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The bell rings indicating the end of the test. About time. I don't know how much my brain could take any more. I close my booklet, yawn and stand up with the rest of the kids. I look over at Riley. He looks a bit panicked. I walk over to him. "Hey, what's got you worked up?" I ask. "We can't talk right here." Riley says. He grabs my arm gently and pulls us out of the library. He waits until no one is looking and he darts away from the teachers and ducks us into a janitor's closet. He pulls the string and the room lights up. "Riley, what's going on?" I ask. I'm already nervous as hell about what the heck is going on. After all, since when does Riley do this? This is strange. Even for him. "I'm sorry for the surprise." Riley says. "It's just I couldn't talk with the teachers listening." "What is it?" "I was told I'd be given a 6th grade Screening test. But I got a 7th grade one instead." "That's strange." If what he's saying is true (which I'm gonna take his word for it, we're friends after all), then why would Dallas lie about it? Unless... "What if it was just a mistake?" "I highly doubt it was a mistake. Me and Wendell both clearly heard the principal say 6th grade test and not 7th. Something's going on around here." "We need to tell your parents. Maybe they can talk to the staff and get some answers." "I sure hope so." Riley says. We suddenly hear footsteps coming our way and panic mode gets turned on. We turn off the light and stay silent, hoping that whoever it is turns the other way or keeps walking. Anything but come into this room. Our breathing stays silent and the footsteps get louder. Louder. They're right in front of this door. The handle turns and opens. Ms Kara stands before us, not looking pleased. "What are you two doing in here?" She asks. I turn to Riley. "Ummm..." I start out. "The thing is... me and Riley needed to talk in private." "About what?" "Nothing." Riley says. Ms Kara huffs a breath out her nose. "Get back into the classroom." We get out of the closet, scrambling to get back to the room. "I expected better from you two based on your behavior last year. Well, mostly Riley, but this stuff on your first day?" We make it back to the classroom and into our seat. Mike looks at us with a confused look. "What happened to you two?" Mike asks. "We'll explain later." I say, not wanting to answer any more crazy questions. This is already a lot to process: Riley was lied to and our Sweet Home Alabama teacher just confronted us as if it was a big deal. Then again, whatever is going on is a big deal. The rest of the day focused on ice-breaking activities. You know, where everyone gets to know each other and stuff. Mostly stuff I really couldn't care less about. The whole time, Ms Kara was glaring at us as if the Kara we knew before the test was just... gone. I could tell Riley was having a rough time with the teacher watching him like a hawk. When the final bell rang, I was happy to get up and get out of that school. When the three of us are a distance away from the school, Riley explains to Mike about what's going on. "Wait, so our principal lied about which test you were going to take?" Mike asks. "Yes." Riley says. "What I don't understand is why he would do that." "Also, the strange behavior of Ms Krazykins-Kara." I pipe in. "I'm serious, she sure wasn't Sweet Town Alabama when she found me and Riley in a closet." "That makes sense." Mike says. "You two weren't supposed to go in there." "Yeah. But it's like as if she was someone else." I reply. "Whatever." Riley says. "Let's just get home and my dads will call the school. Hopefully they gets some answers." *** I sit in Riley's room with Mike waiting for Riley to come back upstairs from talking with Todd and Wendell. I go through my backpack. I find a flyer for tomorrow's assembly.

The Canler Tomorrow Afternoon @ 9:30 a.m. in the Auditorium

I don't know who The Canler is, but it's something I'm definitely not interested. Based on the music notes around the edge of the paper, I'm guessing it's some sort of singer. I really don't care. I rip up the paper to shreds and throw it all away. "What do you think Riley's gonna say?" Mike asks after a moment of silence. "I'm hoping that it was just an accident." I say. "But I would suck if he has to take another test." If I had to, I would've ripped up the test in front of the teachers and said heck no. That actually happened to me once in the 3rd grade. Sure, I got detention, but I didn't care. Riley comes in moments later and both of us stare at him, wondering what he's going to say. "Well?" I finally says. "What happened?" "Wendell called the school," Riley explains, "Dallas told him it was an accident. I was meant to get a 6th grade Screener and will have to make it up soon." He sits down on the bed keeping his serious face. "Here's the thing: they said they're still gonna grade my 7th grade test before they give me the one I was supposed to get." "Why would they do that?" I ask. "I'm not sure. But something's going on. Why would they want to keep a test that I wasn't supposed to get?" "Maybe it wasn't an accident." Mike points out. "Maybe they thought 6th grade was too easy for you. I mean, c'mon Riley, you're like some sort of kid genius." Riley lies down on his bed and covers his eyes in frustration. "What do we do next?" He asks. "I tell you." I say. "We're gonna show up to school tomorrow, just as bored as hell as we usually do and we're gonna demand answers." "Ok. That's, like, the worst idea in the history of ideas." Mike says. "Besides, Dallas just told Wendell what happened. It was an accident and Riley's getting a new test." "Oh and this is coming from the guy who just said Dallas was lying." I say. "Enough!" Riley shouts. He sits up in bed. "Look, we'll focus on it tomorrow. Right now, we should forget about it. Ok?" Me and Mike agree to let the situation go until tomorrow. *** The next morning, I walk down the street and run into Mike. "Hey, where's Riley?" He asks. "I've tried to call him all morning, I've been worried sick." "Huh. He hasn't answered any of my texts or calls." I say. It's one thing that he doesn't answer Mike, who only ever thinks about Riley; but it's another to ignore his best friend: moi. "You think something has happened?" "I sure hope not." When we get to his house, I pound on the front door, impatient. After a minute of waiting, Todd opens it up. "Jo, what're you doing here?" Todd asks. "Where's Riley?" I ask. That's when I hear the sound of two excruciating things: pain and vomit. And they both sound like my best friend. "Riley has the flu. He's not coming to school today." "What?!" Mike says, obviously worried for his crush. "Is he alright??" "He'll be fine, Mike." Todd continues. "But he really shouldn't be out of bed for a while. You'll have to go without him." "Why hasn't he answered any of my texts?" I ask/demand. "His phone died." Todd holds up Riley's phone. "He got up to recharge it and that's when the puking started." "Oh." "So, you two might want to get to school quickly." Todd shuts the door before I can get any more out of him. Me and Mike turn around and walk back down the street. When I look over at him, it's obvious he has a bunch of nerves going as he hugs his arms around himself and he looks at the ground. "You think he'll be ok?" Mike asks. "Mikey, Riley has been through alot in his life including adoption. The flu is pretty much nothing in comparison to that." I say. "Besides, everyone gets the flu at least once in their life. I had it a year ago during fourth grade." "I thought that was when you faked it." "No, you're thinking of third grade." I look at my watch and see we only have 3 minutes before the first bell rings. The school is only right downhill so we only slightly pick up the speed. As we get to the parking lot and the front doors, the bell rings. "Oh no." Mike says as we walk through the doors. "We're late." "It's only the second day." I say. "It's not that big of a deal." As we walk down the recently waxed hallway, I can't help but feel scared, worried, and annoyed at the same time. Scared because my best friend is sick, worried because if Ms Kara was mad yesterday, she's definitely gonna be pissed since we're late, and annoyed because I remember that some musical guest named The Canler is coming to the school. I really don't want to spend two hours or whatever listening to some guy singing or whatever. When we get to the classroom, I try to open the door, but before I even get a paw in it, it opens and Ms Kara is at the doorway. "Why are you two late? And where's Riley Tripp?" She asks. See what I mean? That's weird! A teacher wouldn't normally use a full student's name on the second day. The first day maybe. "He's sick with the flu." I say point blank. "Oh and to answer your other question, me and Mike went to see him. You know, what normal friends do." "Normal furs are never late." Ms Kara says. She opens the door wider and we walk in. Everyone looks a bit concerned. Even Jase, which is odd. When me and Mike take our seats, I look at the board. The Canler is the only thing written on it. "Who the heck is that?" Mike whispers. "I don't know." I whisper back. "It was written on our flyers yesterday so I can assume that it's the same." The teacher goes up to the front of the class. "As I was saying before I was interrupted," she glares at me and Mike, "The Canler is a country-wide traveler who goes school-to-school sharing his unique music with the public. They say that his music even calms the soul." She goes to her computer and pulls up a picture. In it is a wolf with silver grey fur like Wendell. Except, he has brown eyes. He wears a brown vest, long jeans, and square lense glasses with silver rims. He carries a book in paw and appears to be in some kind of town square. He doesn't look familiar and his name doesn't either. Which raises another question: what is his real name? Ms Kara continues. "He started out with slow guitar music in New Hampshire and then he slowly became a country-wide sensation." "What's his real name?" I ask. Kara gives an unpleasant look but continues. "No one knows. He chose to keep his identity a secret and never share it with anyone." Great. So much for trying to answers. After an hour or so listening to boring crap and then seemingly useless schoolwork, the loudspeaker goes off announcing the assembly. "Good morning everyone." Dallas voice says. "If all 5th graders would please head to the auditorium for the assembly." Everyone gets out of their seats except for me and Mike. As they exit, Kara looks back at us. "C'mon." She waves her paw out the door. "I'm not going." I say firmly. "Me neither." Mike says. We both cross our arms to mean business. Kara walks up to us and puts her paws on my desk, her fingers curling up. "I'm not gonna repeat myself again." She almost growls. "Get. Moving." Me and Mike look at each other. There's fear in his eyes and I'm sure there's some in mine. We quickly get out of our seat and we run out the door. As we turn the corner and see a door leading outside, a teacher is posted there, keeping guard. "How're we going to get out of here?" Mike asks. "Jo, I'm scared as hell about what this whole thing is about." "You think I'm not?" I ask. I can literally feel my heart beating out of its chest. We race down the hall before Kara catches up to us and we see the main door. Two teachers there. Why are they so hopped up on this assembly? Whatever it is, I don't want to find out. We're stuck going with the flow of the crowd going into the auditorium. I keep searching for a way out but there is none. When we go in, we see a bunch of kids in the front but that's it. "Run!" I yell. Me and Mike turn to head back out the doors. But before we do, two teachers grab us and force us to sit down. Literally. They put us into seats and hold us down by our shoulders. Whatever's about to happen, there's no escape. "Jo, I'm scared." Mike whimpers. I think I see a tear forming in his eye. "Me too." I say. We tightly hold paws and prepare for what's about to happen. After a while, the principal appears onstage by himself. Is he thinking about the lies he told Riley right now? He taps the microphone on the stage and begins speaking. "Hello. Welcome to a very special assembly." Dallas says. "Today will be hearing the special notes from a popular country-traveling music expert known as The Canler. Just relax, enjoy, and breathe in the music." He walks off as a wolf walks on. He's exactly like the photo we saw in the classroom. The Canler. "Hiya." He says in an innocent voice. I notice that he doesn't have instruments of any kind. Oh god I hope he isn't gonna do opera. "I've been producing music since I was a kid. And ever since, I wanted to share my gift with the country. The world, even. So, I've chosen to come here to LAES to hopefully spread my gift to others." Wait, what? He doesn't go back behind the curtain to get something to play. Instead, he walks closer to the microphone. "Enjoy." He says with a suddenly evil smile. He puckers his lips and whistles a low note. Then one high note. Then one slightly lower, then one slightly lower than that. At first nothing happens. Then I see a flash of red in the front row. Then the second row. It gets closer and closer and as I struggle to get free of the grips of these teachers, the red appears too close and I do the only thing I can do. I scream at the top of my lungs before a migraine starts.