A Good Kind of Trouble

Shayla meets up with her friends Isabella Alvarez and Julia behind a row of temporary classrooms during a break between classes. The three have been close since sharing a group project in third grade. They refer to themselves as “the United Nations” (6) due to their racial diversity: Shayla is Black, Isabella is Puerto Rican, and Julia is Japanese American. When Shayla asks them to guess who her lab partner is, they first guess that it is Jace Hayward. Jace is Shayla’s crush, but her friends don’t know that, yet; they think of him as the “jerk” who made fun of Shayla’s forehead. However, Shayla is more focused on how attractive Jace is, “with his cinnamon skin that’s just a little lighter than [hers], and those wide, lime-green eyes, and a grin as cool as lake water” (8).

When Shayla tells them her lab partner is Bernard, they react to this news very differently. Isabella hopes that Mr. Levy will rotate partners for each lab assignment. Julia tells her she’s “doomed” and jokes that Shayla said she wanted a boyfriend, but Shayla doesn’t find it funny. Irritated, Shayla points out that Isabella has carrot stuck in her braces, causing Isabella to suddenly dash away, calling behind her that she will miss lunch due to an appointment. Julia and Shayla head to their classes. 

In PE class, Shayla changes clothes self-consciously while her PE partner, Yolanda, waits outside the locker room. Yolanda is Shayla’s first Black friend, and Shayla doesn’t always know how to act around her. Shayla writes about Yolanda often in her “eyeball journal,” in which she records her observations for an English project. On the track, Shayla and Yolanda run four laps around the track, which is the equivalent to a mile. Shayla leaves Yolanda behind, trying to catch up to Carmetta, who is “faster than lightning” (18). She doesn’t catch up to Carmetta, but Coach West (the only Black teacher at the school) notices her effort and asks her to join the track team. Shayla wants to refuse, but she feels pressure from Coach and reluctantly agrees.

Shayla hurries to English class, worrying that she stinks from PE. Ms. Jacobs asks what the class learned about Ralph Waldo Emerson, and Shayla is the only student to respond, to Ms. Jacobs’s exasperation. Ms. Jacobs expresses surprise that Shayla didn’t report that Emerson was an abolitionist. Hating that Ms. Jacobs singled her out according to her race, Shayla feels everyone is examining her as if “being Black is a whole different species” (22). Ms. Jacobs checks in with the class about their eyeball journals, an assignment to record their observations, inspired by one of Emerson’s works. When no one shares, she encourages them to watch the news for “race factoring into police activity” (23). She states that Emerson was radical to believe in racial equality. Shayla feels that this draws attention to her again and is embarrassed. She remembers that last night, her parents discussed a police officer going on trial for shooting a Black man from behind. A video of the incident was put online, and Shayla doesn’t want to see or think about it anymore.

At lunch, Julia leads Shayla away from their usual table to sit with a group of Asian American girls with whom Julia plays basketball. Shayla feels awkward as the only non-Asian American. Stacy Chin, a popular girl, talks loudly to the table while another group of girls in the lunchroom plays “Command.” The game requires all players to keep part of their body crossed (legs, arms, fingers, etc.). If a player is caught uncrossed, another player can call them out, thus earning the power to command the uncrossed player to do whatever the other player wants. Shayla knows she doesn’t ever want to play; the game could get her into trouble, and she hates trouble. Shayla announces that she is joining the track team, which surprises Julia. After lunch, Shayla thinks back on a conversation she had with her dad when Julia told her that only Asian Americans can play in the basketball league. Shayla was hurt, but her dad told her it “wasn’t about keeping [Shayla] out; it was about lifting up the kids who played in the league” (33). She understood better after watching a basketball game with him, paying attention to how there were no Asian American players.

Shayla’s last class of the day is shop, which she shares with Yolanda, the only other girl in the class. Shayla frequently observes Yolanda’s hairstyles with fascination. Her teacher, Mr. Klosner, has them work on their metal trays. As Shayla bangs on her tray to make decorative divots, a Black boy named Tyler tries to flirt with her. Shayla ignores him, disgusted by his tuna breath and close proximity, until he puts his hand on her arm. She jerks it away and admonishes him for not wearing work gloves. She thinks to herself that “people with sweaty hands should keep them to themselves” (37).

Shayla’s mother, Mrs. Willows or “Momma,” picks her up after school, and Shayla tells her about joining the track team. Momma laughs at the mental image, and her laugh is so infectious that Shayla joins in. When Momma says she’s excited to see Shayla run, Shayla feels anxious and tells her not to come. They take a different route home than usual. Shayla asks Momma why, and Momma tells her the trial for the police officer who shot the Black man started today. Momma isn’t hopeful, because it “doesn’t seem like Black folks can get any justice” (40). A police car whizzes by, which prompts Shayla to ask if the police hate Black people. Her mom explains that others are afraid of Black people, and “that’s how the police have been trained to act” (41). Shayla responds hopefully that the trial will change people’s minds because this time, there is video evidence clearly incriminating the officer. Momma doesn’t reply.

At home, Shayla goes straight to her room. Her older sister, Hana, comes in to talk to her. Shayla shares her concerns about being partnered with Bernard. Though Hana insinuates that Shayla is scared of him because he’s Black, Shayla insists that it’s because he’s a bully. Hana “is really weird about race stuff” (46), according to Shayla. She wears a black armband as a stand against racist police brutality, and she teases Shayla about her non-Black friends; Hana “only has Black friends” (46). Hana warns Shayla that the other Black students will notice that she’s avoiding them by not sitting at the basketball courts at lunch, but Shayla vehemently denies both her avoidance and its potential consequences. Hana also predicts the dispersal of the United Nations, to Shayla’s distress. Though she wants to slam the door behind her, Shayla shuts the door quietly and writes in her observation journal in disbelief of Hana’s prediction.

At dinner, Shayla tells her family about the eyeball journal. When she explains its name and origins relate to Ralph Waldo Emerson, her dad smirks and comments about schools teaching about “dead white men” (49). Shayla defends Ms. Jacobs and justifies the journal name, saying that the school is named after Emerson. Her dad and sister assert that the curriculum should focus not only on white historical figures but also those of color. They quote James Baldwin: “Not everything that is faced can be changed […] But nothing can be changed until it is faced” (51). Shayla is embarrassed that she isn’t familiar with the quote or its Black author.

The next day, Shayla tries to ask Mr. Levy to switch lab partners so that she doesn’t have to work with Bernard, but she worries that Bernard knows what she’s doing, so she asks Mr. Levy a question about butterflies, instead. As she leaves class, she trips over a backpack. When Bernard yanks her off the floor, Jace jokes about him not being so rough and smiles at Shayla. His smile keeps Shayla happy even when she scores two points lower than a competing student, Alex, in her history class. She goes to lunch, excited to share the news of Jace’s smile with Julia and Isabella, but she stops in her tracks when she sees Isabella. Isabella looks beautiful with her braces now off and her eyebrows professionally waxed. Shayla is envious of Isabella’s new look.