proof we might be hiding in our pockets.
“George overheard them talking,” I finally say, and Mr. Dodge frowns. “They said it all out loud.”
There’s a knock on the door, and we turn. Ms. Taylor peeks her head in. Mr. Dodge motions for her to come all the way in and close the door. “Sorry,” she says. “I got caught up with a student.” She addresses Mr. Dodge. “But I read your email, Bill. And honestly, I’m shocked you’re calling these two fine students out of class.”
He reiterates to her what he told us. That the cross-country boys feel bullied, and he wants us to stop working on the app. I feel like I should say something else, anything, but I’m not sure what. All I know is we can’t stop working on the app. And also, now I really truly hate Phillip, and I can’t believe I ever thought he’d want to help coding club win.
“Absolutely not,” Ms. Taylor says. I’m surprised by her forceful tone—usually she’s so calm and soft-spoken—but also relieved she’s jumped in to defend us. It wasn’t too long ago that she’d been skeptical about the survey questions, too. “Bill, first of all. No one is being bullied. Everything is being done anonymously and confidentially. And second of all, if you bring anyone down here for bad behavior in this case, it should be those boys. I can’t believe you’re singling out Jane and Emma right now.” Her face is red, and she’s making an expression I’ve never seen before: Is she livid?
Mr. Dodge looks away from her, down at his thumbs on his desk, and frowns. When he looks back up, I expect him to say something really ridiculous, like Boys will be boys. As if none of us can be expected to hold Phillip and his friends accountable for anything. But instead he looks back up at Ms. Taylor again and his face softens a little. “Now, Anna, you know that’s not my intent. I know Jane and Emma are good students. I’m just investigating a complaint I got, that’s all. We have a zero tolerance policy for bullying at this school, so if someone makes a complaint...”
“Oh, Bill, please.” Ms. Taylor shoots him a steely look.
“We’ve already submitted our project for the state competition,” I interject, suddenly finding the words I want to say. “We can’t change it now or we’ll have to withdraw. I’m counting on this for my Stanford application. We’re all counting on it for college applications. And I promise you, our app is completely inclusive. We’re trying to prevent people from being treated badly or being bullied.”
“Yes.” Ms. Taylor smiles at me, like she’s proud of me. Like maybe she thinks I’m actually finding a way to stand out, or stand up for myself, or to be something else other than a math brain. “Emma’s absolutely right.”
The bell rings for the end of the day, and Mr. Dodge looks at Ms. Taylor, then at me and Jane, and holds his hands up in the air. “You girls can go,” he says. “But I don’t want any more done on this app until we figure this out.”
Jane and I stand up and Ms. Taylor sits down and takes my seat. She winks at me, as if to say, Don’t worry, I’ve got you covered. Or maybe she’s saying, Ignore what he just said. Go. Get to work.
Jane and I walk out together, toward the parking lot. My hands are still shaking. So are Jane’s. “Do you think he’s going to kill our project?” Jane asks, sounding worried.
I shake my head. “I think Ms. Taylor will work everything out.” But my voice falters a little because even as I say it, I’m not totally sure. “Hopefully,” I add.
“Mr. Dodge was probably totally the Phillip Elton of his high school.” She rolls her eyes. “Girls, we have a zero tolerance policy for bullying,” she mimics his voice. “What a jerk.”
I laugh a little. “Yeah. Well, you were pretty awesome in there.”
“So were you,” she says back, quickly.
“I don’t know, if he called us girls one more time, I was about to scream,” I say.
She nods in agreement. “Right? And why did he call me and you in instead of you and George, anyway? You two are the co-presidents.”
“Because it would’ve been way harder to mansplain bullying to George,” I say, and Jane snickers a little. “No, I think it’s actually all my fault. Phillip confronted me on Friday and I might have