The sixth graders took to the chat rooms to help each other out with Math.

Alliecat requests private chat, accept?

Allie: Hey everyone, can we use our real names since this is a private chat?

Jackson: Fine with me, but my dog's trying to learn too…

Lee: HAHAHA

Private: Focus, guys, the final is Thursday and we need to be as prepared as possible.

Kenny: I'm going to fail…

Private looked up, he was sitting in the lobby with Kenny, Barry, and Ramona. They all had their workbooks and homework packets.

"Kenny, that's not true." Private said.

Terrence: Yeah right, if anyone fails it's me.

Bailey: Would you both shut up, please? Nobody's failing because we worked hard over the past two weeks. If it wasn't for Allie and Private, we'd all flunk.

Gabrielle: Are we still meeting tomorrow to study in the classroom?

Allie: Yes.

Nathan: Hey, I can't figure out number 6 on page 123.

Raj: Really? Change it to a decimal.

Barry: No, he meant the word problem

Lin: Oh, I see it. Raj, you were looking at a different page.

Raj: Megan and I are at Starbucks, she left her workbook at home and is borrowing mine. What's the problem?

Nathan: Here's the problem. A bottle of medicine contains 15 oz. Each dose of the medicine is 2½ oz. How many doses are there in the bottle?

Barry: Enough to make you feel better.

Ramona: You're so hilarious…

Ramona gave Barry a deadpan stare. Barry grinned.

Nicole: I think we have to subtract 2½ oz from 15 oz.

Marvin: Do we change 2 ½ to an improper fraction?

Allie: Divide. And yes, change to improper.

Nathan: So, 5/2 divided by 15?

Raj: 15/1 divided by 5/2, then find common denominators.

Barry: 30/2 divided by 5/2…multiply reciprocal?

Private: Yes.

Nathan: 60/10?

Ramona: You could do that or you could reduce first. Take out the two.

Nathan: 1500?

Barry: That would be a lot of medicine…

Lee: LOL

Lin: reciprocal of 5/2 is 2/5. 30/2 x 2/5

Nathan: 30/5

Allie: simplify.

Nathan: 6

Private: Correct

Nathan: Thanks

Ramona: Don't forget to add the word after it.

Nathan: Ounces.

Allie: Doses. Make sure you read the question carefully too.

Nathan: Got it. Thanks everyone.

Private: Glad to help.

Allie: No problem.

Petey D: Well, it's nice to see you all helping each other.

Private: Hi, are you part of this class?

Allie: I didn't invite anyone outside the classroom.

Terrence: He isn't part of the class?

Petey D: Technically, I'm not in your class.

Ramona: But you shouldn't be seeing this.

Petey D: All chats must have an authorized moderator whether private or public.

Captain: That's me. I'm the moderator here and I allowed Allie, Private, and Nicole to invite their classmates. You can allow up to three people to invite others.

Nicole: Whoops, that was me. Sorry, I was overstressed with everything.

Private: Hey, it's fine. There's nothing to report is there?

Petey D: No, I was just seeing the progress of this class. I feel bad for what happened.

Barry: How do you know about it?

Lee: Terrence went around telling everyone about giant squid things with lasers and tanks.

Petey D: I hope you're not thinking of bringing those to school. There's already enough mess for the janitors to clean. I don't think the coaches or anyone else would like the fields turning into a battlefield.

Barry: It has the word field in it.

Petey D: Just know when to be serious, okay?

Allie: Hey, let's try to get back to focusing please? I don't meant to be harsh, but we missed nearly a week of lessons.

They closed their computers and continued working.

Allie came by to work with the rest of PARK B. A few of their classmates joined them too, and some others came later after studying for tomorrow's exams. Soon enough, it looked like more than half the class was gathered in the lobby.

Alice marched over to the group.

"I didn't do anything this time!" Barry protested.

"Quiet, Wheeler."

"Yes, ma'am."

Ramona stood up defiantly. "We did nothing to disturb you."

"If you don't live here, get out." Alice snapped. "I've had enough already with strangers and boyfriend/girlfriend stuff going on. I'm not allowing this to continue. What is this, your whole class?"

"Actually, nine of them couldn't make it so it's not our entire class." Private said.

"Quiet, Alvin."

"We had a rough two weeks, give us a break." Raj said.

"We're not a charity case, get out." Alice growled.

"But-"

"No buts! Whoever does not live here, clear out within the hour OR ELSE!" Alice stomped away before the sixth graders could respond.

Alice actually did end up kicking them out. Most of their class didn't live in the apartments. Only four other kids besides four-fifths of PARK B lived in the apartments, their names were Steve, Zoe, Rose, and Marvin. The other twenty either lived with their families or with family friends if they were out of country and didn't want to stay in the apartments. Raj was one of the students staying with a family friend. Megan's family was happy to accept Raj as a temporary member of the family. He said he tried to stay in the apartments one year, but it was too crazy.

PARK B, minus Allie who was forced to go home, met in Ramona's room. It turned out that Zoe and Rose were her roommates. Her fourth roommate, an eighth grader, left to study with a friend.

Ramona's room was cleaner than Barry and Kenny's, but not as orderly as the Penguins' room. Steve and Marvin lived on the second floor. They came up to the third floor and the group studied in Ramona's room.

The eight of them did pretty well, but Kenny needed one on one attention. Zoe was happy to help him as she was very patient.

Steve complained almost as badly as Barry. Private was responsible for helping them so Ramona didn't feel like strangling them every two minutes.

Rose and Marvin were average and attentive. Ramona was pleased with them.

A message popped up on the chat room screen.

Raj: Hey guys, I feel sort of bad.

Ramona: Why? We're doing great.

Raj: I mean about, you know, that day.

Lee: You're worried about nothing, Mr. Campbell's expected to make a recovery.

Raj: No, I mean I think we did something bad.

Lin: Did someone say anything?

Raj: No. It was just a feeling. Did we lie?

Barry: I don't remember lying.

Lee: We technically didn't lie, we skirted around the truth.

Petey D: Why would you feel bad? There was nothing you could do.

Terrence: We could have left him in the hall.

Petey D: He wasn't in the hall, he collapsed in the classroom.

Terrence: No, it was the hall.

Petey D: WHAT?! What do you mean he was in the hall?

Terrence: S***, I wasn't supposed to say that.

Lee: You idiot!

Raj: So it WAS bad!

Captain: What's going on?

Petey D: First of all, do not swear at me. Second, did you lie to a police officer?

Terrence: OH MY GOD WE'RE GOING TO JAIL

Terrence: I CAN'T GO TO JAIL

Terrence: HELP!

Alliecat has suspended Terrence from the conversation.

Barry: Shut the freaking heck up, Terrence!

Barry: Geez, what are we going to do?

Alliecat has suspended Barry from the conversation.

Allie: Petey D, please tell us who you are. It's freaking us out.

Captain: Petey D, I swear I have no idea what's going on here.

Petey D: I want to know the truth, now.

Lee: Question, are any of us going to jail? Terrence is sending me crazed texts.

Petey D: You're kids. You're not going to be imprisoned for lying. You're not under oath and you haven't committed a crime. You did, however, lie. This could lead to suspension, but in your case a very stern talk.

Moderator has closed and suspended chat. You may enter this room again tomorrow.

Private looked around at his shocked classmates. He whipped out his phone to see an incoming text from Skipper that said he didn't close the chat.

"What's going on?" Rose asked.

"I'm not sure." Ramona said. "But I think we should stop for now. We have finals tomorrow."

They returned to their respective rooms.

Private shook as he entered his room.

"So, I guess you're not Petey." Skipper said.

"No." Private attempted to dart to his room, but his way was blocked by Skipper's arm.

"What did Terrence and Raj mean?"

Private gulped.

"Where did he collapse?" Skipper asked. "No one else is here right now. Kowalski's at swim practice; Rico's studying in Rikki's room."

"I-in the hallway." Private squeaked.

Skipper sighed heavily. "Why didn't you tell the police that?"

"We didn't want to get into trouble!"

Skipper rubbed his forehead. "Okay, I'll tell you something. It has to do with the Denmark incident."

Private perked up.

"Don't get excited, I'm not telling you the story."

He and Private sat on the couch.

Skipper inhaled sharply. "I learned that it's best to own up to your mistakes. The police questioned Hans for hours and he refused to break. I tried to lie, but they told me that I would be in slightly less trouble. Although, what we did still got us kicked out of the country…anyway, I've been told that telling the truth lifts a lot of weight off your chest." He said, making eye contact with Private. "If Mr. Campbell was in the hallway, then that's what you need to tell the Principal and the police. Did you bring him in when he was conscious?"

Private shook his head. He explained the whole day with as much detail as he could remember. "I kept watch for the ninja men while Barry, Kenny, Lee, and Marvin dragged him in. We wrapped his injury with his jacket and locked the door. He was unconscious."

"Tell Mr. Taylor tomorrow."

Private nodded.

The next day, they tried to get through finals without being scared of what might happen.

Private headed towards the Principal's office after his finals. He hesitated, wondering if there might be an actual dragon this time. It felt a million times harder than talking to his mother.

He sighed and knocked on the door.

"Enter."

He opened the door to see Allie sitting across from the Principal.

"Hello, Andre." Mr. Taylor said. He put on a smile that didn't quite reach his eyes.

"I was telling him everything." Allie said.

Private nodded and sat next to her. "I'm sorry we lied."

"Did any students get hit or attempt to fight?" Mr. Taylor asked.

"I did. Barry and I tried to fight; I think Ramona did too at one point." Private said.

"When did you hear the lockdown initiate?"

"After Mr. Campbell left the room." Allie said. "But the second guy already entered the classroom. I remember Ramona reacting to the guy entering but the announcement came on and interrupted her."

Mr. Taylor sighed heavily and rubbed his temples.

"Are we in trouble?" Allie asked.

"Please don't punish us, we just didn't want him to be left out there in case those guys came back to finish him off." Private said.

"Let me talk with the station, then I'll notify you. I will have to call all your parents about this. You've known from a young age that lying was wrong." Mr. Taylor said. "And you know that bringing him in was wrong or else you wouldn't have been so afraid to tell what really happened."

"But I don't understand why the bad reactions happened." Allie said.

"Timing, Allie." Mr. Taylor said. "The police did a quick sweep of the school, assuming that any casualties would be either in the halls or in classrooms that looked like they'd been broken into. Your classroom door looked intact and not necessary to examine. The last thing I want to do is make you feel guilty, but you need to realize the seriousness of the situation."

"He could have died…" Private said.

"If he was dying, we would have been able to respond as quickly as we did with Mr. Taro. Mr. Taro was found right away and brought to the nurse."

The sixth graders sighed.

"I'll talk to your class on Thursday. You all have extended test time for that class."

Wednesday finals went slightly better. Allie and Private assured the class on Tuesday that no one was getting arrested or suspended.

Wednesday afternoon found the kids gathered in the lobby of Central Park Apartments. Julien had somehow been convinced to persuade Alice to let the class stay as long as they weren't disruptive.

Kenny felt anxious not only for the talk, but for the final.

Rico sat at the desk with the stacks of tests and scantrons when Mr. Taylor and a woman entered. For a brief moment, they were nervous that it was Rhonda again, but it wasn't. This woman was dressed in business clothes and was much smaller than Rhonda. They were accompanied by an officer wearing a uniform.

"Students, please direct your attention to Miss Tate." Mr. Taylor said.

"Hello, kids." Miss Tate said. She smiled slightly, but didn't keep it long. "I know you all want to take your test and leave, but I must talk to you about something important." She looked around at all of them. "You might not be aware, but the station is required to write down word-for-word what happens in situations like this. These reports include eyewitness accounts too, and if you lie on it, there could be serious consequences. However, your principal told me that you were just scared and thought you were acting for the best, so you are not in huge trouble. I encourage you to tell the truth next time; because the truth can really set you free and rid you of any guilt..."

No it won't.

Kenny blinked and looked around, no one had said anything. They were all looking at Miss Tate either with rapt attention or with bored expressions.

The truth will just hurt others and it'll hurt us even more. Kenny recognized it…Kowalski's voice…but they had been so much younger. Didn't it hurt, Kenny? You don't want to feel that pain again and neither do I. You'll be okay, I'll protect you. It's just you and me.

But I thought we could tell…

If no one wanted to know before, what makes you so sure they want to know now? They don't and I have all the proof to show how much they've let us down.

No. You're not Kowalski. You can't tell me that…Kowalski said we could tell.

It's nothing…we're nothing.

That's not true! Stop it! Stop trying to make me think you're Kowalski. He didn't say that!

He did tell you not to trust anyone, didn't he?

That was a long time ago!

Don't be stupid, Kenny…

Kenny…

Kenny…

"Kenny!"

Kenny swiveled around, nearly crashing into Barry.

"Are you okay?" Barry asked.

"Where did Miss Tate go?" Kenny wondered.

"She finished her speech and left. I've been trying to get you to pass back the scantrons for the last two minutes."

"Sorry." Kenny said.

"Did you see the looks that the officer was giving Raj?" Lee whispered.

"Raj, what did that cow write on your test?" Ramona asked.

Raj sighed. "I don't want to say it out loud." He mumbled. "It has something to do with me being from India."

"Wait, she didn't…" Private made eye contact with Raj.

"Please don't ask me to say it."

"We won't." Barry said.

The others were shocked. Usually, Barry pressed people for information.

"AHEM!"

The class turned their attention to Rico.

"Start test." He said.

They remained quiet for the rest of the time.

As predicted, most of the class had to stay after to finish their final. By two in the afternoon, there were only three kids left in the room: Kenny, Barry, and Nathan.

Nathan finished at 2:10 and whispered good luck to the other two before leaving.

Barry would have finished two hours ago, but Allie had made him take it slow and go over the problems. He found that he was making several mistakes and had to go back.

Kenny's Dyslexia smacked him in the eyes at the worst time possible. He was also distracted on top of that. He kept hearing the hurtful voices in his head and the concerns that he wouldn't pass sixth grade.

Rico had the boys take a couple of breaks, but could see they were exhausted.

Mr. Taylor came back to say that the boys had to finish by three.

Barry's papers were covered in scribbles and smears.

Both boys were down to the last page.

Barry finished first and looked through his test carefully. Kenny did the same.

"Dude…" Barry groaned as he spotted a mistake.

"Barry, one test won't determine your fate." Mr. Taylor said. "You boys are doing very well in this class. Kenny, is something troubling you?"

"Sorry, I was just distracted."

"Do you need any help?"

"Yes?" Kenny hadn't meant it to come out like that, but he was confused.

Mr. Taylor smiled and looked at the test.

"All the sixes look like eights or nines. And the five looks like an s."

He helped Kenny as best as he could, trying to correct him without giving away the answer.

Finally, both boys were finished.

Barry had been done ten minutes before Kenny, but decided to play hangman with Rico while he waited. Rico won twice and Barry won once.

When they exited the classroom, they grinned at the scene before them.

Apparently, they had a welcoming committee…but they were all nearly asleep.

Ramona was leaning on Kowalski's shoulder, nodding off. Kowalski was staring blankly at the ceiling, not having noticed the newcomers. Mason had fallen asleep on his backpack and Private was resting his head on Mason's feet. Bradley was sandwiched between Eggy and Samuel, the latter two were propping his head up with their heads.

Rocky had been doodling on paper, but fell asleep and was now asleep on Rikki's shoulder. On the other side of Rikki, Allie was asleep with her head resting on Rikki's leg. It was hard to tell if the blind girl was asleep or not as her eyes were half open and she seemed to twitch her feet.

Skipper looked as if he could be meditating as he was upright and cross legged. Marlene was asleep next to him. Phil was on the other side of Skipper, reading a comic book. He noticed movement out of the corner of his eye and looked around to see the boys.

Rico grinned widely.

Barry and Kenny tried not to laugh.

THUMP!

Phil stomped the ground, startling Skipper and Kowalski out of their trances. Ramona groaned and Private yawned.

"Barry, Kenny!" Skipper said.

At that, the rest of the group started to wake up. They jumped to their feet as they noticed the younger kids.

"Congratulations!" Kowalski and Rocky cheered.

"Some of your classmates want to celebrate with ice cream, want to go?" Skipper asked.

"Sure." Kenny said.

Barry didn't respond.

Rico whooped and pumped his fists in the air.

"You five are done with sixth grade. How was your first year, Private?" Skipper asked.

"Honestly, it was amazing." Private said.

The principal smiled at them. "Great group of friends you got there. Well, I should be going." He turned to leave.

"Wait!" Allie said.

"Don't worry; I'll still be your principal next year." Mr. Taylor said.

"No, it's just…are you Petey D?"

Mr. Taylor looked surprised. "Petey D?"

"I guess not."

"Your question took me by surprise, Miss Carson. I suppose you've been trying to figure out this mysterious person." Mr. Taylor asked.

"They thought it might be me." Private said. "We narrowed it down to a few students until we discovered the staff could monitor the conversations."

"He can't be." Kowalski said.

"What do you mean?" Ramona asked.

"Please do tell why I can't be Petey D." Mr. Taylor said.

"Your name doesn't have a D in it." Kowalski said. "I became suspicious when Petey was concerned about the class and had no idea what was going on. I heard your first name before, but I also passed by one time when Miss Petrie used your full name. Your name is Peter Arwin Taylor. Also, I don't know why a student would invite the principal to the chat room."

Mr. Taylor nodded.

"But there are ways that you could be Petey." Kowalski said. "On our first day back from vacation, I overheard the secretary telling another staff member that you were visiting family members in Australia. You didn't come back until two days after Skipper tried to figure out who Petey was. He figured it was an account made in New York, but Petey was abroad at the time which is what made us suspect Private. Also, since you are the principal, you would be one of the few with access to information on where Mason and Private live and therefore would know that they are too far apart to take the same plane at the same airport. You are also the chief moderator and could override Skipper's access code. The only person who would know your identity would be Nicole Dunbar since she allowed you in the chat room."

Mr. Taylor smiled. "She's my niece." He said.

The sixth graders were shocked.

"How did we not know that?" Allie asked.

"It's not common knowledge." Mr. Taylor said. "And I've respected her request not to tell the whole school. She did tell me that if anyone did figure it out, I could let them know. Her mother, my sister Daisy, passed away a few years back. My brother in law travels a lot so Nicole lives with me, my wife, and my kids."

"You have kids?" Bradley asked.

"Yes, they are six, four, and one." He looked at his watch. "Speaking of kids, I have to get home so I can rescue the babysitter from three very hyper children. Four if Nicole's back from Megan's house."

The group headed out to get some ice cream. Barry lagged behind.

"Hey, what's wrong?" Private asked.

"Nothing."

Kowalski looked back. "Private, can I have a moment?"

Private nodded and walked ahead.

Kowalski stopped, putting a hand on Barry's shoulder.

"Sorry." Barry mumbled.

"It's fine." Kowalski said. "I know."

Barry's head shot up, his eyes were wide. "Y-you know?! How?"

"I guessed." Kowalski said. "And I found out during Spring Break."

"Oh…don't tell them."

"I won't. But trust me when I say none of us will leave you." Kowalski made eye contact with Barry. "It's alright now. You've been okay for years; you just didn't know it yet."

"Really?"

Kowalski nodded. "I promise you will get your ice cream."

"No, what if-?"

"Nothing is going to happen to you or to me or any of them in the time space between now and getting ice cream. The only thing is that we'll be stuck in line."

"Promise me no one will die."

Kowalski smiled. "Do you really think we'd let any of you or us go down without a fight? Plus, none of it would be your fault. None of it was your fault."

Barry looked down at his shoes. "It was my fault…it always is…I do bad things…I'm a bad person."

"Barry, look at me."

Barry's tearful eyes met Kowalski's eyes.

"You did not cause any of it." The older boy said firmly. "You are not a bad person. You're a very good person who just had a lot of bad luck. I know how that feels, alright?"

Barry nodded and wiped his eyes. "Don't tell them…" he looked to his friends who were piling inside the ice cream shop, laughing and chatting.

"I won't." Kowalski said. "It's not my secret to reveal."

The two of them entered the ice cream shop. And as Kowalski promised, nothing out of the ordinary happened.

The Penguins looked forward to their upcoming mission. They had been promised that they'd return in time for Kowalski's swim competition next weekend.

Alice grudgingly allowed them extended time until the swim competition was over.

Ramona approached her friends on Sunday with an expression of sadness. Allie had come over to chat before summer officially began.

PARK B moved to Ramona's room. Her roommates left early so they had the room to themselves.

She sighed, clutching a piece of paper.

Allie, Private, Kenny, and Barry were squeezed on the couch.

"I-I got this back from my English teacher." She said. "It was something I wrote after…after Spring Break. Something happened a long time ago… Eggy found out on Sunday after the trip… and…it explains why I'm not in the year ahead of you…just…don't hate me." She sniffed and sat on the armchair. Her eyes were watery.

"I could never hate you." Barry said. "None of us could."

"We promise." Allie said.

Private and Kenny nodded.

Ramona handed the paper over.

"It started when Eggy found a picture, but we didn't know until the end of the break. I had a baby sister once and Eggy ended up getting her picture. We never meant to hide it from him; she just sort of faded away. Bradley and Samuel don't remember much, and I had forgotten what she looked like. But I always knew because I constantly thought about her. My English teacher asked me to write a poem about anyone or anything…and I chose my baby sister."

Allie and Private leaned closer so that Barry and Kenny could read it.

By the end of it, Allie was in tears.

Kenny stared in shock at the paper. Private was pale and tried to blink tears away. Barry turned his attention to Ramona.

"I know what it's like to lose someone you love…someone you barely remember." He said hoarsely. He took Ramona's hand. "Why would we ever hate you? We feel sad and sorry that this happened. But hate? That could never happen."

"We all love you, Ramona." Private said.

Kenny hugged Ramona and nodded. "I don't even remember my mom or what it was like when she died." He said. "You guys are my best friends."

"Then tell us what's up with you." Ramona asked.

"Can it wait a couple of weeks?" Barry asked.

Allie nodded. "Sure. How about we all promise to reveal our secrets before the end of this year? We all know each other and should be able to trust each other."

"Deal." Ramona said. "I guess I was first."

"If we're going in order, that means Kenny's next, then me, then Private and Allie." Barry said.

"Seems fair." Private said. "And we can't pressure each other. Any answers will come in due time."

"Alright." Allie said. "So, that means I can keep my secret until December 31st?"

Ramona rolled her eyes. "Yes. Private has to spill the beans too, even if that means we have to find out on the last day of the year."

The five of them agreed.

A/N: Anticlimactic reveal of Petey D as the Principal…Fun fact: It was originally supposed to be Private and a whole other side thing about him, but it didn't make sense as I thought about it.