When the World Turned Upside Down Read online

  TO MY DAUGHTER, WHO MET THE CHALLENGES OF THE PANDEMIC WITH GRACE, VULNERABILITY, AWARENESS, GRIT, AND PRAGMATISM.

  SWEETIE, YOU ARE THE PERFECT QUARANTINE PARTNER.

  Dear Reader,

  The characters in this book are unique—as are you. They each have their own identities and their own voices—as do you. The world is a more beautiful place when we all express ourselves authentically and bring our own unique strengths and perspectives to our communities.

  Let’s work together to make sure the world hears our unique voices!

  Yours,

  Title Page

  Dedication

  A Note from the Author

  1. The World Tilts

  2. We'll Be Okay

  3. Tiny Virus, Big Changes

  4. Time to Be Strong

  5. Things Fall Apart

  6. Friends to the Rescue

  7. Is the Neighbor Infected?

  8. It's Scary Out There

  9. We Have to Do Something

  10. A Close Call

  11. This Is an Emergency

  12. Does Everyone Need Help?

  13. Special Delivery!

  14. The Longest Week Ever

  15. It's Lonely Being Alone

  16. A Different Kind of Danger

  17. One Step Forward, Two Steps Back

  18. Helping Is Healing

  19. A Welcome Distraction

  20. Reunited

  21. Music Makes a Powerful Sound

  22. Unrest Everywhere

  23. Problems Pile Up

  24. Secret Mission

  25. The Power of Memory

  26. A Crack of Light

  27. Itching to Help

  28. The World Turned Inside Out

  29. A Horrible History

  30. Best and Worst Morning Ever

  31. How to Talk about a Broken World

  32. The Balance Point

  33. Giving and Getting

  34. Separated, But Still Together

  35. The Changing World

  Acknowledgments

  About the Author

  Copyright

  “Shayla?” Ms. Breaux called. “Are you listening?”

  Shayla didn’t move. She sat at her desk, her head leaning on her hand, her thick dark hair haloing her head like one of the fluffy clouds outside the window. She was busy staring at the tall tree that stood in the corner of the schoolyard. It didn’t matter what subject Ms. Breaux was teaching—if Shayla didn’t have something to do with her hands, her mind drifted and her attention shifted to the window, where she would look at the tree’s branches and daydream.

  Everybody circled around the tree at recess. For ninety dizzying minutes, kids of all shapes and sizes clustered around it, leaning on its smooth bark, playing tag around its broad trunk, and sitting on its huge knobby roots. But during the long, lonely hours while everyone was in class, Shayla was the tree’s only playmate.

  On this morning, Shayla was imagining the tree’s branches were sea creatures. The tiny bright green buds sprouting from the branches were the creature’s scales and the tree trunk was a submarine diving down to the ocean floor.

  Ms. Breaux called Shayla’s name a third time, but she still didn’t answer. A slap on her arm finally tore her away from her thoughts.

  “Owww,” she said, snapping her attention back to the classroom.

  The room was completely quiet and Megan was smirking at her from the next seat over.

  “Why’d you do that?” she whispered.

  Megan didn’t answer. Instead she tilted her head toward the front of the classroom. Ms. Breaux was looking at Shayla sharply and her classmates were staring at her silently like a bunch of wide-eyed frogs.

  “Oh,” Shayla said under her breath, suddenly realizing Ms. Breaux was waiting on an answer, but Shayla hadn’t heard the question.

  “She’s asking about the book,” Megan whispered.

  Shayla sat up taller in her seat and looked at the colorful posters stuck to the walls as if they could magically reveal the answer to her. Just past Megan, she could see Gemma hiding her mouth behind her hands, her shoulders shaking with laughter.

  “Ummmm, welllllllll, I thinnnnnnnk,” Shayla said, slowly stretching every syllable and crossing her fingers under her desk for good luck. She was just about to launch into a rambling description of the chapter from last night’s homework when the principal rushed into the room and dumped an armful of orange papers on Ms. Breaux’s desk.

  “One second, class,” Ms. Breaux said, and Shayla slumped against the back of her chair in relief.

  “Your participation grade is going to be horrible,” Megan said as Ms. Breaux and the principal started whispering in the front of the room. She said the word horrible so hard Shayla felt like it had flown out of Megan’s mouth and smacked into her cheek at top speed.

  “She’s never ready when Ms. B calls on her,” Gemma threw in.

  “Nobody asked you,” Shayla snapped. She sank even deeper into her seat, wishing she could pull a tent over her desk. She peeked down at the sore spot on her arm where Megan had hit her. Her skin was stinging and it was slightly raised, but it was the same brown color as the rest of her skin. So different from the bright red mark that would be left behind if she had smacked Megan back.

  “We’re on chapter six,” a soft voice whispered from the seat behind her.

  Shayla swiveled around and found herself face-to-face with Ai.

  “What?” Shayla whispered back. She hadn’t even realized she was sitting there.

  “I said we’re talking about chapter six,” Ai repeated. Then she flicked her finger up to point at Megan and Gemma. They were giggling together. “You think that’s how friends are supposed to treat you?” she asked. Shayla shrugged, but she couldn’t turn away. There was nothing mean in Ai’s voice. She just looked at Shayla with a bucketload of sadness in her eyes.

  Shayla sat there, trapped between the glare of Ai’s honesty and the pull of Megan’s and Gemma’s friendship. Ai sighed into the emptiness of Shayla’s silence.

  “She wants you to explain why the main character left home at the end of the chapter. You did read, didn’t you?”

  The way Ai’s eyebrows drew together made Shayla think Ai’s question was about so much more than homework.

  “I read, thanks,” Shayla said, suddenly finding her words. She knew her response was short and sharp, but she didn’t care. Why did Ai think she could decide who Shayla should be friends with?

  She twisted back to the front of the classroom and straightened herself in her seat. She peeked over at Megan and Gemma. They were huddled together, talking and giggling as if Shayla wasn’t even there. This was how it had been all year. Shayla didn’t know how it had happened, but she was full of a fever that made her turn her back on Ai so she could hang out on the edge of Megan’s and Gemma’s friendship, trying to find a way in.

  “Students,” Ms. Breaux said, clapping her hands to call everyone’s attention before Shayla could figure out what Megan and Gemma were talking about. Ms. Breaux held up the stack of papers the principal had brought in. From her seat, Shayla could see the words School Closure in big, bold letters across the top of the page. “As you know, we have been discussing how to continue safely teaching during this time. Some of your classmates are already learning from home and some of your parents are working from home. We have just received word that the governor has decided to close schools for the next two weeks.”

  “What?” Megan said. She looked at Shayla then. They were briefly connected in shock. Shayla turned back and looked at Ai.

  Everyone started talking at once.

  Ms. Breaux clapped again. She put both her hand
s in the air and held them there until everyone in class fell silent.

  “We will communicate with your parents,” she said softly and firmly. “We will send you assignments to complete at home.” She looked at the clock on the wall, then walked to the doorway of the classroom. “You are dismissed. Please stop at the desk and pick up one of the announcements. Put these sheets in your folders immediately—and give them to your parents as soon as you get home.”

  Shayla stood up with the rest of the class, unfolding her long limbs from the small cramped chair.

  “Megan,” she called out, but Megan had already slipped away, rushing toward the front of the classroom with her arm tightly linked with Gemma’s. Shayla darted out from behind her desk, but someone tugged her back. She turned to find Ai and Ben standing behind her.

  “What?” Shayla asked, trying hard not to sound as grouchy as she felt. She felt like the tree in the yard, towering over Ai and Ben. She shifted her weight on her hip, which made her tower over them just a tiny bit less.

  It wasn’t that she didn’t like Ai and Ben—it just felt like she couldn’t get away from them. They all lived in the same apartment building. They had spent their toddler years in their friend Liam’s apartment so Liam’s mom could watch them while their parents worked. They spent the first years of elementary school hanging in the park together. And now Ai and Ben were in her class at school. Shayla had had enough. She wanted to try to make her own friends—at least one friend that her father didn’t make for her.

  “We have to find Liam,” Ben said, irritated. He didn’t like Shayla’s new attitude.

  “Why?” Shayla asked. She crossed her arms. It didn’t matter what Ai and Ben thought. She had a right to be independent.

  “How do you think he’s taking this news?” Ai asked, circling her finger in the air.

  Shayla’s heart sank. She was instantly ashamed. She was so busy feeling trapped by Ai and Ben, she hadn’t even thought about Liam. Change was not his friend. Once, when a substitute teacher showed up and announced he was replacing Liam’s teacher for the rest of the school year, he shut himself in the supply closet and refused to come out. While they raced to call his mother, he tugged at his hair so hard he yanked out a patch the size of a dime.

  With a serious nod, Shayla turned on her heel and headed over to the hooks. Reaching over everyone else’s heads, she tugged down Ai’s and Ben’s bags. The three of them shrugged on their jackets and wrestled their backpack straps onto their shoulders. Just like that, every thought that was cluttering Shayla’s brain fell away. Shayla forgot about wishing for new friends and sped out of the classroom, focusing on doing everything she could to get to Liam’s side.

  Ai stood back and let Shayla yank open the door to Liam’s classroom, but then she pushed past and hurried in first. They found Mr. Ogebi in the back of the room.

  “He’s in there, isn’t he?” Ai said, startling Mr. Ogebi, who was kneeling in the doorway to the supply closet.

  Ai was used to surprising people when she spoke. When she and Shayla would roam around the school together, it was Shayla who led the charge, asking the questions and starting conversations everywhere they went. People assumed Ai was shy or that she was afraid to talk, but she didn’t mind talking—she just didn’t like silly conversations.

  “He’s been in there ever since I announced school was closing,” Mr. Ogebi said. He stood up and brushed the dust off his jeans.

  “Benjamin,” he said. “Could you go to the main office and ask Mrs. Jean to call Liam’s parents?”

  “His mom,” Ben said, correcting Mr. Ogebi before rushing off to the office.

  “Does he have his worry stones?” Ai asked.

  Mr. Ogebi frowned. His face creased with concern. “I asked him about them, but he didn’t answer me.”

  Ai stepped closer to the closet. “Can we try?” she asked.

  Mr. Ogebi nodded. “Only because Liam’s mother told me this might happen. She said the three of you knew how to help him calm down.” He stepped to the side and swept his arm toward the closet.

  “Ready?” Ai asked, nudging Shayla.

  They stood shoulder-to-shoulder in the doorway of the closet, staring into the darkness inside.

  “Liam?” Ai called out softly as she waited for her eyes to adjust.

  There was no response, but every once in a while, they heard a soft sniffling sound break the quiet.

  “Liam,” Shayla said a little more loudly, “we’re coming in.”

  By instinct, Ai reached for Shayla’s hand, but she stopped herself. Instead, she held her hands out in front of her and stepped into the closet. Moving through the darkness side by side with Shayla almost felt like old times, but things had changed. These days Shayla acted like a stranger. She ignored Ai in class and sometimes didn’t even say a word to her all day. No matter how much silence was between them, Ai’s brain always remembered how things used to be, swooping back to the days when Shayla was friendly and funny, leaving Ai feeling like a Ping-Pong ball bouncing between the new Shayla and the girl who used to be her best friend.

  As Ai and Shayla took tiny, hesitant steps in the dark closet, Mr. Ogebi opened the closet door wider. The light from the classroom cut a tiny sliver in the darkness, showing Ai a slice of Liam’s pale cheeks and his dark red, curly hair.

  “We’re all going to get sick,” he whispered.

  It was the same thing he had been saying for weeks. Ever since the virus was announced on the news, Liam wouldn’t quit talking about it. Every morning as they walked to school, he would repeat the latest from the news until he was breathless.

  When they finally got close to Liam, they could hear how panicked he was. Every time he took a breath, it sounded like the air got stuck in his throat. Then he would take a big gulp, gasping like he was desperate for air. The second Ai’s foot collided with Liam’s, she forgot about her friendship issues and grabbed Shayla’s arm. She dragged Shayla down until they were kneeling in front of Liam.

  They both frantically searched the air with their hands until they grabbed hold of Liam. Ai’s hand landed on Liam’s knee. She could tell from the bend of his legs that he was sitting curled over with his knees hiked up under his chin.

  “Liam, you have to breathe,” she said.

  Liam took a deep breath and let it out. Ai could feel him shuddering under her hand, his whole body heaving like every breath was hurting him. It was terrifying, but not as frightening as it had been the first time Ai and Shayla had seen Liam have a panic attack. While they were playing at the park, they found him leaning over the fence with a red face, panting like he had been punched in the stomach. They had no idea what was happening to him. When he started struggling to talk, they grabbed him by the arms—one on either side of him—and rushed him out of the park. After the attack had passed, he described it like this: It’s like everything around you is fine, but your body doesn’t know you are safe. Your body thinks you’re in danger and it fills you up with fear.

  After learning what was happening to Liam, they had all invented their own ways of helping him. Even when they weren’t sure what to do, they weren’t afraid to try to help. The problem was, they were far away from Shayla’s gadgets and Ai’s art supplies. They were crammed together in a dark closet with nothing to distract Liam from his fears.

  Ai’s mind went into overdrive, thinking of everything that had worked before. Suddenly, she had an idea. She didn’t hesitate. She didn’t even warn Shayla. She just took a deep breath and started singing at the top of her voice.

  “We got the whole world in our hands,” she sang, chanting the first song that flashed into her mind. On the next line, Shayla joined in. They had all practiced it so many times for Parents’ Night that it was burned in their brains.

  Ai started gently tapping Liam in time with the beat. At first, Liam just sat there, still shaking and sputtering for breath. For a while, it seemed like Ai’s idea had failed. Then out of nowhere, Ai heard Liam start whispering the word wor
ld each time it came around in the song. Ai couldn’t see Shayla’s face, but she could hear the excitement in Shayla’s voice when she realized Liam was starting to sing in the breath between his gasps.

  Ai and Shayla looped back to the beginning of the song, singing even louder. When they reached the chorus, Liam’s voice got stronger too. By the time they started the song for the third time, they were all rocking back and forth together, belting out the words loudly.

  Just when they were starting the fourth round, Mr. Ogebi leaned his head into the closet.

  “Okay, Liam, are you ready to come out now?” he asked.

  Ai held her breath while she waited for Liam to reply.

  “I think so,” Liam said after a long silence. His voice was shaky, but the gasping was gone and his breath was deeper and slower.

  Relieved, Ai reached out in the dark and hugged him tightly.

  “We’re going to be okay,” she said, pulling away from him.

  Without warning, Shayla poked Ai in the arm. Ai didn’t need to be friends with Shayla to know why Shayla had poked her. Shayla didn’t believe in anything she couldn’t touch with her own two hands. How do you know? was her favorite question. As they helped Liam to his feet, Ai knew what Shayla was thinking. They could not know what was going to happen in the future. Of course, Shayla was right. The truth was, no one could predict what was coming, so how could Ai know that they would all be okay?

  After Liam’s mom picked him up, Shayla, Ai, and Ben were stuck walking home together. Stuck wasn’t quite the right word. Not for Ben. Walking home with Shayla was a treat since she didn’t hang around them anymore. Before Shayla had abandoned them, Ben often found himself fighting to get a word in while Ai and Shayla shot rapid-fire conversation back and forth between them. But today was nothing like it used to be. Everything was uncomfortable as they walked past corner stores and apartment buildings in awkward silence.

  Ben knew why Shayla and Ai weren’t talking, but his silence had nothing to do with their friendship crisis—and everything to do with what was waiting for him at home. His stomach was knotted up with stress as he thought about his chart tracking his parents’ fights. It had grown over the past few weeks since his dad’s office closed because of the virus. The more time his dad spent at home, the more time his parents spent fighting. Then his mom’s office closed two weeks ago and what used to be an argument once or twice a month had turned into a never-ending battle.