Ash read off the assignment sheet to make sure they had all the necessary elements. “A river, a mountain, a desert, a lake…,” she listed. “We’ve got them all. Oh—a compass rose?” That was the picture that told people which way was north on the map. They couldn’t forget that!

  “I’m on it,” said Tilly. She sketched an elaborate rose in a corner of their model, to be painted later. Tilly was the lead artist on this island, for sure. Her sketches were better than most people’s final pictures.

  Every fifth grader had to answer questions about the location and economy of their island. So where was Everything Island? Ash and Tilly decided it was in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, halfway between the equator and the South Pole. The climate? Naturally, it had all four seasons, allowing every kind of storm from blizzards to hurricanes. “How do people earn a living?” Ash asked.

  “They do a little bit of everything!” Tilly said. The girls came up with some examples, just in case. On their island, some people were plumbers, some were pilots, some were peanut farmers.

  Once they had answered all the questions, the island was complete. Anyone who made it that far would get an A. But once they reached the finish line, Ash and Tilly kept on going. Working with Tilly is like playing pretend, Ash thought. Like way back when she was little. They had so many ideas that the girls kept interrupting each other, and with each idea the island grew more crowded. It wasn’t like working with Jane, where one person was the boss. It was more like working on a team.

  Tilly designed a coin that you could use to buy anything—or everything—on the island. It had a sea turtle on it, in honor of where they’d started, but it came in every color of the rainbow. “We can give them out at Island Night!” she said.

  “I’m just thinking about the Koala Café,” Ash said. That was one of the buildings they’d put on the island—a restaurant, of course. “What if we make a menu for it? Then people can use their coins to buy something delicious.”

  “I love it!” Tilly exclaimed. “What kind of food should we have?”

  “Well … every kind of food, don’t you think?” Ash said. “An everything restaurant on Everything Island!” It didn’t take long to decide that the Koala Café should offer pancakes, burritos, smoothies, sushi, and chocolate pudding.

  They had just started to make up some words in the island’s language when Caden ventured into their space. He wasn’t in mayhem mode—he was just admiring their project.

  “Everything Island is awesome,” he said sincerely.

  “Thanks, Caden,” said Tilly, who finally knew everyone in the class. “Would you like to see the menu from the Koala Café?”

  “Your island has a restaurant?” Caden said in disbelief. “Oh, man, you’re way ahead of me and Will, as usual.” He shook his head and looked at Ash. “That’s why you go to Mr. Lopez, I guess.”

  “I guess,” she echoed. It wasn’t like she got special lessons in island making there. This was a different kind of being smart.

  Caden rolled his eyes. “Come on,” he moaned. “Look at yours, then look at mine.” Fortnite Island was on a wrinkled piece of posterboard, with its lettering in a faint colored pencil that Ash could barely see. It had everything it was supposed to have, but it needed some help.

  “You should outline the letters in black,” Tilly said. “They’ll be easier to read that way.”

  “If you put something heavy on top of it overnight, it might smooth out,” Ash added.

  “No, no,” Caden said. “What Will and I need is something special. Like … how did you know to make a restaurant? What should we do?” It was as if he didn’t trust himself to have a good idea.

  Ash looked at Tilly. “How did we know what to do?” she asked. “It just … made sense.”

  Tilly nibbled on the end of a marker. “Yeah, Fortnite Island doesn’t need a restaurant. It needs something that goes with Fortnite.”

  Caden thought that over. He just stood there, as still as Ash had ever seen him, until his eyes lit up. It was actually like someone had hit an ON switch. “I know! It needs a video game!” he said. Ash couldn’t imagine how he and Will would develop a whole game in a few days, but Caden seemed pretty excited.

  Ms. Cooper propped Ellie’s project, Ice Cream Island, on her desk for others to use as a model. “This is bright, clear, and successful,” said Ms. Cooper. “Well done!” Then she roamed from group to group, answering questions and offering advice. When she came to Ash and Tilly, she said, “This, girls, is a glorious mess.”

  Ash’s face fell. “It’s a good thing, Ash!” said Ms. Cooper. “You’re taking some risks here. Plus your enthusiasm is carrying over to the other students, inspiring them to do their best work, too. This is exactly what I love about having you in my class!” Everything she said sounded like it had an exclamation point.

  It was weird to get praise for making a mess and for telling other kids what to do. Would that kind of success get Ash back into the GT room? She shoved that question to the back of her mind, squashing it down as far as it would go.

  Ash still had flashes of that fearful feeling that she was always supposed to know things, but there was another feeling, too. Maybe it was because the sky was blue, the playground was dry, and the sun felt almost warm. Maybe it was because the calendar in Ms. Cooper’s room was down to only about six weeks till summer now, and many of those weeks were packed with activities for the fifth graders, from the field trip to Island Night to Step-Up Day and the Manners Banquet. Whatever it was, Ash felt lighter. Brighter. Part of the grade in a new way. She used to like being apart and above, but now she liked being in the middle of things, too. It was like pitching a game of kickball—so much better than being marooned in left field.

  She did not feel in the middle of anything, though, on Friday. That was the day of the field trip to Funtown, and possibly the worst day Ash had ever had at Quigley Elementary.

  By the time she got to school, her class was long gone, as the school buses had departed at dawn for a three-hour drive. No one saw her staying behind, so at least she didn’t need to come up with some cover story, but she was supposed to spend the day alone in the school library, working on extra assignments. And what if she was spotted by a kid from another grade? Ash spread her papers between the stacks, hoping that no one came to search for a book.

  She was stuck here, of course, because she had broken the rules of the Quiz Bowl. But when her phone vibrated in her pocket, Ash broke another rule—no devices during school—to see who had texted. It was Tilly, sneaking in a message on her own just-for-emergencies phone. Throughout the day, she kept Ash updated on the trip.

  It was hard to see pictures of Tilly with Ellie and the other girls, glued to the side of a spinning ride or hurtling downward on the zero-gravity drop. Ash had looked forward to the fifth-grade field trip for as long as she could remember, and now she’d never know what it was like. But Tilly managed to shoot a video of their ride on the three-loop roller coaster, and it almost made Ash feel like she was there. Miss u! said Tilly’s message. Ash missed Tilly, too.

  Just when Ash was easing into the final stretch of this endless day, a familiar bald head popped up on the other side of the shelves.

  “Ash McNulty? Is that you back there?” asked Mr. Lopez.

  At least Ash didn’t need to tell him why she wasn’t on the field trip. He could put two and two together.

  “I’ve been thinking of you,” he said, walking around the bookshelf to find her sprawled out on the carpet with her work. “How are things going upstairs?”

  He meant her regular classroom, Ms. Cooper’s. And how were things going? It was hard to explain.

  “Okay, I guess,” Ash stumbled. “We’re doing metaphors, if you can believe it. I will never escape!”

  She laughed nervously. There was something else she needed to say. “Mr. Lopez…,” she started. “I’m really sorry. About … everything.” Maybe he could fill in the rest?

  Mr. Lopez nodded and stroked his chin. He looked like he was thinking hard. “Listen, kiddo,” he said. “Let’s just say I’m sorry, too.”

  Ash frowned. “What for?” she asked. He hadn’t done anything wrong!

  Mr. Lopez sounded nervous, too. “Just that this happened at all. We do some great work in my classroom, right? But it’s not the be-all and end-all. There are bright kids in every corner of the school. No one outside my room should feel … less. I don’t want that to be your takeaway, shall we say.”

  True, Ash thought. Only one kind of bright kid got to go to Mr. Lopez.

  His tone was firmer than usual. “Your job is not to know everything already, Ash. Your job is to keep growing, a little bit every day. And you can do that in any classroom, as long as your teachers give you the challenges you need.”

  Ash smiled. “Ms. Cooper is challenging me, all right,” she said. Ms. Cooper was giving Ash some hard work and making her do some hard things.

  “You’ve got a great future ahead of you, Ash,” Mr. Lopez said.

  It was nice to hear that again, after Ash had messed up so badly. She waited for him to say something about her coming back to his room, but he didn’t mention it and she didn’t bring it up. Also, there was something much more important she wanted to know! “Hey, how’s your puppy?” she asked.

  Ash managed to flee the library before the rest of the fifth grade returned, and then it was the weekend. The McNultys had planned carefully for this Saturday, as it was the day of Gracie’s first soccer game, and Gracie insisted that the whole family needed to be there. “That’s what people do,” Gracie said. “Some parents even watch games that their own kids aren’t in!”

  When the family arrived at the Dome that afternoon, Gracie practically flew out of the car, her neon-yellow-streaked ponytail bouncing behind her. Game day was like Christmas morning for Gracie, but for Ash it was an excursion to a strange land.

  She and her parents huddled together awkwardly while Gracie’s team warmed up. Some of the other families set up special chairs on the bleachers, to give them back support and protect them from the cold metal, but Ash’s family didn’t have the right gear. The other families came with large bags full of extra water and snacks—Ash even spotted a first aid kit—while the McNultys just had a bag of potato chips. Or crisps, as her parents called them. These were a brand that her dad ordered direct from Ireland—cheese-and-onion flavored—and they were way better than any American chips. Ash wished the McNultys blended in a little better, but she was also glad to have chips instead of protein bars designed for peak performance.

  Since the players came from towns all over the place, Ash’s parents didn’t know any of the other parents on Gracie’s team. Some of them seemed to know Gracie, though. When the starting players’ names were announced, one of the moms yelled, “Woo-hoo! Gracie McNulty!” while Ash and her parents clapped politely. Had the other families watched all the practices? Ash wondered. The last time Ash had been here, Gracie had trouble controlling the ball.

  She’d come a long way since then, though, Ash had to admit. The Gracie in this game was nothing like the Gracie that Ash had seen at practice and more like the Gracie everyone feared in kickball. She was a ferocious defender, aggressive and fearless, and Ash heard a couple of girls on the opposing team say, “Watch out for number four!” Ash f illed up with pride and something like relief.

  Sometimes she worried about her sister, focusing on soccer instead of school, but at least she was learning to play the game. All her practice was paying off, and now the whole Dome could see Gracie’s talent shining.

  Suddenly Ash had an uncomfortable memory of that rewrite she’d skipped, the practice she didn’t do. What if talent wasn’t only something you had, but something you did? Ash blinked, recognizing a big idea when she saw one. Then the girls closed in on Gracie, trying to shut her down. Gracie wove expertly between them, and Ash yelled, “Way to go!”

  Gracie scored two goals even though she was supposed to be playing defense, and her team won decisively, 4 –2. “This deserves a celebration!” said Ash’s mom, so of course they went straight to The Gate.

  The family had all gathered at a corner table and started looking at the menus even though they didn’t need to, when Gracie whispered something to Ash. “Don’t look,” she said. “But you’ll never guess who’s here.”

  It was Jane’s mom again, as if she had never left. She was even sitting at the same place, though she seemed to be with a different friend. She hurried over as soon as she spotted the McNultys. Ash wanted to hide under the table. What had Jill heard about the Quiz Bowl? she wondered anxiously. She still didn’t know.

  To Ash’s surprise, though, Jill wanted to talk about her dinner. “The poached salmon was just astonishing,” she gushed to Ash’s dad. “And the potato gratin was nothing short of sublime.” She looked at her friend and smiled. “No one knows how to do potatoes like the Irish,” she declared.

  People in Ireland did like potatoes, Ash knew, and not just in crisps. Long ago, when the potato crops failed, a million Irish people had starved without them and another million f led the country.

  Ash thought Jill was being nice. But as she was walking into the upstairs bathroom at home that night, Ash overheard her parents talking in their room. “It’s outrageous, Clare,” said her dad. “Offensive, really. As if that’s all we’re good for.”

  “We could create new recipes for the next ten years,” Ash’s mom agreed, “and Jill would only see what she wants to see. Her idea of what’s Irish. Like every day is Saint Patrick’s Day.”

  Ash squeezed out some toothpaste and looked in the mirror as she brushed her teeth. Her parents both loved and hated Saint Patrick’s Day. It was always good for business at The Gate, but they were embarrassed by the leprechaun stories, the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow, and the customers drinking too much green beer. “It’s a stereotype,” her mom had explained to Ash and Gracie. “There’s more to Irish culture than rowdy people going to parades one day each March.”

  Her parents were trying to show another side of Ireland at the pub now. They were using local ingredients to cook food inspired by that other side of Ireland, the one that people didn’t know. So why was Jill stuck on the same old stereotype? Ash wondered. She spit out her toothpaste and swished water around in her mouth. Her parents were trying to be one thing, but Jill could only see them the other way, as if she had already made up her mind who they were.

  It’s like she doesn’t even know them, Ash thought. And maybe she doesn’t really know me, either.

  Chapter Fifteen

  After school on Monday, Ash made a quick stop at home before returning to Quigley for Island Night. Where was that shirt her aunt had brought back from her trip to Hawaii? Ash found it crumpled in the back of a drawer, but it looked okay after she shook it out. The shirt was bright pink, with yellow flowers splashed all over and a palm tree embroidered on the pocket. It was perfect for Everything Island—and, even better, Gracie had a matching one! Ash packed up the extra one for Tilly and rushed back to school. She couldn’t believe there was still a whole hour left until Island Night began! How could she ever wait that long?

  Tilly had stayed after school to help Ms. Cooper set up, and right now they were hanging the final few islands from their class in the hallway. Farther down the hall, other fifth-grade teachers were doing the same. Slowly, the second floor of Quigley Elementary was transforming into something like a museum.

  “Now, of course we can’t hang up all of them,” Ms. Cooper said. “Those of you who made models will need a different way to show them.” Ash and Tilly pulled some desks out of their classroom and set them up in the hallway nook, beneath a skylight.

  Tilly buttoned up her tropical shirt and said, “Self ie?” No one would care if they had their phones now, so she and Ash took tons of pictures, some where they looked sweet and some where they stuck their tongues out. Then they spread their project carefully across a desk as the hallway f illed up with visitors.

  Each student would be stationed near their island, ready to tell visiting parents all about their work. Any minute now, Ash thought, and she’d be showing everyone she knew around Everything Island! Until then, there was one more important piece of business to take care of.

  Tilly went into their classroom and came back with a long white envelope that had their names on the back. “Are you ready?” she asked Ash dramatically. Their grade from Ms. Cooper was inside.

  And, okay, Ash wasn’t expecting a bad grade—she and Tilly had done everything the assignment had called for, plus much more. Still, she was relieved when Tilly opened the envelope and let out a low whistle. Ms. Cooper had given them an A plus, along with some written comments. “This project demonstrates an understanding of the concepts as well as an understanding of the way geography connects to culture. Ash and Tilly, you’ve learned all I hoped, and then some. Nice job letting curiosity and creativity guide you past all my expectations!”

  “Yes!” said Tilly, turning to give Ash a high five. Ash tasted the familiar flavor of success, sweeter because she knew she’d been honest this time. Maybe her parents would stop nagging her at last?

  Still, there was that worry in the back of Ash’s mind. Was this grade going to land her back in Mr. Lopez’s class? Did she even want that, at this point? No one had said how or when it would happen, though Ash imagined her parents had been asking. Returning to Mr. Lopez would mean getting back everything Ash had lost, but it would also mean losing everything she had gained. Like time in school with a new friend. Could Tilly come to Mr. Lopez, too?