As soon as the bell rings for class to end, I motion for Addie to come to my desk. She looks like she would rather jump out the window, but she obliges.
“Addie,” I say.
She lifts her eyes, which look watery.
“I have decided not to bring this matter to the principal,” I tell her.
Her eyes widen. “You…”
“I am giving you a zero on the midterm,” I say. That is a blow that will make it almost impossible for her to pass the class, so if I have any heart, I need to soften it. “And I have made a list of peer tutors. If you bring up your grades significantly by the final, I will drop the midterm grade.”
I hold out the list of tutors to Addie, and she takes it with a shaking hand. “Thank you so much, Mrs. Bennett. I really appreciate that.”
I grunt, knowing that if Nate hadn’t been so persuasive last night, I would be marching her to see Higgins now. But he was right. She did what she did because she was desperate, and it wasn’t like she planned it in advance. I can let this slide for once. “If it ever happens again…”
“It won’t.” She looks like she’s about five seconds away from getting on her knees and kissing my feet. “I swear. I’m turning over a new leaf.”
“Good.”
I’m willing to forgive this one lapse in judgment, but I’m not about to become friends with the girl. She’s just lucky that Nate sees something in her, because God knows I don’t.
OceanofPDF.com
Chapter Thirty-Seven
ADDIE
I MUST HAVE SWALLOWED a few too many horseshoe Lucky Charms, because I am having amazing luck.
First I got away with breaking into Kenzie’s house.
Then Mrs. Bennett decided she was not going to report what I did to the principal. I didn’t even think that was possible, but she was nice to me. She didn’t smile, of course—that would be way too much to hope for—but she recommended some cheap tutors that I might be able to afford, and she told me she would drop the zero if I pulled it together by the end of the semester.
And now I am at the meeting of the poetry magazine, and Mr. Bennett thinks the new poem I’ve been working on for the last two weeks is worthy of being in this issue. I have been so scared Mrs. Bennett would tell him what I did and that he would think less of me, but I guess she didn’t tell him because he is looking at me the same as he always does.
“I love this line,” he tells me. “‘The blood drains out of my heart with each beat.’ What a powerful image.”
I look over at Lotus to see if she’s listening, but she is looking away. She was so angry about Mr. Bennett entering my poem in that contest rather than hers, she doesn’t even speak to me anymore. She doesn’t seem interested in being friends, which is saying a lot because Lotus might be the only kid in the school less popular than I am.
The Reflections meeting is officially over at 4:30, but the more dedicated members of the magazine usually stick around till five, discussing poems for the magazine and just stuff we read in general that we like. Lotus is the last to leave, slinging her backpack over her shoulder and vacating the room without even saying goodbye. I’m about to follow her when Mr. Bennett says my name.
“Addie,” he says. “Hang on.”
I freeze, curious to hear what he has to say. I’m even more curious when he walks over and pushes the door to his classroom shut. When we’re alone, he raises his eyebrows at me. “So what happened? What did Eve say to you?”
It’s strange how he calls her Eve instead of Mrs. Bennett. I mean, obviously he wouldn’t call his wife Mrs. Bennett to her face, but it seems like he should call her that around me. But that fact is less significant than the fact that he knows what happened. She must’ve told him what I did.
God, this is so embarrassing.
“Um,” I say. “It was…okay.”
His voice lowers a notch. “She went easy on you, right? She’s not involving the principal?”
I shake my head wordlessly.
He nods in satisfaction. He tugs at his tie, loosening it around his neck until I can see just a little bit of chest hair peeking out. “I told her what a hard time you’ve had in the last year. I told her to give you another chance to make it up.”
It all finally makes sense. I was wondering why Mrs. Bennett suddenly decided to take pity on me. It was because of him. He told her not to go to the principal.
“You helped me,” I blurt out.
“Of course I did, Addie.” He smiles at me, his eyes crinkling. “I wasn’t about to let my favorite student get kicked out of school. I had to stick up for you.”