next year. Gavin goes to bed feeling hopeful for the first time in a long time. He’s always worried about his future because he isn’t good at school, but now, he’s sure that he’ll have a chance because “football [is] gonna take [him] places” (74).

The next day, Trevor misses recess again, though this time because he laughed at one of his friends who was acting out. Trevor’s friend is thinking about doing Mrs. Magenta’s program because his dad is on the school board and offered to pay him to give him the real take on what happens. The kid says that he’ll do it if Trevor goes, too, but Trevor refuses. Mrs. Woods overhears the conversation and suggests that Trevor do the program, hinting at how his brother causes him trouble at home. Trevor silently admits that it would be nice to get away from his brother, but as far as the program goes, he is adamant that there’s “no way [he is] doing that program, especially if she [i]s suggesting it” (80).

One of the girls in Scott’s class has a birthday in October. After a party where the girl’s mom brings giant cupcakes, Mrs. Woods asks the girl what she wants for her birthday. The girl wants Mrs. Woods to read out loud. When Mrs. Woods finishes reading for the day, Scott remembers that it’s the first day of Mrs. Magenta’s art program and rushes to put his stuff away so fast that “[n]ot even Mrs. Woods [can] slow[] [him] down” (83).

Even though he doesn’t want to, Trevor decides to do the art program. He hates that it looks like he is taking Mrs. Woods’s advice, but he doesn’t let this bother him because he “hate[s] going home after school even more” (84).

Mrs. Magenta’s first project for the art program is to beautify the public library because “every child needs to get lost in stories” (86). Scott tells her about Mrs. Woods reading out loud, and Mrs. Magenta gets very quiet. Everyone in the program has their permission slip except Scott, who can’t find his. Mrs. Magenta sends him to the office to call his mom and get verbal permission for the day, having Natalie accompany him. There, Natalie learns that Scott is attending the program because he made a deal with the principal, and Natalie wonders why.

While the children wait for Scott and Natalie to get back, Gavin worries about going to the library. All his life, he’s been made fun of for not being a good reader, even though he can understand stories fine. He thinks about Mrs. Woods’s reading earlier and how he related the story to himself when she asked. Mrs. Woods said that Gavin was smart for doing so, which “was the first time any teacher had ever told [him he] was smart” (92).

At the library, the students form groups of four—Randi ends up with Gavin, Scott, and Natalie. Gavin looks angry when Natalie joins their group, and though Randi isn’t sure why, “if Gavin d[oes]n’t like her, that [i]s reason enough for [him]” (94).

Mrs. Magenta assigns Natalie and Randi’s group to paint the walls of the children’s room yellow to liven up the space. While Natalie, Gavin, and Randi work, Scott reads. Natalie thinks about getting him back on track but decides not to because, she thinks, “what harm could come if he was out of the way?” (97).

Gavin is relieved to be doing manual work—something he understands—and he is surprised that Natalie isn’t terrible at it. Trevor sneaks into the children’s room and scares Scott, who runs into a bookshelf and knocks over a gallon of paint, splattering the rug. Mrs. Magenta takes Scott to get cleaned up and leaves the others to work on sopping up the paint. Magenta returns with a throw rug to put over the paint splotch. She wants the children to sign their names beside the mess, but Gavin refuses because “[his] name [i]sn’t going under some rug but in Canton, Ohio, in the Pro Football Hall of Fame” (102).

The children are late getting back to school, and Natalie enters the school to find that Scott forgot his replacement permission slip for the program. As she picks it up, she remarks that “Scott’s going to need a lawyer if he’s going to have any chance with his mother today” because she thinks that she’s alone (104). Behind her, Gavin says that lawyers are dirtbags. When Natalie argues, Gavin tells her to ask her mom before storming away. Natalie fumes and runs after Scott to give him the permission slip.

Scott’s mom is upset to see Scott covered in yellow paint. Before Scott can explain, Natalie arrives with the permission slip and takes responsibility for the mess, saying that she moved the paint without telling Scott. Scott’s mom asks if Natalie is his friend. After hesitating, Natalie says that she is. Scott is overjoyed because he has an actual friend, and “[n]othing c[an] ruin that, not even all the homework Mrs. Woods ha[s] given [them]” (106).

Natalie reflects that “you can’t call someone your friend and then not be it” because that would be a dirtbag move (108); she isn’t a dirtbag.

Randi tries to ask Gavin about his confrontation with Natalie, but he refuses to discuss her, getting angry. Randi wants to ask her mom about what to do, but her mom is too busy criticizing her for having poor gymnastics practices lately. Her mom says that she needs more discipline, to which Randi thinks, “These days it was taking more and more discipline for me to get excited about gymnastics” (112).

Gavin also refuses to tell his dad what’s wrong when he asks. Instead, he silently fumes that Natalie’s mom ruled that his parents owe money to a liar, and if his parents were smarter, it never would have happened. At school, Gavin overhears Mrs. Woods questioning Randi about her partially done homework and realizes how much pressure gymnastics is putting on her. Mrs. Woods offers Gavin help with reading, criticizing the teacher who told him that he was unintelligent in the past. By the time he goes back to his seat, Gavin knows that “this moment with Woods [i]s what they call a game changer” (118).

At recess, Scott asks Trevor if he can play football. Trevor agrees and kicks the ball right into Scott’s face. Natalie rushes to help as Trevor and his friends laugh. Randi kicks the ball into Trevor’s crotch, which makes him stop laughing. She and Natalie help Scott inside. As they go, Natalie sees Gavin, who “watche[s] [them] leaving the field, but he never move[s]” (121).

Mrs. Woods pulls Trevor into the hall after recess to discuss what happened with Scott. Trevor says that it was a mistake, but Mrs. Woods doesn’t believe him. She assigns him to write a paper about mistakes during recess the next day. Trevor says nothing but thinks that “[he] d[oes]n’t need to research mistakes” because his older brother has been calling him one all his life (123).

Scott decides to make his grandpa a memory string—a string with special objects on it—to help him remember Scott’s grandma. After school, Scott plays chess with his grandpa while his mom makes dinner. Scott enjoys the game and the conversation, especially knowing that the interaction is good for his grandpa. He doesn’t know how to help with his grandpa’s loneliness, but he thinks, “I’d figure something out” (128).