Content Warning: The source text features overgeneralized characterizations that potentially reflect racist attitudes and biases.

The story opens with Wyatt Palmer, the protagonist and narrator, who recounts the events of his field trip. His eighth-grade class, including his best friend Matt and his crush Suzana, is about to fly to Washington, DC. Wyatt explains that he is used to strange events because he has grown up in Miami, but he warns that his adventures in Washington are even more unusual.

The eighth graders’ trip is led by Mr. Barto, a forgetful civics teacher, and Miss Rector. As they embark on the plane, Matt notices that the two men sitting behind him and Wyatt are behaving strangely. One of them, whom they refer to as “the big man,” is large and intimidating and carries a mysterious duffel bag. The other, “the little man,” carries a second bag that he refuses to put down. Matt believes that the men could be terrorists, and Wyatt reluctantly agrees that they are acting suspiciously. However, Wyatt is preoccupied by Suzana, whom he tries to approach casually before embarrassing himself when his opening joke backfires. When Wyatt returns to his seat, Matt tells him that the two men have been looking at aerial photographs of the White House.