Orbiting Jupiter

Mr. Hurd tells Jack and Joseph they must ride the bus to school every day. The next morning, Joseph reads in his seat at the back of the bus while Jack’s friends shove him into another seat. One friend, John Wall, asks Jack about Joseph’s fall into the river. Jack’s friends ask him why he would spend time with someone dangerous like Joseph. Another friend, Danny, tells Jack that Joseph attacked another eighth-grader who now wants revenge.

Frustrated with his friends, Jack sits with his foster brother in the back of the bus. At school, Joseph has a private talk with Mr. D’Ulney, but in PE class, Coach Swieteck reprimands him. Jack notices that Coach asks the other eighth grade boys—including Jay, the boy Joseph attacked—to help him put the gym equipment away in order to protect Joseph from the other boys. During their Office Duty period, Mr. Canton demands that Joseph stop reading his book in case a message that needs delivering. When Mr. Canton reaches for Joseph, “immediately his back was against the wall and his hands up” (59). This movement reminds Jack of Joseph’s first day on the farm when he first noticed Joseph’s trauma.