Monday, September 18
- First day of school! Again!
- Mrs. Fisher doesn't like the look of some kids karate-kicking each other out in front of the school, but Paul tells her to chill.
- She also wants to come in with him, but he nips that in the bud real quick.
- Paul goes into the office to let them know he's transferring from Lake Windsor, and they assign him a guide, Theresa Cruz, for his first day—not because he can't see, but just to be nice.
- Theresa is kind of weird, and doesn't say much all morning.
- Paul notices that the classes at Tangerine middle are pretty much the same as the ones at his old school, but the kids are way tougher.
- Finally, at lunch, Theresa opens up when Paul asks her about the school soccer team.
- Her brother Tino is the star player, but he won't be at practice tomorrow.
- Because he got suspended, along with a bunch of other guys from the team.
- For vandalizing the freak show at the carnival. Ahhh, so we've met Tino before!
- Theresa goes on to explain that the goalie is a girl—and that there are a few other girls on the team, too.
- Paul is flabbergasted, and Theresa is finally getting warmed up, bragging about how great the team is. Turns out they were second in the county last year.
- After lunch, though, she goes back to her quiet self.
- Paul discovers that his language arts teacher is Mrs. Murrow—the Lake Windsor counselor's wife.
- He decides to be as unnoticeable as possible in that class, so she never mentions him to her husband. The last thing he wants is that IEP following him over here.
- After school, Theresa introduces Paul to Betty Bright, the soccer coach.
- She makes him the backup goalie, and he does a killer job during practice.
- Afterwards, he sees the same pick-up truck his mom had gotten mad about at the carnival. It's Theresa's big brother Luis, picking her up from school.
- Paul heads back into the school building, where he meets his mom…coming out of the office!
- Oh, man, Paul starts freaking. She did have to bring his file over from Lake Windsor, after all. There goes soccer. There goes his new start.
- Except…"There is no IEP in your file" (2.1.89) Huh?
- Is this a Jedi mind trick or something? No! Paul's mom tells him his IEP somehow "got lost" on the way to Tangerine Middle.
- Phew! Paul is so relieved that he comes up with another one of his nutty theories. Maybe an osprey took it, and used it to feather its nest.
- This time, his mom agrees with him. But, uh, we're thinking that she may be the one responsible.