Secret of the School Suitor (3 page)

Divya decided to follow a hunch as to where she thought Bus Driver McCool might have gone. To see Coach Shorts, of course! If he wasn't there, well then she had to give up her mission and get on with her school day.

She picked up her pace once again, happy she had the bandage on her foot. Up the hallway ahead, Divya spied something bright. Something lime green.

Yes! She'd caught up to Bus Driver McCool.

No! He turned around to see who was following him in the hallway. She'd made too much noise.

Divya ducked down behind a three-dimensional bulletin board of a tree with branches growing along the wall. It was supposed to be a story tree. Javier helped build the branches by twisting up a bunch of butcher block paper and taping it together.

Bus Driver McCool scratched his almost bald head and walked on toward the gymnasium.

Whew—that was close.

Divya couldn't wait to tell Javier how his artwork had saved her from almost getting caught yet again.

Things were getting more risky, especially since morning assembly would be over soon. Teachers and students were about to flood the hallways. Her teacher, Mr. Smartline, would soon wonder where she was and would mark her absent. Then he'd call her dad at home, probably waking him up in a bad mood after finally getting to sleep.

Divya hugged the hallway as she crept forward and stood close to the doorframe.

Coach Shorts—who was actually tall and always wore gym pants, not shorts –gave Bus Driver McCool a big hug. She was several inches taller than the bus driver.

“What a surprise to see you!” Coach Shorts said to him. “I didn't expect to see you until later.”

“I can't wait for our dinner tonight,” Bus Driver McCool said.

“About that,” Coach Shorts said, “Can I get a
rain check? The basketball game got rescheduled and I have to be there to coach my team.”

Bus Driver McCool said something in a low voice—too low for Divya to hear but she could sense his sadness all over again. He sure seemed to be having a rough day. Divya wondered what she could do to change things.

“I can't reschedule,” Coach Shorts responded. “I have to be there. If you love me, then you'll understand.”

“Of course I love you and of course I understand,” Bus Driver McCool said.

Klaude would've made gagging noises if he'd heard this, Divya thought.

Coach Shorts gave Bus Driver McCool another hug before he left. Coach Shorts may or may not have noticed, but Divya could see that his shoulders sagged even more.

Poor guy.

Poor guy who was walking straight toward Divya!

As Bus Driver McCool approached her, Divya leaned forward and picked up an empty desk. She pretended she was the custodian and walked the desk inside the classroom. She put on such a good performance in that moment that she decided to try out for the school play later that spring.

Bus Driver McCool passed her by, not noticing who she was or what she was doing. He muttered to himself, “I give up.”

“I give up?” Those were dangerous words. Divya couldn't let him give up.

Mr. Hambrick, one of the other third grade teachers, gave Divya a funny look as she stood in the doorframe carrying the empty desk. “Oops!
Wrong room,” Divya said with confidence.

She stepped out of the room and set it back in the hallway. Klaude raised an eyebrow at her as he passed her by and so did Queeneka.

Yikes! Morning assembly was over—Divya had to hurry and she was no closer to cracking the case!

Up ahead, she saw the principal, Mrs. Holmes step out of the cafeteria wearing a pair of jeans in much better shape than the bus driver's and a black shirt with the school owl mascot standing on top of a basketball. She seemed even more eager for the basketball game tonight than Coach Shorts.

Bus Driver McCool caught up with Mrs. Holmes. Was he turning himself in for his bad driving?

Divya wished more than anything that she could hear what they were talking about. She'd tried to learn how to read lips to be a better detective, but whenever she tried before, it just looked like the person said watermelon over and over again.

She stopped to really focus on Bus Driver McCool's face. “Can we talk?” he seemed to ask to Mrs. Holmes.

That had to be it! Mrs. Holmes nodded her head and the two of them walked off in the direction of the office.

Someone bumped into Divya. She yelped in surprise.

“Whoa,” Javier said, “I didn't mean to scare you. What did you find out?”

Divya put a finger over her lips to keep him from saying anything else where the entire third grade could hear. She walked over to the bulletin board story tree so they could hide in the hallway.

The first thing Divya told him about was how his artwork saved the day. Javier smiled so wide she could see all of his teeth. Javier had really nice teeth.

Divya told Javier about the flower receipt and the suit. “I wish I could call my dad to find out if his mom is sick or not.”

“Now that I've been thinking about it, he probably would've told you about his mom when you asked him how things are going,”
Javier said. “Your dad knows his mom and it's not something he would keep a secret, right?”

“Right.” Time was ticking by way too fast. Mr. Smartline would be taking attendance any minute now.

Divya and Javier talked even faster about the rumors and about the conversation that Divya overheard between Bus Driver McCool and Mr. Sleuth.

Was Bus Driver McCool planning on working as a security officer? Had he gotten in trouble at his old job and the crimes were catching up to him?

Things didn't seem to be going too well with Coach Shorts according to Divya—the coach chose the basketball game over their date.

When Divya shared how Bus Driver McCool said he was giving up, everything started to click into place.

The suit, which is something he might wear to a job interview.

The tension with Mr. Sleuth.

The bad driving.

The way the bus driver seemed stressed out.

These things reminded Divya of the way her dad acted right before he quit his nursing job at the hospital to take the nursing home job where he was now much happier. Divya shared her hypothesis.

“Maybe,” Javier said. “What about the flower receipt?”

Well, the flowers seemed out of place, they both agreed. Perhaps the flowers weren't related to the case at all.

“I have to stop Bus Driver McCool from quitting Watson Elementary School!”

The bell rang right at that moment. “Cover for me,” Divya said.

“Not again,” Javier said. He mumbled something else but Divya didn't have time to listen.

“Did you miss me that much?” Mr. Sleuth said as Divya rushed into the office. He placed his hand over his heart and gave her a cheesy smile.

Divya wanted to think of a funny reply, but she was too focused on saving Bus Driver McCool's job.

All Divya could think of to explain her return was point to Nurse Strongman's office. She hoped Mr. Sleuth would get the hint that she needed yet another bandage. It worked because he nodded and she took off.

Only Divya didn't walk into the nurse's office, she barged right into Mrs. Holmes' office. She wasn't sure who looked more shocked to see her—the principal or the bus driver.

Even though she was a small woman and wore the basketball shirt featuring the cute owl, Mrs. Holmes looked tough. She reminded Divya of the grandma judge on the TV show who sent criminals to jail.

“I can tell you have something urgent to say to me, but now isn't a good time. As you can see, I'm in a meeting with Mr. McCool,” Mrs. Holmes said. “Why don't you set up an appointment with Mr. Sleuth if you would like to talk with me?” Mrs. Holmes asked, though it seemed more like a demand to Divya.

“It can't wait!” Divya said.

Bus Driver McCool turned to Mrs. Holmes. “I can explain why she's here.”

Wait, what?
Divya thought. How could he possibly know she was here to try to save him from quitting his job? Was she that bad of a spy? Who might've overheard her talking to Javier in the hallway? Divya thought she'd been a pretty decent detective up until now.

“You see, I was distracted and didn't perform my best driving skills. And I, well, might've
implied that Divya should keep her concerns to herself which is irresponsible of me,” Bus Driver McCool said.

“No, no, no! That's not why I'm here at all!” Divya said, though it came out much more like a shout because she was so worked up about things. She hadn't barged into their meeting to force a confession like this out of him.

“What are you doing, then?” Bus Driver McCool sat up a little straighter and scratched his balding head again.

Mrs. Holmes narrowed her eyes. “Why don't you take a seat?” she said in that calm way of hers. It was another question, but once again, it felt like a demand.

After Divya sat down, she fidgeted with her ankle braces and then tried to explain why she was really here. This was her moment to save Bus Driver McCool's job and she wasn't doing so well so far.