Aldo doesn’t like Kiana, because one time she interrupted him kicking the school candy machine for giving him a Mounds bar instead of a Zagnut. He also assumes that Mr. Kermit doesn’t like him because “all the teachers in this dump have it out for me” (32). Aldo doesn’t have a kind word to say about the other kids in room 117 either, including Parker, Barnstorm Anderson (a football player who hurt his knee), and Elaine Ostrover (who’s known around school as Elaine rhymes with pain).

One day, Mateo Hendrickson, another room 117 student, greets Aldo in Klingon, a made-up language from the TV show “Star Trek.” Feeling like Mateo is making fun of him and with the other kids laughing at him, Aldo storms out of the classroom in a haze of rage, almost knocking over Mr. Kermit. In the hall, Aldo punches a locker until “the pressure inside my head goes down” (38).

Emma Fountain, the teacher from the classroom next door, comes into the hall and escorts Aldo back to room 117. Mr. Kermit stares at her and alludes to knowing her mother.