The narrator, a small, skinny eighth grader named Martin Anderson, is the only passenger on a bus that takes him across three counties during January to Edgeview Alternative School, his new residence. It’s gray, with wire-infused windows and surrounded by a tall brick wall. It looks like a prison.

Principal Davis greets him with a flat smile. As they walk into the main building, Davis recites Martin’s lengthy history of expulsions from previous schools. They walk up two flights of stairs on the worn carpet beneath dim light bulbs and past walls covered in graffiti and flaking, dull-green paint.

Davis asks if he knows why he’s here. He replies, “I got on the wrong bus?” (10). As they make their way toward the dormitory section, Martin keeps making silly guesses: He won a contest, was the 10th caller, and so forth. Finally, he says he’s here because Davis can’t handle the school by himself and needs an assistant. Davis’s face gets angry and cruel, but he controls himself.

They’re interrupted by a voice down the hall: “FIRE!”

The story’s viewpoint cuts to a phone conversation between Martin’s parents. His father, Richard, laments that Martin keeps mouthing off and getting into trouble.