After school one day, Harriet joins in a game of tag with her classmates. During the game, she unknowingly drops her notebook while running away from Sport. Upon realizing her mistake, she runs feverishly back to the other kids to try to find it, “yelling like a banshee the whole way” (179). When she returns to the group, she finds Janie reading her notebook aloud to everyone else in the class. Harriet wrote mean things about everyone, and Janie passes it around so all the children can read what was said about them. Harriet can see Sport crying, and the entire class is furious, reading and trying to decide what to do to get back at Harriet. The next day in class, Harriet writes:

THEY ARE OUT TO GET ME. THE WHOLE ROOM IS FILLED WITH MEAN EYES. I WON’T GET THROUGH THE DAY. I MIGHT THROW UP MY TOMATO SANDWICH. EVEN SPORT AND JANIE. WHAT DID I SAY ABOUT JANIE? I DON’T REMEMBER. NEVER MIND. THEY MAY THINK I AM A WEAKLING BUT A SPY IS TRAINED FOR THIS KIND OF FIGHT. I AM READY FOR THEM (188-89).

The other students start passing notes among themselves.