Phoenix Inheritance Read Free Page A

sit down?” Partnope asked.
    Renee thought about standing but decided since Charlie admitted he’d hit his teacher, looming over the principal and taking out her frustration with the situation was the worst thing she could do.
    â€œThat’s an interesting T-shirt, Ms. Black.” His gaze flicked over the shirt. It featured Carol Danvers, Captain Marvel, in a red, blue and yellow costume with her energy power blazing at her hands. Hence, Princess Sparklefists .
    â€œThank you, it’s one of my favorites.”
    â€œInteresting.”
    â€œI think so.” She took a deep breath. She wouldn’t rise to the bait. “Why did Charlie hit his teacher? What happened?”
    â€œI’m glad he admitted it. A lot of kids don’t.” Partnope laced his fingers together. “First of all, you should know that we take any assault on a teacher extremely seriously.”
    She nodded. “Of course. Was the teacher hurt?”
    â€œNo, I don’t believe he was injured at all. Still, we might have to suspend Charlie.”
    She took a deep breath. She wanted to protest because she was sure Charlie’s impulse control issues had caused him to overreact, but it would be far better to hear this out first.
    â€œCould you please tell me what happened?” she asked again.
    â€œMr. Revis gave the students a surprise quiz today.” He paused.
    She nodded but what she wanted to do was say that didn’t they know Charlie hated surprises? She’d talked to all the school officials about it, including Partnope. Teachers were supposed to give him advance warning of any quiz. “And Charlie failed this surprise quiz?”
    â€œIt wasn’t that kind of quiz,” Partnope said.
    He handed over a sheet of paper that started with Read this over fully first , and included all kinds of instructions about drawing shapes and writing sentences. It was busy work but work Charlie knew how to do. It wasn’t until she reached the last sentence that she knew why Charlie thought they’d been mean to him.
    â€œIt says at the end that no one has to do any of the problems.”
    â€œYes. The very first instruction was to read the paper fully and the last instruction is that they don’t have to do any of the work. This is a test we give to make sure students follow instructions and read their papers fully.”
    â€œHow many students in third grade read this all the way to the end?”
    Partnope’s eyes narrowed. “Only two.”
    â€œAnd after Charlie did all the work and got to the last sentence and realized he didn’t really have to do any of it, he lost his temper?”
    â€œExactly.” Partnope nodded. “He rushed to the front of the class, screamed at Mr. Revis for tricking him, kicked him in the leg and ran out of the room.”
    Renee rubbed the bridge of her nose. Of course, Charlie would see this as being tricked and react. The whole quiz was a trick. Still, he shouldn’t hit anyone. But his reaction was entirely predictable and could have been avoided by letting him know beforehand.
    â€œWhat happened after he ran out of the room?” she asked.
    It was Partnope’s turn to take a deep breath. He cleaned off his glasses. “Charlie ran out of the school, toward the road.”
    â€œToward the road?” The elementary school was located on one of the town’s busiest streets.
    â€œHe was out the door before anyone could catch him. We did get to him before the road.”
    â€œHow did you get Charlie inside?” she asked, hearing the hoarseness in her voice.
    â€œDorothy called to him. He slowed down. Then she asked him to come back and sit next to her for a while.”
    Dorothy. She had no way to repay the woman for this. “And he did?”
    â€œYes, he listened to her. And then she asked him for a drawing because she knows he likes to draw. Once your son was settled, we called you. Thank you for