Mr. Ridley On the Friday before winter break, Mrs. Lyon was out sick with a cold. So, Mr. Ridley substituted for the day. Most of the students in Mrs. Lyon's class were normally well-behaved. However, with the anticipation of the winter break, they became a little wild. While Mr. Ridley was writing on the dry erase board, Margo threw a paper airplane at his back. The class giggled as Mr. Ridley spun around to see who had thrown the paper airplane.

"Class! Throwing paper airplanes at a teacher is unacceptable and disrespectful. Who did that?" Mr. Ridley asked.

The students kept their mouths closed and sat up straight in their chairs. No one volunteered any information.

"Fine then, you will all stay in from recess until someone tells me who threw the airplane," Mr. Ridley said.

Mercy wiggled in her seat. She wanted to tell the teacher who threw the airplane, but she was afraid that the other students would call her a tattle tale.

Alan, the class clown, was thrilled that someone besides him had done something foolish. He would never tell. He would expect the same loyalty from his classmates.

Margo felt nervous. She wanted to confess and apologize to Mr. Ridley, but she was afraid that she would receive a harsh punishment. She wondered how long her classmates would protect her.

Jervis sat and drummed his fingers. He didn't see who threw the paper airplane, but he guessed that it had been Alan. He was tempted to raise his hand and tell the teacher that Alan was the responsible party, but he wasn't completely confident. He really wished that someone would tell who did it. It wasn't fair that the whole class was being punished for one person's mistake.

Rosania was happy that the class wasn't going to recess. She had terrible allergies and wanted to stay inside. She hoped that no one would say a word until recess time was over.

Mr. Ridley walked around the classroom looking at each student's face as he went by. He thought he detected sweat and shaking when he walked by Fred. He wondered if Fred was the culprit. However, Fred just needed to use the restroom but was afraid to ask.

"Fred, you seem a bit anxious. What is it you want to tell me?" Mr. Ridley asked.

"Nothing, sir. I-I need to use the restroom," Fred stammered.

"No one is leaving this room until I find out who threw that airplane at me," Mr. Ridley said.

Margo could not allow her classmates to suffer any longer.

"It was me! I threw it! I'm sorry, Mr. Ridley," Margo said as she burst into tears.

Mr. Ridley hated to see children cry. He rushed over to Margo and gently patted her back.

"I forgive you. Don't cry," Mr. Ridley said.

"I was just being silly. I didn't mean to disrespect you," Margo sniffled.

"We will forget all about it. Let's enjoy the rest of our day together. Because you were honest, we will all play games for the rest of the day," Mr. Ridley announced.

In the passage, the author contrasts the points of view of the different characters by

A.

explaining how each character feels about the airplane incident.

B.

describing the relationships between all of the characters.

C.

demonstrating the consequences of each character's actions.