A Not So Bad Bad Girl (ePub)

I peeked at the classroom clock to know how much time was left to the school day. I had to be careful, though, I couldn't let Miss Latour catch me, she'd be mad as hell, she'd say, "Don't you look at the clock again or else." I'd have to apologize. I was always apologizing. Miss Latour wasn't the problem: I was. I couldn't concentrate for more than a minute before my mind wandered off all over the place. I always, always, always started every school day with the promise that I'd concentrate non-stop, but it never worked, in no time I was off daydreaming about adventures with the two loves of my life: my dog Rocky and Julie-my-classmate-and-next-door-neighbor. I wasn't quite clear yet as to why she was more and more in my thoughts, I just know that she was. My heart pounded every time she was around, which said I loved her, but Paul said I'd have to French-kiss her if I really loved her, and I said, are you crazy, I'll never do that, that's gross. Paul said your parents do it. I said, well, I've got bad news for you, maybe your parents do it, but mine sure don't.

Miss Latour started erasing the blackboard. She had her back to us, that's why I risked glancing at the clock again. Only 35 minutes left. What would my friends and I play after class? Dodgeball, hopscotch, hide & seek? I couldn't wait. Miss Latour put the eraser down and headed toward the filing cabinet in the corner of the classroom. She unlocked the top drawer and pulled out a pile of paper. She held it high up and announced that she had a surprise math quiz for us. That's all I needed, a damned math quiz to finish the week!

Miss Latour walked to Dominique and started distributing her pile. Dominique was the shortest in the class and the rule at my school was clear, the shortest sat in front and the tallest in the back, that's why Dominique got the quiz first and I got it last, because I was the tallest. I didn't mind being way back: kids like me prefer being invisible in the classroom. Miss Latour started barking her instructions as she went up and down the aisles: "I'm putting the test face down on your desk, don't turn it over until I say so, I don't want anybody to get a head start. Put everything away except your pencils and eraser. Don't forget to write your name. Don't talk, don't look at your neighbor's copy, that's cheating, an automatic zero. Understand?" and we all said, "Yes, miss."

She went to the blackboard and wrote Quiz: 3:30 to 4:00. Then she said, "The test is on. You can start." We got to work. Well, most students got to work. Not me. I couldn't believe how fast some of my classmates were on task. It took a few seconds and already some of them were writing down their first answers. I hadn't even looked at my test yet when I saw Alice flipping to page 2. Holy cow, she was already done with page 1. I'd better get going. That's when I was distracted by Julie depositing her pencil and picking up her eraser and swoosh, swoosh, swoosh, she was erasing a mistake she'd made. Julie brushed the shavings to the floor with her right hand, looked at her quiz, she'd missed a few shavings, that was not satisfactory to her, only perfection for Julie, so she gave a few more swooshes of the hand until everything on her desk was as clean as a surgery room. She glanced at her watch. I don't know why she was worried about the time, she was always one of the first ones to finish. And she'd get 100%. Anything less and she'd whine all the way home. I would have to cheer her up, like the last time she got a dismal mark, I said, "Come on, Julie, I'd be happy with 60%, how can you be miserable with 96%", and she said, "Oh, Richard, you just don't understand, I've never had 96% before."