Fish in a Tree

Mr. Daniels explains to Ally that the substitute teacher wasn’t supposed to read his note out loud. He apologizes for making a mistake in his handling of the situation but promises he would never hurt Ally’s feelings on purpose.

That afternoon, Ally meets with him for another game of chess. She analyzes each chess pieces in terms of its personality, comparing Keisha to the bishop—“tall and powerful”—Albert to the king—“the piece with a ton of value but the one unable to move more than one space at a time”—and herself to the knight—a clever piece that has spent its whole life “jumping over things” (191) just as she does. She then compares Shay to the queen, who has “the most power to scare and frighten” (191) and explains that dealing with Shay’s teasing each day is like navigating her way through a game of chess.

Ally then defeats Mr. Daniels in the game of chess. She is proud of her ability, stating that she has gone from “invisible to invincible” (192).