"Now, can any of you define a homophone for me?"

Merridew's hand shot up, along with all of the other choir boys' hands. All except for Simon. He was listening very intently, of course. He always did. It just always seemed he would end up doodling in his notebook in order to pay attention. Before they had been of the girl who lived across the street. Then it was some trees he saw on his excursion through the woods. This time the picture was of three blue butterflies. They were very exotic looking, with long, large wings and vibrant color. The blue was that of a sapphire, and there were jet black streaks running along the veins of the wings.

"How about you, Simon?" the English teacher asked. Simon looked up in shock. Oh no, he thought. Mr. Garrett, you don't know what you're doing.

"Simon?"

Oh boy…

"A homophone is a word that sounds like another word, but looks different. Like pear and pair and pare." He said quietly, looking nervously around the classroom. He was going to get it from Jack now. That was his question.

"Thank you, Simon," the teacher said. "Yes a homophone is a word that sounds identical to another while having a different spelling. Simon's example was great…"

Simon looked a Jack, who was now looking straight at him. The breath caught in Simon's throat and his eyes widened. Jack's blue eyes flashed with anger and fear, like that of a policeman before executing a criminal. His lips curled into a sinister smile. Simon looked away and at the teacher, who was now on a different topic entirely.

"What was that?" Simon heard behind him in the hallway. He jumped and turned around.

"Um, what?"

Merridew laughed maniacally. "In class, you little elf. You answered my question! What was that all about?"

"The teacher called on me," Simon said quietly. "I didn't really have a choice."

Merridew grabbed his sleeve and pulled him up to his face. "You could have said you didn't want to answer, right?"

"Um, yeah," Simon whimpered.

"Then why didn't you?" Merridew nearly shouted.

"I, um, I just... I don't know," he begged.

"Well, from the looks of things, you know a whole lot. You read my mind in there, Simon. Did I give you permission to do that?"

"No…"

"Then why?" Merridew nearly shouted.

"Merridew," Simon said softly, "you're attracting a lot of attention. People are watching us."

"Oh, so you don't like all of this attention, midget? I'll show you attention. Just wait for choir class."

Merridew released Simon's sleeve and threw the small arm to the side. He wrung his hands together as though he had just touched an insect. With one swift movement, he turned on his heel and strode away.