Secret of the School Suitor (4 page)

“This morning's … mishap wasn't a big deal at all. It was foggy and we all got to school safe and sound. That's the important part,” Divya said, trying to sound as calm as Mrs. Holmes.

“I'm here because I don't want you to quit driving the school bus. I'm sure that I can speak for all of the students here at Watson to say how much we need you to keep driving Bus 72,” she said.

Bus Driver McCool smiled at Divya. “You think I'm quitting?”

Divya could hear the laughter in his voice. Even Mrs. Holmes tried to hide her smile.

Uh oh. Divya had been sure that all clues pointed to the bus driver quitting. “Is everything okay with your mom?” she asked. Since he didn't seem to be leaving his job, maybe the suspicion about his mom's illness had been correct.

“My mom's great, other than stealing some of the snacks from the nursing home kitchen. Thanks for asking. I'm curious why you think I'm quitting,” Bus Driver McCool said.

Divya shared her evidence, starting with the rumors. Big mistake.

Mrs. Holmes shook her head. “Rumors should never be at the center of solving a case.”

“True, but I have evidence,” Divya said. She stopped talking for a moment because she'd
started to doubt whether she had solid evidence or not. “At least I thought I did.”

If she shared what evidence she had, Divya would have to admit she'd been spying on the bus driver and that she'd skipped morning assembly. She wanted to help the bus driver, but she could be hurting herself.

“We're waiting,” Mrs. Holmes said.

Divya needed to choose her words carefully.

Divya explained how she found the receipt and saw the suit. “When I went to get a bandage, I heard you and Mr. Sleuth arguing,” she said, looking at Bus Driver McCool.

“Then I heard you say you give up after you talked to Coach Shorts,” Divya said. At least the bandage sounded like a valid reason for being in the office, but she couldn't come up with a reason for why she'd followed Bus Driver McCool all the way to the gymnasium. Fortunately, neither one of them asked for her reason.

“I can see why you thought I was quitting,” Bus Driver McCool said. That made Divya feel somewhat better that he at least understood.

“I applaud your detective work and your
concern for our staff,” Mrs. Holmes said. “Everyone here at Watson Elementary cares very much about Mr. McCool. He is not planning on quitting nor am I going to fire him.” Mrs. Holmes brushed her thick bangs to the side of her forehead. She still had a hint of a smile on her face.

This was wonderful news, but there were still a whole lot of unanswered questions. “What was the argument about with Mr. Sleuth, then?” Divya asked.

“That's between the two of them,” Mrs. Holmes said.

This was yet another one of those adult responses that Divya found super unhelpful.

Now Divya was the one with her shoulders sagging. She'd gone through all of this trouble and it didn't seem like she'd ever get an answer.

Divya's day started with Bus Driver McCool apologizing to her and now she was apologizing to him and to Mrs. Holmes. “I'm sorry for snooping and missing morning assembly. I wanted to help but it turns out I've made a mess of things.”

Divya waited for Mrs. Holmes to explain how much trouble she was in. She dreaded having to call her dad to tell him that she'd been up to no good even if her heart had been in the right place.

“I've always thought you're a nice kid,” Bus Driver McCool repeated. It sure was nice to hear after Divya was feeling low.

“I shouldn't say anything, but you've gone through all this trouble for me,” he said, and looked over at Mrs. Holmes who shrugged her shoulders.

“You're free to talk to whoever you want to, but you've already seen the consequences of loose lips,” the principal said.

What in the world did that mean? Divya's brain was running out of clues.

“You see, I have been working an extra job in the evenings so I could buy something nice for Coach Shorts. Something expensive. As you know, I care about her very much. When I was shopping, I ran into Mr. Sleuth,” he said.

“I was so excited that I told him about my plan without thinking about it. Mr. Sleuth has
been dropping hints to a few people, and worse, he's been teasing Coach Shorts how she better be prepared to get a special gift from me,” Bus Driver McCool said. “That's why I had a bone to pick with him.”

Loose lips. Now it made sense. Mr. Sleuth could sometimes be a busybody and he wasn't nearly as good as Divya at keeping a secret.

Divya ran through all the clues again. So the rumor about the second job had been true. No wonder Bus Driver McCool seemed more tired than usual.

She thought about the suit.

The receipt for flowers.

The special, expensive gift.

“You're going to propose to Coach Shorts!” Divya just about shouted, but lowered her voice since other workers in the office might hear her and the secret was already getting out, thanks to Mr. Sleuth.

“Yes,” Bus Driver McCool said. “Today is our anniversary and I planned on asking her to marry me at dinner tonight. Only problem is—“

“She cancelled dinner tonight because of the basketball game,” Divya said.

“Try as I might,” Mrs. Holmes said, “but I can't reschedule the game. I appreciate you coming by to share the news with me, Mr. McCool, and I'm sorry I can't do more to help you.”

“I know how to help you!” Divya said, this time much more sure of herself.

Much to her surprise, both Bus Driver McCool and Mrs. Holmes liked her idea. Before Divya went back to class, Mrs. Holmes lectured her about respecting privacy and the importance of attending every part of school, even if an interesting case came up.

Mrs. Holmes gave her a hall pass so she wouldn't get in trouble with Mr. Smartline for being late. “I expect you to explain things to your dad without me having to call him,” she said.

“That's more than fair,” Divya said. When she walked out of Mrs. Holmes' office, Nurse Strongman stood in the doorway to see what was going on. Mr. Sleuth stood up at his desk, his eyes wide with curiosity.

“Divya, what was going on in there?” Mr. Sleuth asked. “I thought you were on your way to get a bandage.”

Like Divya was going to say anything! She needed to recruit some help and she'd fill her friends in on an as-needed basis. Hopefully even Klaude would help.

“I have to get to class,” she said. “Thanks for your help today, Mr. Sleuth!”

“So glad you could finally join us,” Mr. Smartline said as Divya passed him the note from Mrs. Holmes. “Are you finished helping the orphans?”

Was that code for something? Regardless, she was done lying and sneaking around. “Sorry, I had a case to solve.”

Mr. Smartline shook his head. “Very well. Please take a seat, Divya, and pass in your homework.”

Javier leaned over to whisper to Divya a few minutes later when their teacher was distracted at the computer. “Sorry,” he said. “I came up with a lousy cover story for you. Tell me what happened!”

Orphans! Divya had to keep herself from laughing. “Let's talk at recess. Round up everyone you know,” she whispered.

The morning had been stressful and things didn't get any easier as Divya had to wait until recess time.

Javier promised to put his art skills to good use.

“I'll help,” Queeneka said after Divya swore everyone to secrecy and shared her plan.

Queeneka loved to be the star at everything, so this wasn't a surprise to Divya. All of Queeneka's friends agreed to help, too.

Soon, everyone else was in on the plan, too. Except Klaude. He just had to complicate things.

“What's in it for me?” Klaude asked.

“To be nice and to help someone who looks after us?” Divya said.

Klaude rubbed his neck like Javier had earlier in the day. “I'll think about it,” he said.

Grrrr!

If Klaude wasn't going to help, he would hopefully keep his mouth shut. The team already had their hands full to keep Mr. Sleuth busy and to prevent him from ruining the surprise for Coach Shorts.

Divya dressed up for the basketball game in her Watson Elementary School shirt with the owl mascot on it and the fanciest thing she owned, a jean skirt. She slapped a couple of owl stickers on her ankle braces to show school spirit.

Her dad wore a matching shirt and a pair of dress slacks. She told her dad everything so Mrs. Holmes wouldn't have to. He gave her a similar lecture, but added, “I'm proud of you for caring about others.”

Divya wasn't the one about to propose, but her hands felt damp, much damper than her socks had felt this morning. Javier passed out cards for those in on the plan to hold in the air at the right time.

Divya could hardly sit still in the bleachers and to make matters worse, the Owls were losing.

Coach Shorts gave the basketball players a pep talk during the break. Right after the group
high-fived, Mr. Sleuth started to walk right up to Coach Shorts.