Hello friends and welcome to Sleep Tight Stories.
Each week we share a few shout outs and birthday wishes for listeners who help support the show.
It's a small way we say thank you and it always makes us smile.
Happy 13th birthday Mira.
You are the bestest and we're so proud of you and how awesome you are.
Enjoy your season 13.
We love you always, Mama, Daddy, and Noah.
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We love the way our pocket rocket makes us laugh every single day.
From Mom, Dad, Indy, and Tommy and Sammy the Tortoises.
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Your wonderful sense of humor keeps us all laughing.
Keep learning and growing.
The world is better because you're a part of it.
Love, Mom, Dad, and Cash.
Happy ninth birthday to Rowan from Okemos, Michigan.
Mom and Dad are so proud of you.
You are so kind, smart, and fun.
We love you and can't wait to see what this next year brings.
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Mom, Dad, and Eliza love you.
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Mom, Dad, and your dog Chase love you so very much.
And we think we are the luckiest to have you in our family.
All our love on your special day.
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Your family is so proud of you and love you so very much.
Sleep tight, our smart, beautiful, funny Sophia.
The stars are watching over you and sweet dreams are on the way.
We love you to the moon and back a trillion times.
Love, Mom, Dad, and Katrina.
Happy eighth birthday, Dakota.
Mommy and Daddy love you so much.
We are lucky to have such a smart and kind son.
And happy fourth birthday to our fearless adventurer, Henry, on February 23rd.
And happy first birthday to to our inquisitive Marilyn on February 17th.
We love you both so much.
Love, Mom and Dad.
Happy birthday to you all, and thank you for supporting the show.
We're so grateful you're here with us.
Whether you've been listening since the beginning or just found us last week, you're part of something really special.
Millions of families around the world making bedtime a little sweeter together.
This year we have some lovely new stories planned.
More adventures, more wonder, and maybe even a few surprises.
We can't wait to share them with you.
Now, on to our story.
After the gang had several meetings, they considered that maybe this mystery doesn't need to be solved.
The person writing the notes is helping people, not doing anything wrong.
Mr McCaskill meets Red and asks her and the gang to look at this mystery differently and to make sure that they are kind when they do solve it.
The Transfer Student, Volume 3, Part 6.
Red gets home and Blue's waiting in the hallway, practically vibrating with excitement.
I think I found the note person, maybe.
Red drops her backpack.
What?
After you told me to stop following people, I just observed. from a distance, very professionally.
Blue pulls out his phone.
There's someone who arrives at 6.45 a.m. every single day.
Mr. Rodriguez, the janitor, told me.
He lets this person in early because otherwise they'd be waiting in the cold.
Red's mind races.
That's even earlier than they thought.
Library Corner?
Every morning.
Reads until classes start, Blue grins.
I figured you'd want to know the exact timing for whatever you're planning.
Red pulls out her phone and texts the gang.
Someone arrives, 6.45 a.m.
Library Corner.
Maybe our person.
Tomorrow we observe and confirm.
The responses come fast.
Alexa, that's really early.
Charlie, we can identify who it is tomorrow.
Senna, I'm nervous.
Red looks at Blue.
Thanks, this actually helps.
I know, Blue says, heading toward the kitchen.
I'm basically a detective genius.
Red rolls her eyes, but she's smiling.
Tomorrow, they'll figure out exactly who's been helping everyone.
Tuesday morning, Red's awake before her alarm.
Mostly because Blue's singing echoes through the entire house.
Codebreaker Blue, solving mysteries for you.
Red groans and pulls her pillow over her head.
Her brother has exactly zero musical talent and infinite confidence.
Red quickly gets dressed, goes to clean up and races downstairs where her mother is making breakfast and humming along, which somehow makes it worse.
"'Morning, Red,' her mother says cheerfully."
Blue wrote a theme song for himself.
Isn't that creative?
It's something, Red mutters, grabbing a waffle.
Blue slides into his chair, still humming.
You're just jealous you don't have a theme song.
I'm jealous you have working vocal cords.
On the bus, Charlie's already in their usual spot, nose red and tissues everywhere.
You have a cold again?
Red asks, sitting down carefully to avoid the tissue danger zone.
It's allergies, Charlie says, then immediately sneezes three times in rapid succession.
Or a cold, I can't tell anymore.
Senna arrives and stops short.
Should I sit somewhere else?
Probably, Charlie admits, sneezing again.
I'm a biohazard.
It's fine, Red says, making room.
We need to talk about today anyway.
The observation thing?
Senna asks, nervously sitting down.
We're really doing this?
We watch for kindness, Red confirms.
See if we can identify who's been helping people.
Blue said someone arrives at 6.45 a.m. every day.
That's our starting point.
Charlie pulls out his notebook, which now has sneeze stains on it.
I made a list of what to look for.
Random acts of ach.
He sneezes directly onto the page.
Kindness.
You need to stay home, Red says.
Can't, missing too much school already.
Charlie wipes his nose.
Besides, who's going to document everything?
Someone whose documentation doesn't include mucus?
Senna suggests.
Charlie grins despite his red nose.
Where's the fun in that?
Red shakes her head.
The Solving Mysteries Club might be the most disaster prone investigation team ever, but at least they're committed.
Now they just need to actually identify who's been leaving those notes.
The gang splits up during morning break, each watching different parts of the school.
Charlie positions himself near the main entrance, pretending to tie his shoe for the third time, while actually watching the hallway.
A sixth grader with a dark hoodie walks past.
Small, quiet, hood pulled up.
Matches the description from Blue and Taylor's photo.
A seventh grader drops an entire binder.
Papers exploding everywhere.
Most students just step around the mess.
The hooded figure stops immediately, kneels down, and starts gathering papers without saying a word.
The seventh grader looks surprised, mutters thanks.
The helper just nods and keeps walking.
Charlie sneezes directly into his elbow and frantically writes in his notebook dark hoodie, sixth grade, helped with dropped papers, didn't wait to be asked.
In the library, rachel sits with her book, watching over the top of the pages.
There in the corner, the same hooded figure, a student at the next table, is struggling with math homework erasing.
Frantically, looking increasingly frustrated, The hooded student glances over hesitates, then quietly slides a pencil across the table.
Not their own pencil, an extra one from their backpack.
The struggling student doesn't even notice who left it, just picks it up and keeps working.
Rachel makes a note, left pencil, anonymous.
Between second and third period, Kurt's rushing from the gym to her locker eating a granola bar because she's starving after early practice.
She nearly collides with someone in a dark hoodie who's holding the door open for a teacher carrying a huge stack of books.
The teacher doesn't notice at all, just walks through.
The hooded figure waits. holding the door for two more students, then slips through.
Kurt catches a glimpse of a name written on the backpack.
Jordan Flores.
At lunch the gang crowds around their usual library table, which is barely big enough for six people, and Kurt's mountain of food.
Everyone starts talking at once.
How are you eating that much?
Charlie asks, watching Kurt unwrap her third sandwich.
Practice this morning, practice after school game tomorrow.
Kurt says through a mouthful of peanut butter.
I need fuel.
You need a feeding trough, Charlie mutters then sneezes so violently his glasses slide down his nose.
Dude, cover your face, Alexa says, moving her tablet away from the sneeze radius.
I did, that was into my elbow.
Do it better.
Okay, one at a time, Alexa says firmly, pulling out her tablet.
What did everyone see?
Charlie goes first, sneezing between sentences.
Dark hoodie.
Sixth grade, helped someone pick up dropped papers.
Didn't say anything, just helped and left.
Library corner, Rachel reports.
Same person, I think.
Left a pencil for someone struggling with homework.
Completely anonymous.
I almost ran into them by the lockers.
Kurt says finishing her sandwich and immediately starting another, holding the door for everyone.
Nobody even said thank you, but I saw a name on their backpack, Jordan Flores.
Jordan Flores, Alexis repeats, typing it into her tablet.
She pulls up the school directory.
Sixth grade.
Here's the student photo.
She turns her tablet around.
Small, quiet looking, somewhat shy in the photo.
That's the person I saw, Charlie confirms.
Same, Rachel says.
I saw Jordan too, Alexa adds near the lockers during third period helping a sixth grader reach something on the top shelf, handed it over and walked away before they could even say thanks.
Red spreads Charlie's tissue-stained notes across the table.
Rachel's careful documentation reveals Alexa's digital records, Kurt's report scribbled on a napkin.
Every observation shows the same pattern.
Jordan helping quietly, quickly, without wanting credit or attention.
Dropped papers, pencil for homework, holding doors, reaching high shelves.
Alexa reads from her list.
Every single observation includes Jordan helping someone who needed it.
And nobody noticed, Rachel adds quietly.
That's what's sad about it.
Jordan's right there, helping constantly, and people just don't see him.
Senna's been quiet studying the notes.
Jordan's invisible because he wants to be invisible.
It's safer.
Safer than what?
Charlie asks, sneezing again.
Than being seen, Senna says softly.
When you're different or lonely or don't fit in.
Sometimes invisible feels better than being noticed for the wrong reasons.
The table goes quiet for a moment.
Kurt breaks the silence by biting into an apple.
So Jordan's the note writer.
Has to be.
Matches Taylor's photo, arrives super early, observes everyone, helps people quietly.
And knows about Mars, Red reminds them.
Somehow he overheard me and Senna talking.
Someone that invisible, that good at being in corners?
They'd hear a lot of conversations.
Blue's enhanced hearing theory, Alexa says.
Either Jordan has it naturally or he's just gotten really good at listening because nobody talks to him.
Both are depressing, Charlie says, wiping his nose.
So we're sure it's Jordan?
Rachel asks, always the careful one.
Red looks at the evidence spread across the table.
Small sixth grader, dark hoodie, arrives at 645 am library corner regular helps people constantly, observes everything, never wants attention.
It's Jordan, Red confirms.
Now we just need to figure out how to approach him without making everything worse.
Charlie sneezes.
We can't just walk up and say, Hey, are you the mysterious note writer?
No, Red agrees, thinking about Mr. McCaskill's warning.
We need to be gentle.
We need someone who understands what it's like to be invisible.
Everyone looks at Senna.
Me?
Senna squeaks.
You're the fellow outsider, Alexa says, less threatening than the rest of us showing up as a group.
Tomorrow morning, Red says, you get to school early.
Jordan's always in the library corner.
Just talk to him, be friendly, see if he opens up.
And if he doesn't, Senna asks nervously, then we try something else, Red says.
But I think he will.
You understand what Jordan's going through better than any of us.
Senna nods slowly.
Okay, tomorrow.
I can do this.
Kurt finishes her apple and immediately starts on a bag of chips.
For the record, I think this is really nice.
We're not hunting down a suspect.
We're trying to help someone who's been helping everyone else.
That's the whole point, Red agrees.
Charlie sneezes into his elbow again.
Can we solve mysteries that don't require me to be sick?
Just once?
No promises, Alexa says, grinning.
After lunch, heading to fifth period, Red's walking to her locker when Mr McCaskill appears beside her.
Bowtie today featuring tiny books.
Red, how goes the investigation?
Red hesitates.
We're getting close, I think.
I suspect you are.
He adjusts his glasses.
Library corner, perhaps?
Very early mornings?
Red stares at him.
You know who it is.
I have my suspicions, Mr. McCaskill says carefully.
I've been teaching long enough to notice patterns.
Students who arrive before the sun's up, who sit in quiet corners watching everyone else, who help without wanting to be seen.
Why didn't you just tell us?
Because this isn't my mystery to solve, Mr. McCaskill says gently.
And because the person you're looking for doesn't need a teacher intervening.
They need friends, peers who understand.
They stop near the library entrance.
Mr. McCaskill looks through the window at the corner table where Jordan probably sits every morning.
Jordan arrives at 6.45, he says quietly.
Every single day, rain, snow, doesn't matter.
The janitor lets him in because otherwise he'd be waiting outside in the cold.
That's really early.
It is.
I've tried talking to Jordan a few times, asked if everything's okay at home, if he needs anything.
He just smiles and says he likes the quiet.
Mr. McCaskill's expression is sad.
But I don't think it's the quiet he likes.
I think it's feeling safe.
Red thinks about Senna on her first day, looking lost and scared.
About how much it meant when someone noticed her.
We're going to help, Red says.
Not expose him or get him in trouble.
Just let him know someone sees him.
That's exactly what he needs.
Mr. McCaskill smiles.
Be gentle, Red.
Sometimes the kindest people are the most fragile.
They spend so much energy helping others, they forget to protect themselves.
The warning bell rings.
Go on, Mr. McCaskill says, and Red, I'm proud of your club.
You're solving mysteries the right way, with empathy.
He heads toward his classroom, leaving Red standing there.
Tomorrow, Senna talks to Jordan, and hopefully, Jordan learns he's not alone anymore.
After school, the gang meets quickly by Red's locker before everyone heads to their buses.
So we're all agreed?
Alexa asks, tablet out.
It's Jordan, and Senna approaches him tomorrow morning.
I'm so nervous, Senna admits, hugging her backpack.
What if I say the wrong thing?
What if I scare him away?
You won't, Red says firmly.
You know what it's like to be the new kid, to feel invisible.
Just be honest about that.
But what do I even say?
Senna asks.
Hi, I know you've been leaving coded notes in people's lockers.
No, Charlie says, then sneezes.
Definitely not that.
Just talk to him.
Rachel suggests quietly about normal things at first book school, whatever.
Let him get comfortable.
Then maybe mention feeling lonely or struggling to fit in.
See if he relates.
And if he does, senna asks then you have a connection.
Red says and maybe, if it feels right, you can gently ask about the notes, but only if it feels right, no pressure.
Kurt's eating yet another granola bar.
What if Jordan just shuts down completely?
Then Senna backs off, Alexa says.
This isn't an interrogation.
It's a friend reaching out to someone who needs friends.
Exactly, Red agrees.
We're not trying to catch him or prove anything.
We just want Jordan to know he's not alone.
Senna takes a deep breath.
Okay, tomorrow morning.
I'll get to school early, find Jordan in the library corner, just talk.
You've got this, Red says.
And we'll all be nearby if you need backup, Charlie adds.
Well, probably sneezing nearby, but still nearby.
You're staying home tomorrow, Alexa tells him.
Am not.
Are too.
The buses start loading.
Senna adjusts her backpack straps, looking determined despite her nervousness.
Tomorrow, she says, I'll try.
That's all we're asking, Red says.
As they head to their buses, Red feels hopeful.
Tomorrow, maybe Jordan Flores learns that being invisible isn't the only option.
Maybe Jordan learns what it's like to be seen.
And that is the end of this part.
Good night.
Sleep tight.
