Lenora knew what she'd seen.
Mei Lee touched Anna and . . . healed her. A miracle.
Except — seriously, a miracle?
And why, if somebody was going to work a miracle, did it have to be Mei Lee? The girl who won the blue ribbon for backstroke at the city swim meet. The only student who was better than Lenora in every class except Math and Art.
Lenora had been frozen by fear and fascination when Anna's face had erupted — the bright, blotchy color, her swollen tongue, the horrible gagging sounds she was making. She literally thought Anna might die. But when Mei Lee grabbed her hand she instantly returned to normal.
How?
Ms. Stevenhauer, the Social Studies teacher, was the polar opposite of Ms. Cameron. She was young and pretty and energetic and liked to yell enthusiastically when somebody answered a question well. "EXACTLY! Way to pay attention!"
Everyone was still buzzing as they filed in to take their seats after lunch. Since she hadn't been in the cafeteria, Ms. Stevenhauer asked what in the world was going on. That was the opening Lenora was looking for.
"We're all still in shock because of what happened with Mei Lee," she said.
Out of the corner of her eye, Lenora could see the expression on Mei Lee's face. Anger? Fear?
Ms. Stevenhauer raised her eyebrows. "What happened, Mei Lee? Are you okay?"
Mei Lee began to speak but Lenora jumped in.
"Anna had a horrible reaction from eating a brownie and we thought she was going to die or something, but Mei Lee made it go away just by touching her hand. It was like, you know, a miracle. We should call the Vatican or something."
"That's not true!" Mei Lee snapped. "It was just a coincidence. It just started to go away on its own, and then I used her allergy pen and that finished it."
Lenora was about to say more, but Ms. Stevenhauer got a big, enthusiastic smile on her face.
"How exciting, Mei Lee! Sounds like quick thinking on your part to get her medicine."
Lenora could feel pressure building inside her. Why did Mei Lee always get a break?
"Is Anna okay now?" asked Ms. Stevenhauer.
"I think so," Mei Lee replied.
Lenora cursed under her breath.
"You know, allergies are a tricky thing," said Ms. Stevenhauer, who liked to tell stories. "My brother is allergic to shellfish, so I know how suddenly it can happen. I remember once when we were on vacation . . ."
Lenora barely listened. She glanced several times at Mei Lee, whose eyes fired back at her like lasers.
This is not over, Lenora said to herself. I know what I saw.
When Ms. Stevenhauer finally finished her story, Lenora considered relaunching her attack, but by then they were ten minutes into class time and Ms. Stevenhauer wanted to talk about the Industrial Revolution. The whole subject of the miracle healing seemed like it was going to disappear, which would have been a second miracle.
But then Anna showed up halfway through class.
There was more noise with everybody talking at once and Ms. Stevenhauer telling everyone to be quiet. As the uproar died down, Lenora piped up: "How did it feel when Mei Lee touched you and healed you?"
Anna got a terrified look on her face. The whole class fell silent. Even Ms. Stevenhauer stared at Anna, waiting for her answer.
"I — I'm just glad she found my pen for me," she said at last.
There were a lot of groans of disappointment. Lenora clinched her Social Studies textbook, all 573 pages of it, with such force she nearly ripped it in half.
Ms. Stevenhauer clapped her hands. "Class, enough! The Industrial Revolution is going to pass us by and we'll just be a bunch of Luddites."
"What's that?" someone asked. Someone who obviously hadn't read the latest chapter.
Ms. Stevenhauer clapped her hands again. "Glad you asked. Can anyone tell us about he Luddites?"
Anna walked past Lenora to her desk. As she did, Lenora saw Mei Lee mouth the words "thank you" to her friend.