Shayla Willows, a Black seventh grader at Emerson Junior High, anxiously awaits Mr. Levy, her science teacher, to assign her a lab partner. He assigns her Bernard, who is also Black. However, Bernard is a bully who stole Shayla’s Legos in second grade, and both he and Shayla are unhappy with the lab partnership. Bernard aggressively grabs the first slide, cutting his hand. Mr. Levy ignores Bernard’s injury and instead admonishes him. Shayla examines the bug leg underneath the microscope. When class ends, Bernard storms out, knocking his desk over. Shayla feels compelled to pick it up in the hopes that “no one will get into trouble” (9) but remains anxious enough that her hands itch.

Shayla meets up with her friends Isabella Alvarez and Julia behind a row of temporary classrooms during a break between classes. The three have been close since sharing a group project in third grade. They refer to themselves as “the United Nations” (6) due to their racial diversity: Shayla is Black, Isabella is Puerto Rican, and Julia is Japanese American. When Shayla asks them to guess who her lab partner is, they first guess that it is