welcomed him back and Luisa pestered him about where he'd been I bet you were faking Fred Luisa had said And he was still Fred as he slid into his desk that morning sorting through the stack of worksheets he'd missed In fact he'd stayed Fred right up to the moment his teacher Ms Martinez handed him a book and said Too bad you missed the author's visit yesterday Had she used his name He couldn't remember So it had to be Fred who smiled at the book Limbo Lessons with the picture of ruffle shirted partygoers bending low under a limbo stick Just like his aunt had at the family reunion last summer He shuddered at the memory It was
definitely Fred who cracked open the book and whose eyes wandered to the words scribbled in black pen across the bright white page The words that is that started all the trouble To Frank
Frank Fred said to no one in particular Who's Frank What do you mean Who's Frank Luisa said leaning in close to see what Fred was looking at I got somebody else's book by mistake Fred said pointing to the writing Ahhh Luisa said with a nod Thing is there are no Franks at this school None in the whole town I bet Maybe you wrote your name wrong on the order sheet Like a dummy Fred rolled his eyes and shook his head He'd watched his mom fill out the order form for the author visit Yes my student would like a book She'd checked that box Fred had seen her And on the
line that read Please inscribe the book to he'd watched her block the letters F R E D In case someone didn't know how to spell Fred Or maybe it's something else Luisa said Like maybe the author knows something you don't Like what Fred asked Like maybe you were once named Fred Luisa said But you aren't anymore Or or maybe you're still Fred at home but Frank in school Frank in school Fred said Why would I be that Kids Ms Martinez snapped her fingers at the boy once named Fred and the girl still called Luisa Quiet please
