1 The Lost & Found Choice
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Last updated 3 months ago
7 Nsɛmmisa
Read the fiction passage and answer the multiple-choice questions. Focus on character decisions, theme, and how details from the text support your answers.
Read the fiction passage and answer the multiple-choice questions. Focus on character decisions, theme, and how details from the text support your answers.
The Lost & Found Choice
Maya liked to think of herself as a “do-the-right-thing” kind of person. It was easy to believe that on normal days—days when the biggest decision was whether to wear her blue hoodie or her green one.
Today was not a normal day.
The hallway outside the sixth-grade lockers buzzed with the end-of-day rush. Backpacks bumped knees. Sneakers squeaked. Someone laughed too loudly near the water fountain.
Maya reached for her math binder and noticed something on the floor near her locker—an envelope, thick and bright white, like it had been dropped only seconds ago. It was sealed, and on the front someone had written, in neat marker, “Fundraiser Cash — 6B”.
Maya’s stomach tightened.
Ms. Ortega had spent all week talking about the class fundraiser. Sixth grade was selling tickets for a school movie night, and the class that raised the most money got to choose the first movie shown. Maya’s class, 6B, was finally in the lead.
Maya crouched and picked up the envelope. It felt heavier than it should.
She glanced around. A few students streamed past her like she was invisible.
“Maybe someone from 6B dropped it,” she whispered.
A voice in her head answered quickly: Then you should bring it to Ms. Ortega right now.
Another voice—quieter but sharper—said: Or you could just hold onto it. Just for a minute. No one saw you.
Maya stood up, envelope in hand.
Across the hall, her best friend Jaden leaned against his locker, spinning a basketball on one finger. He noticed Maya’s face and the envelope.
“What’s that?” he asked, walking over.
Maya hesitated. “Uh… I found it.”
Jaden’s eyebrows lifted. “Is that… fundraiser money?”
Maya nodded.
Jaden let the basketball drop into his palms. “Whoa. That’s, like, important.”
“I know.”
He leaned closer. “How much do you think is in there?”
“I don’t know,” Maya said, but her fingers were already pressing against the envelope as if they could count the bills through the paper.
Jaden glanced around. “No teachers. No hall monitors.” He said it like he was just stating a fact, but the way he smiled made Maya feel like she’d stepped onto a narrow bridge.
Maya swallowed. “I should take it to Ms. Ortega.”
“Yeah,” Jaden agreed quickly. Too quickly. Then he added, “But… imagine if someone stole it and blamed our class. Or if it got lost again.”
Maya frowned. “That would be bad.”
“So maybe,” Jaden said, “you could keep it safe until tomorrow. Like… in your backpack. Then you can give it to her first thing. No risk.”
Maya stared at him. “That sounds… reasonable.”
But something about the word reasonable felt slippery.
From down the hallway, she heard a familiar voice: “Has anyone seen an envelope? White, kind of thick?”
Maya turned and saw Lila from her class walking toward them. Lila’s cheeks were flushed, and she kept patting her pockets as if the envelope might suddenly appear there.
Ms. Ortega followed a few steps behind, her eyes scanning the floor.
Maya’s heart began to thump like someone knocking from the inside of her chest.
Jaden whispered, “If you hand it over now, Lila’s going to look like she messed up. She’ll be embarrassed.”
Maya looked at Lila. Lila was usually confident—always ready with an answer in class—but right now she looked small, like her shoulders had shrunk.
Maya tightened her grip on the envelope.
Ms. Ortega stopped near the water fountain. “It was labeled ‘Fundraiser Cash — 6B,’” she said. “We can’t leave money lying around.”
Lila’s eyes darted everywhere except at Ms. Ortega.
Maya’s mind spun.
If she spoke up, she would be doing what she knew was right. But Lila would be embarrassed, and Jaden might think Maya was being dramatic.
If she stayed quiet, she could avoid the awkward moment. She could keep the envelope “safe.” She could even give it back tomorrow when nobody was watching.
Maya pictured the envelope in her backpack overnight. She pictured her little brother rummaging for snacks. She pictured her dog chewing paper like it was a toy.
She pictured herself lying awake, listening to the envelope whisper, You could open me. Just to check.
Maya’s mouth felt dry.
Then she remembered something her dad had said when he returned a wallet he’d found in a grocery cart. Maya had asked him why he bothered when it would have been easier to ignore it.
Dad had shrugged. “Because being honest isn’t about who’s watching,” he’d said. “It’s about who you want to be.”
Maya took a breath that seemed to go all the way to her toes.
She stepped forward.
“I found it,” she said.
Everyone’s head turned.
Lila froze. Ms. Ortega looked relieved so quickly it was almost funny.
“Oh, thank goodness,” Ms. Ortega said. “Maya, where was it?”
“By my locker,” Maya answered, holding out the envelope.
Lila’s eyes filled with worry. “I—I dropped it,” she said, voice small. “I was supposed to take it to the office. I thought I put it in my folder.”
Ms. Ortega’s expression softened. “Mistakes happen. What matters is that we have it.” She took the envelope and then looked at Maya. “Thank you for bringing it right away.”
Maya felt heat rise to her cheeks. She wasn’t sure if it was pride or embarrassment.
Lila exhaled, like she’d been holding her breath the whole time. “Maya… thank you,” she whispered.
Maya gave a small nod.
Jaden didn’t say anything at first. He just bounced the basketball once, hard.
As the crowd moved again, he walked beside Maya. “I guess you did the right thing,” he said.
Maya glanced at him, unsure if he meant it as a compliment.
Jaden scratched the back of his neck. “Honestly… if you’d kept it, I probably would’ve worried all night.”
Maya let out a breath she hadn’t realized she was holding. “Me too.”
They reached the doors to the parking lot. Outside, the late afternoon sunlight stretched their shadows long across the sidewalk.
Maya looked down at her shadow and thought about how it followed her everywhere, even when no one else did.
Maybe integrity was like that, she decided.
Quiet. Constant.
And always hers to choose.
What does the envelope labeled “Fundraiser Cash — 6B” most likely represent in the story?
In the sentence “But something about the word reasonable felt slippery,” what does slippery most likely mean?
Which statement best describes the central message of the story?
Which character trait best describes Maya when she decides to speak up?
Which event is the turning point (climax) of the story?
Why does Maya hesitate before telling Ms. Ortega she found the envelope?
What point of view is the story told from, and how does it affect the reader?