3GB: Good Girl Gone Bad

9781483545493

Chapter 1: The Little Match Girl

I was cold, so cold, that I could not feel the matches clutched tightly in my hands. The city streets were deserted, and the snow that coated me had been replaced by a slow, silent, freezing air. Tears had frozen on my cheeks. Every breath I took hurt as the icy air rushed into my lungs. It was a killing cold, and I resigned myself to death. No one would miss the little match girl, I thought with a sob. I lowered myself to the snow-covered sidewalk and leaned against the brick wall of a building, shivering as the relentless cold overcame me. The city was silent. No sound.....

Psst! He’s coming over...

And where are we today, Alexandra?

The snow-covered city rushed away from me, and like a drowning person, I gasped for air.

Uh, uh,..., I replied.

Yes, a typically intelligent answer. Mr. Voss began to turn away. Then he stopped and looked at me more closely.

Are you feeling alright? he asked.

Yes-s-s-s. I was shivering from the residue of that cold, frozen, hopeless place. I took a deep breath and was somewhat surprised that my lungs did not hurt. Then I forced myself to speak clearly and slowly.

I...am....O....K.

There was a collective gasp from the room. Mr. Voss’s eyebrows rose up, up, up, then came down in a deep scowl, like two dancing black caterpillars.

O...K? He echoed in a low rumble. Too late I realized I had spoken one of the forbidden words.

Well, yes...

Another gasp swept through the room. I gave up; two forbidden words, and I was done for. I put my head down on the desk and whispered in as pitiful a voice as I could muster, Actually, I don’t think I feel very good.

Mr. Voss’s beard rustled as he ground his teeth.

Are you ill because you are sick or because you have just used spoken inappropriately?

I closed my eyes. Was this a trick question? Should I say yes or no? I compromised with a hunch of my shoulders and peeked up at him.

My eighth grade English teacher stood five feet six inches tall wearing boots. He was a true Napoleon and ran his classes like a general with strict rules and dire consequences. It was early October, and no one had spoken any of the forbidden words for a month. The poster in the front of the room reminded us of them all:

Uh      Well          OK            Nope       Kind of

Yeah       Like           You Know     Yup Um

Mr. Voss hated those words, and he hated hearing them. He declared they were the result of lazy minds and empty thoughts.

We are judged by how we speak, he would thunder at least once a week. If you speak intelligently, people will think you are intelligent. Then he would pause and let us figure out what people thought if you said things like nope and yeah.

I must admit, though, that aside from being in a constant state of terror, I really liked his class. He was a good teacher and forced us to pay attention to stuff like how to write, how to understand famous people’s writing, and how to think about what people wrote. Since I loved to read and read everything I could get my hands on, this information was actually of interest to me.

I was currently on a kick reading folktales, especially German folktales. Boy those Grimm brothers were exactly that – grim. The stories they collected weren’t the sanitized versions that make their way into picture books. Oh no, these original stories were filled with loss and betrayal, dismemberment and sacrifice – all the stuff of life and soap operas. Death was common but justice usually prevailed, where the good were rewarded and the bad duly punished, and I mean punished. How about being put in a big barrel with sharp iron spikes driven into it, and then rolled down a steep hill!

I liked to think that Mr. Voss’s sense of justice was similar with the good rewarded and the bad punished. Even so, he terrified me, and I tried to stay under his radar. I sat in the middle of the classroom, kept my eyes on the board or my desk, did my work, and never raised my hand. I loved to read, and I was an OK student; I mean, I was an average student. I had been pretty successful at escaping his wrath except for once in awhile, when he caught me fading away from class. However, this was the worst; two forbidden words. What was I thinking? Obviously, I wasn’t.

Mr. Voss loomed over me. I’m not sure how someone his size could loom, but then I had stopped thinking of him as short in September. Perhaps, he said softly. Then I worried, because he was usually the angriest when he was not loud.

Perhaps, he repeated, you need to see the nurse.

I looked up, surprised and grateful, but still expecting a dire consequence, and I was not disappointed.

I shall write you two notes, one for the nurse, and, provided you are not too terribly ill, one for last period study hall to be spent here.

But... The protest burst out of me like a burp.

Of course, this is not detention, he continued in a smooth, soft voice, merely a makeup opportunity since you will be spending the remainder of this class in the nurse’s office. He turned to his desk and began to write out my passes.

I stumbled to my feet and gathered my books together. I have found that too many people take delight in the misfortune of others, and this proved to be true in my case. A titter swept through the class like a malicious breeze. It stilled when Mr. Voss turned his glare to the class.

My face burned as I collected the passes. I darted a glance at my friend Sylvia. She had given me the Psst! warning, but she was now looking hard at something on her desk. In an effort not to draw attention to her, I glanced around the room. Mattie and her crowd always staked out the back right corner near the windows. They were all smiling gleefully at my plight.

Mattie had hated me for at least a year now. I wasn’t sure why but I know that once she had made a play for my older brother Brent and he’d laughed at her and about her. At the time, I’d felt mildly sorry for her since I knew firsthand how he could hurt someone. However, I stopped feeling badly when Mattie seemed to shift her anger to me.

I guess I was the safer target. Unfortunately for Mattie, I ignored her or floated in my own world beyond her meanness. Hey, with two brothers, I had learned how not to be a victim.

As I glanced at Mattie and her crowd, they burst into smothered giggles. Mr. Voss rounded on them like a hunting dog scenting prey.

Ah, Queen Mattie! You and your attendants find this amusing? Perhaps some additional homework will help you grasp the appropriate level of seriousness I require in this class.

I left the room smiling. It was almost worth spending my last period study hall back in English class if Mattie had drawn Mr. Voss’s wrath.

Chapter 2: The Lion and The Mouse

The nurse, Mrs. Barone, was a rather large bony woman we called Barone the Bone. Her efficiency was wrapped up in a brisk package but I had always liked her. She did her nurse thing, and I spent a peaceful hour resting on a cot. I didn’t mind since I rarely had a peaceful hour to myself. The last period of the day, the standard eighth grade study hall where I usually managed to do all of my homework, I dragged myself to Mr. Voss’s room.

To my surprise, there was another student there. She was big, bigger than Mr. Voss and had a mane of red gold hair. I envied her immediately since my own hair is a boring brown. She turned her face to stare at me when I entered the room, and I thought she was really pretty, but immediately a scowl covered her face.

Oh boy, I thought, this will be fun. Mr. Voss motioned for me to sit next to her. He gestured to us both.

Lenore Mileski, Alexandra Mitty. I bobbed my head and gave a tentative smile. Lenore Mileski scowled. The period passed in slow motion as Mr. Voss went over some key points of that day’s class. I wondered what Lenore the Grump was doing here. She glared at her desk, at me, or out the window. Some self-protective instinct must have informed her that glaring at Mr. Voss was suicidal.

Just before the bell rang at the end of the period, Mr. Voss fell silent and paced across the front of the room. I had glanced out the windows, seen the clear blue skies, and was fading away to Robinson Crusoe. A small island, far from here, I thought, with enough fruit to feed me.... .

Alexandra.

My island sank under the wave of his rumble, and I sat up straight. Mr. Voss stood before me.

You are a good student, he said to me. I blinked in surprise and offered a small smile. However, I don’t believe you are working up to your full potential.

I sagged under this judgment. It echoed a refrain my parents sounded at least once a month. This whole potential thing really annoyed me. If it was my potential, couldn’t I do what I wanted with it? Besides, with the perfect older brother and a genius younger brother, I was happy to be normal – or at least average or whatever most eighth graders were.

But Mr. Voss wasn’t finished.

Lenore just moved into the area, and she’ll need some help or some tutoring to catch up. I believe you would be a patient tutor. Therefore, if you have no objection, I ask that you join Lenore here every day at this time for a few weeks. It is also my hope that tutoring will help you as well.

Lenore and I looked at each other with the same faces – filled with horror, disbelief, and disgust. I was stunned. The words tutoring, no objection, and every day burned in my brain. First, there was no way I was going to tutor this sour puss; but there was also no way I would ever object to anything Mr. Voss said. I had never heard anyone ever object to his directives, even if they sounded like requests.

I sighed. OK, I thought, using the forbidden word silently and with some pleasure. It’s only October, so how much tutoring is she going to need? Not much; I can do this.

I would be happy to tutor, er, work with Lenore, Mr. Voss. I gave him a false smile and nodded vaguely in her direction.

Good! He slapped his hands on the desk as if sealing a contract. I shall make arrangements with your study hall teacher, and I’ll provide you with the material you’ll need.

He nodded to us with a pleased smile.

Then I shall see you both here tomorrow afternoon.

I gathered my books together. As I left the room, I turned with a sense of commiserating with Lenore but she pushed past me and stalked down the hall without a glance. Fine, I thought, be like that. I fell in with the growing crowd of students and made my way to my locker. Sylvia caught up with me there.

Boy, did you put your foot in it! she exclaimed breathlessly. Sylvia always talks breathlessly.

I shrugged as if to say no big deal.

So, what happened?

Nothing, I replied casually. I caught up on my English homework, and he wants me to tutor this new girl.

So, who’s the new girl?

I shrugged again. Lenore somebody.

So, how come you don’t want to talk about it? Sylvia was also persistent.

I turned to face her and sighed.

Look, there’s not much to say, and I’ve said it.

Fine. She gave me her own casual shrug. Look, I gotta go. Practice.

I nodded, and she headed for the gym. Sylvia was a natural, if unenthusiastic, athlete. The girl’s soccer coach had insisted she be a part of the team. In truth, she made a great goalie, but only when she felt like it. I stared after her and sighed again. This seemed to be a day of sighs. What I wouldn’t give to have her talent for sports – even just one sport. I was as athletic as cooked spaghetti.

I turned to close my locker when SLAM, something hit me from behind and pushed my face into my locker. A voice hissed in my ear.

If you let it get out that I’m being tutored, I’ll kill you. Got that?

Lenore? Lenore... I sputtered from the depths of my locker.

She pulled me out of the locker, turned me about, and slammed my back against the locker.

Ow! That hurt! I protested.

Her hands held my arms in a tight grasp.

Tough, she said. It’ll hurt more if you tell anyone you’re tutoring me.

Uh-oh, I thought, Sylvia already knows.

Why the big secret? I looked up into her face. Her hair framed her scowl like a wild mane. Lenore, I thought, like a lion, and I’m the mouse.

It’s no big deal, I continued. Mr. Voss is OK, and at least if we’re working together, it won’t be boring. I mean, we could get to know each other.... I faltered as her scowl grew deeper.

Besides, I added quickly, I think people already know. She growled and