The second chapter takes place in October, the second month of the school year. Peter’s voice is first again: “I never ever had something in school excite me before, but the plant unit we did with Mr. T. had me fired up” (25). The plant experiment gives students the freedom to feed their plants anything they want, and Luke creates a smoking concoction of household ingredients that sets off the fire alarm. Luke is sure he’s in trouble for the incident, but Mr. Terupt takes the blame in front of the principal and the fire marshal.

Jeffrey’s perspective focuses on the fire alarm incident and on the aftermath when the fire marshal orders Mr. Terupt to remove student art from the walls. Mr. Terupt defends keeping the artwork on the walls. Jeffrey witnesses the exchange and appreciates that Mr. Terupt stands up for his students and their work: “Our hard work mattered to Terupt—even mine” (33).

Anna’s voice turns attention to her home life and drama among the female students again. Anna is concerned about potentially hurting her plant during the science project, but Mr.