At recess, the four made a plan of attack to get ready for the protest. It was Michael’s and Jacob’s job to go outside and talk to every single fourth grader. They all had to come to the protest if it was going to work. Hopefully, word would spread beyond the playground and everyone in the school would turn out for Bob.
Lily and Kat were to take on Ms. Ululani. They knew it wouldn’t be too hard to convince her. Every morning since the beginning of school she was fighting with Principal Benbrook. She wanted supplies so badly, she even taught the second graders how to paint with mustard and ketchup from the cafeteria.
Kat knocked on Ms. Ululani’s door and looked at Lily. This speech had to be perfect.
“Aloha girls,” Ms. Ululani said energetically. “To what do I owe the pleasure of this visit?”
Kat took in a breath before she spoke. “We need some poster board.”
“And paint,” Lily added. “If you have any.”
Ms. Ululani sighed and frowned. She ushered the girls into the room silently and shut the door.
“You are honestly asking me for paint,” Ms. Ululani said.
“We thought you might have some hidden,” Lily said looking from side to side. She wouldn’t put it passed Benbrook to bug the place.
“Hidden,” Ms. Ululani laughed, repeating the word slowly to herself.
“We’re having a protest tomorrow,” Kat said. “To save Bob.”
Ms. Ululani smiled at the girls. The idea amused her. “Protest for Bob?”
“For Bob,” Kat said firmly. “And against ‘The Rules’.”
“Hot dog!” Ms. Ululani shouted. She jumped into the air and triumphantly pumped her first.
“Now that’s my kind of protest!”
Kat and Lily smiled. With Ms. Ululani on their side there was no way they could lose.
“So do you have any paint?” Lily probed.
“Wahine, I’ve got way more than that,” Ms. Ululani said. She ushered the girls to the art room supply closet and flipped a switch.
Inside the supply room were several shelves full of nothing but pencils and paper.
“Those are the shelves Eugene knows about,” Ms. Ululani said and went deeper into the storage room. They passed by shelves that held sand, leaves, and even some small shells. Copper wires, yarn, and pipe cleaners poked out from a box marked ‘BANNED’.
“I thought only paint and glitter were against ‘The Rules’,” Kat said.
Ms. Ululani stopped at another door in the storage room. It was hidden behind a shelf of industrial size buckets of cleaner.
“It’s amazing what that man sees as trouble,” Ms. Ululani said.
Kat could relate. Daddy long legs then tipped library books and glitter. It was like being illegal to be a kid.
“Now let me show you something no one else knows about,” Ms. Ululani said taking a small key from her pocket and unlocking the door.
A strange red glow filtered out of the room. It took a moment for Kat and Lily to realize that it was coming from a large glass cage in the room.
“Is that a heat lamp?” Lily asked.
“Is that a snake?” Kat nearly yelled.
“Girls, meet me my baby boy Buttercup.”
Four feet of yellow and white scales slithered along the bottom of the out of place fish tank.
“That thing belongs in a zoo,” Lily yelled.
“Aw not Buttercup,” Ms. Ululani said reaching her hand into the tank and petting Buttercup like a puppy. “He’s only a baby.”
“Ms. Ululani,” Kat said. “Why is Buttercup hidden back here?”
Ms. Ululani looked fondly at Buttercup and frowned.
“I’ve been teaching for nearly ten years now,” she said. “I began in Hawaii where I was born and have taught in a new state every year. My goal is to teach around the world. I’ve taken so many classes that I am trained to teach art, CPR, cake decorating, how to use power tools, and I’m even certified to be a principal if I ever wanted to leave teaching. Buttercup here was a gift from a friend back home on the islands. Buttercup is home to me. In every school I’ve ever taught in I was allowed to keep pets. Every school except Edgeview.”
“Because of ‘The Rules’,” Kat spat.
Ms. Ululani grinned. “Which is exactly why I’m here to help you with the protest!”
“You will?” Lily gasped.
“Of course!” Ms. Ululani said ruffling Lily’s hair. “Any chance to get back at Eugene Benbrook’s
rules is a chance I’ll take.”
Kat and Lily high-fived one another. When they worked together they made quiet a team. By this time tomorrow Bob would be safe.
“Buttercup isn’t the only thing hidden away in here,” Ms. Ululani said finally flipping on the light switch.
Kat and Lily gasped. Three towering shelved lined the wall opposite of Buttercup’s cage. Each shelf was bursting with hundreds of different colors of paints and glitters. Every shade of every color eve known seemed to be there. They had the strangest names as well.
Caramel macaroni and cheese.
Purple sugar marshmallows.
Kat’s favorite was the clear glitter named ‘Shattering Glass’.
“What is this place?” Kat asked.
“After the whole science fair incident, this is where they locked up all the supplies,” Ms. Ululani said. “Benbrook thinks they were thrown away.”
“Wow,” Lily gasped.
Ms. Ululani smiled. “Let’s protest!”
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