Save Me a Seat

Joe pleads internally that Mrs. Beam will not call on him to demonstrate math problems on the board. He remembers back to kindergarten, when he was diagnosed with Auditory Processing Disorder and began to go to Miss Frost to help him concentrate. Joe feels like Miss Frost is the only person who understands how hard it is for him to block out ambient noise and how much he hates being put on the spot; even when he knows what he’s doing, he gets nervous and makes mistakes. Joe slides “down even farther in my seat, as low as I can go without falling out. All I care about is not getting called on” (54-55). Joe thinks it’s his lucky day when Ravi volunteers to do the problem on the board. 

Mrs. Beam calls on Ravi, mispronouncing his name. Ravi rushes to get up, but all his school supplies fall on the floor. Joe tries to help him, but ends up hitting Ravi in the head with his own head and stepping on Ravi’s name card. Ravi gets frustrated, not understanding Joe’s good intentions, and calls him Big Foot, making Dillon laugh. Dillon helps Ravi collect the rest of his things. Ravi sees the problem on the whiteboard and instantly knows the answer but decides to take his time and showman’s route, using various colored markers and arrows to explain his answer. Ravi is very proud, believing he has impressed his class into silence, but when Mrs. Beam finally speaks, she tells him his work was unnecessary. Ravi feels humiliated. As he walks back to his desk, he trips over someone’s feet, sending his glasses flying. Dillon loudly blames Joe, and Ravi wonders what he has done to Joe to deserve this behavior. Ravi thinks about confronting Joe and Mrs. Beam for mispronouncing his name but remains silent instead.

Joe watches Ravi get so excited to do a problem on the whiteboard that Ravi knocks his school supplies on the ground. Joe bends down to help Ravi pick up his notecard, thinking about how Mrs. Beam is mispronouncing Ravi’s name, and Joe and Ravi bump heads: “Dillon gets down on the floor to help Ravi pick up his stuff. But I know what he’s really up to. Quick as a flash, he puts one of those mechanical pencils down the front of his pants” (62). Joe watches Ravi do his mathematical performance on the board, surprised when Mrs. Beam is not impressed because Joe thinks it looks cool. Dillon trips a dejected Ravi when he returns to his seat, and Joe is flabbergasted when Dillon tries to blame it on him because Joe’s legs aren’t that long. Joe watches as Dillon steals another of Ravi’s pencils and thinks about telling Ravi how to prevent Dillon from stealing his things. Joe thinks he and Ravi might become friends, even if Ravi seems a bit odd. 

Embarrassed by the tripping and his failure to impress Mrs. Beam with his math skills, Ravi looks forward to sitting with Dillon at lunch, when he will come up with a plan to punish Joe. The class reads their social studies textbook out loud, and when Mrs. Beam asks if anyone knows the definition of assimilated, Ravi gives her a biological definition. Mrs. Beam asks him to speak more slowly so the class can understand him with his accent. Embarrassed, Ravi repeats himself, trying to Americanize his speech. Mrs. Beam thanks him, but says that his guess doesn’t fit the context. Ravi is furious that she thinks he guessed, as he is absolutely sure his definition is correct: “I have a photographic memory. I can still see the definition from my fourth-grade science notebook clearly in my mind” (66). Mrs. Beam asks another student to continue reading, and then calls on Joe, who refuses to read out loud. Joe is saved by Miss Frost, who asks to keep him for the rest of the afternoon. Mrs. Beam suggests she take Ravi as well, and Ravi is disheartened to learn he will not be eating lunch with Dillon. Ravi thinks about protesting and being rude to Mrs. Beam because he does not think he needs help, but goes with Miss Frost anyway, sighing loudly. 

Joe is ecstatic that Miss Frost has saved him from reading out loud but recognizes that Ravi seems mad about it: “I was mad too when I first started going to see Miss Frost. I didn’t like the way kids looked at me when she came to get me out of class. Now I’m used to it” (70). Joe especially likes how Miss Frost gives him peanut M&M’s. Ravi is dragging behind, and when Miss Frost asks what’s wrong, he tells her she is mispronouncing his name and that his English is fine. Miss Frost apologizes, and Ravi talks about how smart he is and that he is not like Joe.

Joe remembers how his dad thinks that the doctors made up his condition to get more money as he sits down and slowly sucks on M&M’s. He repeats Ravi’s name correctly to himself, worrying about his dad coming home early because of the incident the previous day with his mom. Miss Frost gives Ravi directions with headphones, and Joe notices Ravi is still mad, but decides he doesn’t care that they will not be friends. Miss Frost asks how Joe is, and he says he is used to people thinking he’s dumb. She asks about the incident with Joe’s mom, but Joe doesn’t want to talk about it, instead talking about the four layers of peanut M&M’s. Miss Frost has Joe pick his distractors—like alarm clocks and snow globes—and then gives him a series of four tasks. Joe tries to focus on what she tells him and ignore the ambient noises, as well as the runaway train of thoughts about his old friends and the book Bud, Not Buddy. Miss Frost patiently urges him forward again and again; Joe loses focus but then remembers and Miss Frost congratulates him. Ravi asks to leave again, and Miss Frost goes over to talk to him, eventually letting him leave. Ravi takes a blue M&M, and Joe jealously notices that it’s a double, which are rare. Ravi leaves without saying goodbye or eating his M&M, which he sticks in his pocket. Joe notices that Ravi seems sad now instead of mad, but decides he doesn’t care. When Miss Frost leaves to take Ravi back to class, Joe dumps out the M&M’s, searching for another double. He is frustrated he did not see the double before.

Ravi remembers how upset his mother was when Ravi’s kindergarten teacher suggested he had his eyes checked because Amma thought that it meant Ravi was not smart. In reality, he just needed very thick glasses. Now, Ravi reads the book Miss Frost gives him, Fun with Phonics, but gets annoyed at how juvenile the story and words are. He turns down the volume on his headphones to listen to Joe talking about M&M’s and Dillon talking in the hallway. Ravi asks to leave, but Miss Frost tells him to eat his lunch. Ravi feels trapped and thinks about how ashamed his mother would be to see him here with Joe, who Ravi does not believe can even read. Ravi finishes his lunch and then sees a dictionary and looks up assimilate, finding his definition. Triumphantly, he thinks about how good it will feel to show up Mrs. Beam. He listens to Joe talk about peanut M&M’s: “He never says a word in class, but here he can’t stop talking about chocolate and peanuts. Will it never end?” (81).

Ravi double-checks the definition just to be sure he is right, only to find Mrs. Beam’s definition for assimilate as well, remembering what she said about context. Ravi feels defeated and asks Miss Frost again to go back to class. Miss Frost acquiesces but references the ESL materials she has that might be of use to Ravi. This only makes Ravi feel worse because English is his first language. Miss Frost suggests he also see the guidance counselor for help adjusting to his new school. Ravi feels “like [he’s] suffocating. Now I’m in need of some kind of counseling too” (83). Miss Frost offers an M&M which Ravi takes so as to not be rude, even though Amma doesn’t allow him to eat sweets. Miss Frost suggests they meet again next week after Ravi has settled in, and then tells Ravi not to assume things about Joe. Ravi argues that Joe tripped him; instead of arguing, Miss Frost says that if his statement is true, then they both owe each other apologies for being rude. She acknowledges that people make assumptions about both Ravi and Joe, and assumptions are often wrong.

Miss Frost brings Joe two hamburgers and as he’s eating, Joe thinks he should have asked for three. Miss Frost asks Joe what happened in class that morning, and Joe confesses that he got upset when Mrs. Beam asked him to read. Miss Frost says she told Mrs. Beam about Joe’s APD, but then asks about Ravi, mispronouncing his name. Joe corrects her, and then explains that Dillon tripped him. When Miss Frost says that Ravi believes Joe tripped him, Joe responds, “‘I guess maybe he’s not as smart as he thinks he is’” (87).

Joe’s mom tries to drive him home again, but Joe refuses, walking home instead. He goes to the corner store and gets a large bag of peanut M&Ms, but he finds no doubles. At home, his mom’s cooking smells so good he can’t resist, especially when she offers fresh apple crisp with vanilla ice cream. Joe adamantly states that he is still angry with her, but accepts the food and says he will eventually forgive her. Joe is glad his mom does not ask about his day, because he can’t stop thinking about how Ravi called him stupid.