My dad looked gray and gone, but I knew he was in there somewhere, and I was determined to get him back. So I made a deal with the universe. I would give up everything that I cared about, and the universe would give me back my father. I quit dessert, I quit goin~to movies, I quit my friends, I quit flipping through atlases. I even quit running. The more I liked sth, the more I needed to ruin it. the only thing I didn't quit was nums. If I could jump rope 43 times without missing, or if I could catch the ball 27 times in a row. If the num of falling leaves I counted equal the num of letters in my dad's name, then maybe I would give him back. I never stopped counting. I never stopped hoping. Nums, safe, reliable, perfect.

 

Miss Grey: You're kicking me out?? 

Mom: You don't have friends, you don't have a job. It's time for you to go. 

Miss Grey: But I love it here. 

Mom: You're lying, Mona. And what's worse is, you don't even know it. I have to take care of him, you don't. 

Miss Grey: By the third night, my math book and I called it quits. 

Mom: We can help you with the first month's rent. I'v saved a little, and Dad has his disability check. 

Dad: She'll never find an apartment with a toilet as strong as ours.

 

Miss Grey: What??

BG: You told us to say our name and our favor num. Yeah, get with the programme.

Miss Grey: And you're..

BG: Ann DiGanno.

Miss Grey: Lisa, how about choosing a num between 1 and 9?

Lisa: 9..I mean..2..no 7.

Miss Grey: 7??

Lisa: For sure 7!

Miss Grey: Ok, do I have any other volunteers?

BG: My name is Levan Beeze, and my favor num is 1.

Miss Grey: Ok, Levan, you and Lisa. Come to the front and form your nums with your bodies. What's the total of Levan and Lisa?

Lisa: 8!

Miss Grey: That's right! All right, who wants to be the 8?

BG: What are we gonna do now?

Miss Grey: How about if we..how about..um..what if we make nums out of nature? One of you will bring in a num every Friday. Kinda like show-and-tell with nums. And we'll call it nums and materials.