Ira leaned in close and smirked. "Not if it happened before he moved here."
"When did he move here?" asked Howie.
But neither Ira or I knew for sure. The thing is, there are always kids moving in and out of neighborhoods, and no matter how quietly a kid tries to come into a new school, he can't do it without being noticed. But the Schwa did.
"I guess he kinda slipped in under everybody's radar," I said.
"Has anyone bothered to check if the color of his eyes really changes?" Howie asked.
"I don't want to get that close," said Ira.
There was silence for a second, and then Howie let off a shiver that I could feel like a tremor.
3 Quantizing the Schwa Effect Using the Scientific Method, and All That Garbage
Mr. Werthog, our science teacher, has a weird twitch in his lip, like he's always kissing the air. It's something you never can get used to, and might explain why my science grade keeps dropping. You just can't concentrate on his words when you look at him. The only time it gets him into trouble, though, is during parent conference night. One guy punched him out for making kissy faces at his wife.
Now he stood in front of a science experiment featuring a large beaker filled with ice and a long thermometer. On the board he writes 34°, then turned to us. "The scientific method (kiss) is one of hypothesis, trial (kiss), results, and conclusion (kiss, kiss)."
Someone next to me taps my arm. "Hi, Antsy."
I turn, actually surprised to see someone there. It's like I never realized there was even a desk next to me in science. For an instant I don't recognize the face—like no part of it is distinctive enough to stick to my memory—a face like mental Teflon.