We’ve all been there. You’re in 7th grade, and you didn’t do the homework.

I loved to read growing up. I just didn’t like most of the books we were assigned to read in school. There’s objectively a great value to be had in reading the classics — but something in my brain didn’t connect. I struggled to take in most books written before, say, 1970.

That didn’t mean I could opt out of English class. I relied heavily on SparkNotes to learn the broader plot points of the books. In-class discussions were harder for me. Teachers cold-called. A lot. Like they’re only trying to call the people they think aren’t paying attention or trip up the students they think didn’t do the reading.

But one day in 7th grade, my friend Austin figured out an escape hatch. He arrived at school, frantically realizing he hadn’t read the three required chapters of The Call of the Wild. I don’t remember if he read one chapter at home, or during school before class. Something was better than nothing.

Austin knew he was toast if he was asked a question about anything that happened in the 2nd or 3rd assigned chapter. And he recognized that whom teachers cold call is super arbitrary. So he made them not want to call on him.

How does one do that? Did he sit up straight, put on a smile, and act alert with book in hand? Hoping they wouldn’t call on him?

Not quite.

When the discussion was centered on chapter 1, Austin raised his hand first, every single time. Nobody else really raised their hand in competition, so the teacher was forced to call on him.

Seemingly every question, Austin offered an answer. To the point that our teacher demanded that anybody but Austin can speak for the rest of the discussion.

By the time we discussed the other chapters, he was slumped in his seat with a smirk. He didn’t do the reading, but was immune from being called upon.

Sometimes the best thing to do is to hide in plain sight.