The school bell rang, and the students flooded out the doors. Tiana tried to stay ahead of the crowd, because she knew what her friends would want.
"Tiana, come on!" one said to her.
Another tried to stand in front of her on the sidewalk. "It's a nice day, Tiana, come with us!"
"I need to be going home to help Mama," Tiana insisted. "Maybe another day."
Tiana ran off toward home, hearing her friends still protesting that she join.
As she turned the corner to her own block, she saw an army car parked in front of her house.