Chapter 1

How to test a friendship

1 Pens and pencils? Check! Erasers? Check! Notebook? Check! Pablo hopped in front of the mirror hanging on his bedroom door. The spaceship design on his new T-shirt matched the spaceships on his new sneakers. They were perfect for an astronaut-in-training. Awesome first-day-of-school outfit? Check! Third grade, here I come! Pablo hurried downstairs. His parents were waiting for him by the front door.

"Are you ready?" asked his dad. He handed Pablo his spaceship lunch box. "Yeah!" Pablo replied. When Pablo and his parents arrived at Newburg Elementary, he saw his best friend. It was easy to spot Violet in a crowd. She was tall and had a head full of tightly coiled, dark brown curls. Pablo and Violet had been best friends since he first moved to Newburg from Puerto Rico two years ago. They both loved the color red and playing soccer during recess. They both loved pickles but hated cucumbers. And they both really loved science. One day Pablo was going to fly a spaceship, just like the one on his shirt. Violet was going to discover cures for all kinds of diseases when she grew up.

"Hey, Violet! We got the same teacher again!" said Pablo. "I know!" replied Violet. Her nose wiggled with excitement. "You two have a great first day! And don't get into too much trouble." Pablo's mom winked. "We won't!" Pablo and Violet replied. They headed into their classroom. The desks were arranged in groups of three. "Yes!" Violet cried. "We're sitting in the same group."

Pablo read the name tag on the third desk. "Deepak. Who is that?" Violet shrugged. DING, DING, DING! Their teacher rang the bell on his desk. "Welcome, everyone. I'm Mr. Eng. I've planned a lot of fun activities this year." There was a knock at the classroom door. It was the principal, Mrs. Jenkins. "Sorry to interrupt, Mr. Eng," she said. "There's one more student joining your class today. He's new and got a little lost this morning. This is Deepak."

A boy with straight black hair stepped from behind Mrs. Jenkins. "Look!" Violet whispered to Pablo. Pablo turned in his chair. "What's the big deal?" he said. Then he saw it. No way, he thought. Deepak was wearing the exact same shirt and shoes as Pablo. Pablo's first-day-of-school outfit didn't feel so special anymore.