| OCR Text |
Show -18- Peppermint Monday butterflies and knots that were crowding out my appetite. All I'd done the entire meal was push my food around on my plate and watch Jason do the same. Pa was telling ma about problems discussed in faculty meeting after school, so they hadn't noticed our lack of mealtime enthusiasm. "Sonders thinks we need a study period in each students schedule. That's nonsense. None of them study when they get a free minute now." I would've voiced my opinion backing Sonders, but then pa knew I wasn't an example of a bookworm. He'd have just used my last report card as an illustration of his point. "Can I?" Russ must have noticed I was still dawdling in my food, and my pie was tempting him. "Sure, I said, pushing the plate toward-him. I watched as his thin fingers grasped his fork awkwardly. It would have been much simplier and quicker if ma helped Russ eat, but he still struggled through the whole process on his own. He wasn't a quitter, you could say that much for Russ. Now if I was in his shoes, I think I'd sit back bitterly and expect the rest of the world to wait on me. I would want all the elite people to sympathize with "poor Carly" - all the Mrs. Todd's, Renaes, and her snobby friends. I certainly wouldn't let dumb old Jake visit me. I wouldn't snoop around his place either, like I was planning to do. Jason cornered me on my way to bed. He had his red-striped pajamas on, the ones that made him look Christmasy all year round. He'd just brushed his teeth with the new gel, mint toothpaste, and his freckles almost glowed fromlhier recent wash. "I've got it all planned." "What?" I said, pretending not to know. |
