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calculator, if you can believe it,” Logan said, shaking his head, whichas usual was covered up by a grungy blue Fraley’s Feeds baseball cap. “It’s so pathetic.”
    I examined my taco. Math was not my strong point. “So how’s your first day going, anyway?” I asked Murphy. “I mean, besides the square roots and all?”
    “Okay,” Murphy said, taking a bite of pinto beans. “I’ve seen worse schools than this one, I guess.”
    “You should join the band,” Logan told her. “There are a few people who aren’t morons in band, unlike the rest of the clubs in this school.”
    He had a stringy little piece of lettuce hanging from his glasses, but before I could think of a polite way to mention it, Murphy reached over and flicked it off. “There seem to be some low-flying vegetables in the air today,” she said, smiling at him, her green eyes shining. Logan went red, and he looked at Murphy all googly-eyed, like she was a present Santa Claus had just dropped on the table in front of him.
    Murphy leaned over and tapped her fork on my tray. “Hey, Maddie, can we have boys over at the dorm? I mean, can Logan come over?”
    “Ricky Ray comes to visit me in the afternoon sometimes,” I said. “So I guess so.”
    Logan wiggled his eyebrows at me. “Is Ricky Ray your boyfriend?”
    “Ricky Ray is six,” I told him. “He’s a little young for romance.”
    Looking at his watch, Logan said, “My mom’s picking me up for a dentist’s appointment in five minutes. Should I tell her to drop me off at the Home this afternoon, around four?”
    “Sure,” Murphy told him. “It’s the first dorm as soon as you come up the driveway. I’ll be waiting out front.”
    “Waiting to do what?” I asked as we watched Logan walk out of the cafeteria, his two-ton backpack hanging off his right shoulder, his trumpet case in his left hand. “What on earth could you think up to do with Logan Parrish?”
    “Well, there’s math homework, for one thing,” Murphy said, popping her Jell-O with a spoon. “And looking for something to do, for another. I’m the sort of person who always needs something interesting to do, wherever I am. I was raised that way.”
    “But why Logan Parrish?” I asked. “What makes you think he’ll be interesting?”
    Murphy began packing up her stuff. “What you don’t understand about Logan is that he’s a frog prince.”
    “A what?”
    “A frog prince. A person who once was a frog but who got the right kiss and turned into a prince. Can’t you tell he used to be an amphibian? He’s still not used to being human, that’s perfectly clear to me,” Murphy said, shoving a notebook into her backpack. “It’s like he’s not of this world, not of that world.”
    I’ll tell you, my head was starting to spin. For one thing, who in the world would kiss Logan Parrish?
    I stood and picked up my tray to take it over to the trash. “I think you’re confusing Logan Parrish with some fairy tale,” I told Murphy. “Trust me, they’re two entirely different things.”
    “Don’t you believe that magical things can happen?” Murphy looked at me like she was dead serious and expected a serious answer in return.
    I was stumped. “I guess I never thought about it,” I said. “But I haven’t seen much evidence to prove it.”
    “Oh, there’s more to everything than the eye can see,” Murphy informed me. “I thought everybody knew that.”

Chapter 5
    I was in a bad mood when Ricky Ray came over that afternoon, which he sensed right away. Little kids are smarter than anyone ever gives them credit for.
    “Let’s look at the books, Maddie,” he said, tugging on my sleeve. “It’ll make you feel happier.”
    We were sitting in the common room, on the brown couch that had coffee stains all over it. It had been donated by someone from the First Baptist Church of Elizabethton, which is the church that sponsors the Children’s Home. Whoever donated this couch needed to cut down on the