Fish in a Tree

Mr. Daniels assigns a writing exercise where students must write about a fictional character they consider a hero. Albert finds the premise illogical, while Oliver spouts off the names of every superhero. He even asks Suki for her opinion, but keeps talking and never lets her answer. Shay whispers meanly that they don't need to listen to Oliver's thoughts, but Oliver gravely says that if he were Aquaman, he'd summon piranhas to take Shay away. Eventually, everyone gets to work. Ally loves that Albert can't choose a character, while Oliver wants to write about every superhero.

The next day, Mr. Daniels calls Ally up to his desk. He's holding her paper and asks Ally to read it out loud for him, as he had a hard time with her handwriting. Ally squints at her paper, but Mr. Daniels takes it and asks Ally to just talk about her hero. Her hero is Roy G. Biv—the colors of the color spectrum. She made him up and he means a lot to her because she uses the colors in her art. Ally stops short of saying that art is the only place she doesn't feel like a failure. Mr. Daniels calls Ally clever and an out-of-the-box thinker. He explains that this is a good thing, which confuses Ally.

The next day, Ally is actually excited to present Roy G. Biv to the class. She takes out a color wheel that she made and asks what color is made by mixing all the colors together. Most kids guess dark colors, but Ally says the answer is white. She spins the wheel and as the colors blur, they turn white. Everyone, even Jessica and Shay, say it's cool. Oliver asks if Ally is going to give the color wheel away and says he'd give it to his bus driver.

As Ally sits down, she hears Jessica ask Shay for another friendship bracelet. Ally pretends not to listen as Shay says that she has lots of orders to fill and Jessica still owes her $3 for the last one. Ally turns around and asks incredulously if Shay actually charges for the bracelets. Shay meanly says she'd never sell Ally one but might for $10. Ally can't believe that anyone bought the bracelets or that Shay charges at all and turns down the offer. Shay calls Ally a dope and Ally thinks she's right—Albert and Keisha are true friends and she only just realized that.