Summary

In Chapter 1, Shayla Willow, the narrator, tells her reader that she is allergic to trouble, that it causes her hands to itch. She is surprised she does not suffer any itching when Mr. Levy, her science teacher at Emerson Junior High, assigns her to work with Bernard as a lab partner. Bernard is Black, which is not a problem for Shayla because she is also Black. However, Bernard is also big and mean. She has been afraid of him ever since he yelled at her in second grade and snatched a Lego set out of her hands. In the present, Bernard unintentionally breaks the first slide in the set they are given. Mr. Levy warns Bernard to stop messing around. Bernard is so angry he will not even look at the other slides.

In Chapter 2, at break, Shayla meets up with her two...