“JoJo! What in Whoville happened to you?” Mrs. Baley, the Social Studies teacher, pushed her glasses farther up her nose and stared at him. JoJo was soaked from his head to his shoulders. His hair clung uncomfortably to his face, covering up his left eye.
JoJo blinked at her. Their was no way he was gonna say that he had been dumped in a toilet by Seth.
“Well?” Mrs. Baley tapped her long fingers on her desk. Still, JoJo said nothing. Just like he said nothing to Seth.
“If you wont tell me, I have no choice but to mark you late.” She scribbled something down on a slip paper, then pointed to his seat. JoJo took a step forward, then slipped on the small puddle made by his wet fur. The class laughed as he fell on his butt. Mrs. Baley sighed, than began writing on the chalkboard.
JoJo felt like running away to his observatory. But, as he glanced around the classroom, he found Shay staring back at him with pity clouding her eyes. She stood up and walked over to JoJo, holding her hand out. He looked at her, then at her hand. Slowly, as if he was having second thoughts, he took it. He reminded himself that if he embarrassed her in front of their classmates, the consequences would be worse than a dip in the toilet.
JoJo fumbled with his back-pack, than carefully walked over to where the rest of the class was sitting. He took his seat by Shay. Most everyone was looking at him, covering there mouths and trying not to burst out laughing again.
The Mayor's son sank back into the seat, wishing he would just disappear. Ever since the day Whoville was almost destroyed, JoJo had had a better relationship with his dad, but it still seemed like everyone else hated him. He still felt alone.




During lunch, JoJo sat at the table in the farthest corner of the cafeteria, as usual. He pulled out a paper and pencil and worked on a new song. Char and Shay joined him.  Neather of them had bothered to get a trey.  The food supplied at school looked so bad that none of them ever bothered to eat it. They all waited till they got home, or ate a really big breakfast.
JoJo jolted a few words down on the paper, then stared at the wall. Char cocked her head slightly. “JoJo?”
JoJo scooted closer to the wall, and Shay tapped Char's arm, shaking her head. She wasn't his best friend, but she knew how awful it felt to be bullied by Seth's gang. The next 45 minutes went by so silently, the small, black-haired Who felt, for the first time ever, that being silent was not the answer.