Nobody's Perfect (6 page)

Here's how the drill went. Each student wore a paper number on his or her forehead. The students split up and formed one line at the far right and one line at the far left of the classroom. One kid stood at the whiteboard with a marker. When the two students at the head of the lines approached the front of the room, the kid with the marker had only a few seconds to multiply the two numbers and write the answer on the board. The rule was that kids could swap lines or not and even swap places in line so that the order of numbers kept changing as kids advanced to the board. Once the drill was under way the numbers came faster and faster. Jann stood ready with chalk to keep score.

Alexis did really well when she was at the board with the marker. Obviously she'd been pretty good at math before she got to Wilmot.

Megan was advancing through the line, wearing a number seven on her forehead. She lost track of Cindy in the chaotic rush of kids during the drill. As the lines pressed on toward the front of the room, Megan guessed that she was going to be matched up with Casey, who happened to be wearing a number seven as well.

Kids were giggling and getting a little rowdy. As the math drill pressed on, it always threatened to get a little out of control. Ms. Endee clapped her hands and insisted that the kids settle down or she was going to have to cancel the game. Alexis took the few extra moments to frantically write all the multiplication products on the whiteboard.

That was when Megan noticed that Alexis's equations were turning from bright red to a pale thin pink, barely legible at all. The red marker that Alexis had been using was running dry.

Ms. Endee kept a fresh pack of markers in the bottom drawer of her file cabinet.
But a new kid wouldn't know that
, thought Megan.

Risking the wrath of Ms. Endee and the loss of her place in the bustling line of kids pressing toward the board, Megan opened the bottom drawer of Ms. Endee's file cabinet and snagged a fresh blue marker so that she had it ready to hand to Alexis when she and Casey reached the front of the room.

Alexis spotted the blue marker in Megan's hand and quickly snatched it so that she could hurriedly write “7 x 7 = 49” on the board. Maybe it was because of the excitement of the moment, but she didn't even pause to thank Megan. She didn't even offer her usual little smile.

After two more equations Ms. Endee took the blue marker away from Alexis anyway and put Ronnie Jiu at the board. Alexis took her place in the rows of kids, and the game went on. Kids zigzagged across and crisscrossed the room so often that Megan and Alexis never got close to each other.

“I saw what you did,” said Cindy after the math drill was over.

“What are you talking about?” asked Megan.

“You gave the new girl a marker during the math drill.”

That Cindy
, thought Megan.
She notices everything
.

“That was really nice of you,” Cindy offered.

“Thanks.”

“You said you were going to give her a second chance and you did.”

“And it wasn't that hard,” Megan observed.

“True,” said Cindy with a slight sniff, “but she didn't seem to appreciate it.”

“Cindy, you have to give Alexis a second chance too.”

“No I don't,” said Cindy. “She was mean to my friend.”

“I'm the friend she was mean to,” said Megan, “and it doesn't matter to me. You and I are going to give her a second chance
together.
”

“How many second chances does that girl get?” Cindy protested.

Megan put her hand on Cindy's shoulder. “Cindy,” she said, with a little pat-pat-pat. “You're the only one who's counting.”

That afternoon at recess Megan and Cindy got up from their picnic table and headed across the playground toward where Alexis was sitting by herself on a stone ledge.

“Say something nice,” said Megan. “And find out if we have anything in common.”

“I do like that jacket she's wearing today,” said Cindy. It was a blue denim jacket with red stars appliquéd on the sleeves.

“The jacket is fun, but she should wear more purple,” said Megan. “She looks good in purple.”

“You and purple,” muttered Cindy.

They were close enough at this point to look directly at Alexis, and they both smiled as they did. They picked up their pace as though they were headed toward Alexis with a purpose. At that same moment Alexis rose from her perch and headed directly for the bathroom like it was a big emergency.

Megan and Cindy stopped in their tracks. They exchanged a glance.

“What was that about?” asked Cindy. “I'm not going to chase her into the bathroom!”

“Maybe she had to go,” said Megan.

“Maybe,” said Cindy. “But at some point—you know—I get the hint.”

“What hint?” asked Megan.

“Maybe,” said Cindy, “she just doesn't like us.”

•  •  •

It didn't help matters when Ms. Endee conducted the classroom spelling bee on Thursday. Ms. Endee stood at a podium, reciting the contest words in a very official manner. Jann stood beside the teacher, signing the general meaning of Ms. Endee's remarks but not the specific contest words. The situation was a little tricky. Megan had to rely on her ability to read lips to get the contest words. Otherwise Jann would have been spelling the words for her in advance using the manual alphabet and there would have been no contest for Megan at all.

Cindy had to be dropped in the opening rounds when she stumbled over the word “referendum.” But Megan surprised herself. She made it all the way to the classroom quarterfinals. In fact, it was down to Casey, Ronnie Jiu, Megan—and Alexis.

Casey correctly spelled “privilege.”

Ronnie Jiu correctly spelled “establishment.”

Megan grinned. “Privilege” and “establishment” were easy to spell, so Megan figured Ms. Endee was giving them an easy round.

Ms. Endee turned toward Megan and said, “Tandoori.”

“Tandoori?” said Megan. “I don't even know what it is!”

“You may ask for a definition,” Ms. Endee suggested. Jann signed the suggestion.

“May I have a definition?” said Megan.

“Tandoori is an Indian dish,” said Ms. Endee.

Megan waited for Jann's sign language translation. Jann thought for a moment, then she signed the phrase, “
It
is a dish from India,” and she spelled the word “India” slowly and carefully.

Oh, great,
thought Megan.

“Would you use it in a sentence, please?” said Megan.

“I'll have the tandoori chicken, please,” said Ms. Endee, and the whole class laughed. Jann signed the sound of laughter—and then she signed the phrase as, “I'll have the—spelling word—chicken, please.”

Megan took a stab at a spelling, but tried “t-a-n-d-u-r-i-e.” Megan's only chance at remaining in the spelling bee was if Alexis misspelled her word. Then they'd be in a sudden heat, and Megan would stand another chance at the semifinals.

“All right, Alexis,” said Ms. Endee. “If you spell this word correctly, you'll go on to our semifinals. If you miss, then you and Megan will be in a sudden heat.”

The class cooed with excitement.

“Are you ready, Alexis?” asked Ms. Endee, shamelessly building the suspense.

“I'm ready,” said Alexis.

Megan crossed her fingers.
Make it a tough word
, she thought.
Make it something impossibly difficult.

“Alexis,” said Ms. Endee, with a dramatic pause, “would you please spell the word ‘cornucopia'?”

Alexis smiled.

“NOT FAIR,” SAID CINDY. “IT'S
not fair! to-tally not fair!”

“It was the luck of the draw,” said Megan. “Fair is fair.”

“But cornucopia was
your
word!”

“It's everybody's word,” said Megan. “Nobody owns it.”

“What is up with you?” asked Cindy. “I think you're
glad
Alexis won the spelling bee.”

“She didn't win,” Megan responded. “She beat
me
, true. But Ronnie Jiu won.”

“Only because Alexis forgot about ‘
i
before
e
except after
c
,' ” said Cindy.

The final word had been “perceive,” a total softball as far as Megan was concerned. But Alexis had blown it. She was headed in the right direction, but then she took a wrong turn after the
c
, and, well, the rest is spelling bee history. Ronnie Jiu had stepped forward and spelled “perceive” as easily as if he'd been spelling his own name.

Ms. Endee said, “I'm sorry, Alexis.”

Ronnie Jiu smirked with confidence. Alexis simply shrugged.

“It was a pretty stupid mistake, if you think about it,” Megan observed. “
I
before
e
! Who doesn't know ‘
I
before
e
except after
c
'!”

“True,” said Cindy. “Maybe Alexis is human after all.”

“Or maybe she didn't want to win,” said Megan.

Both girls fell quiet. It was a thought that hadn't occurred to them before. Could Alexis have deliberately thrown the final round of the spelling bee to avoid drawing attention to herself? Could anybody be that shy?

“Nah, it couldn't be,” said Cindy. “Not where there are blue ribbons and trophies involved.”

“You never know,” said Megan.

•  •  •

Everyone in the fourth grade was allowed to pick his or her own book to read and write a report on.

Megan enjoyed reading. In fact, Megan read so many books that she could have written a report on a book she'd already read. But she enjoyed books so much that she wanted to read something new.

Megan was the kind of reader who relied on other readers' recommendations. She was searching through the library for a copy of
Island of the Blue Dolphins
that her mother had recommended. When Megan happened to mention her mother's recommendation, Jann got all excited. “That's one of my favorite books,” Jann said.

“Me too,” Ms. Endee agreed.

Somebody named Scott O'Dell wrote it, but when Megan reached the
O
section of the shelves of fiction, she was surprised to find Alexis standing in the stacks holding a copy of
Island of the Blue Dolphins
.

“Are you going to read that?” Megan asked.

“I'm sorry?” Alexis whispered. It wasn't the whisper that annoyed Megan. She knew that people were supposed to whisper in libraries. It was just that something about the effort to whisper made it seem like Alexis didn't want Megan to be talking to her.

“That's my book,” said Megan, pointing to the copy of
Island of the Blue Dolphins
. “I came to the library to read that book.”

“What if I was going to read it?” Alexis asked, holding her ground.

“I'm reading it for the report in class,” said Megan, asserting herself. She had noticed that Alexis was scrunching her nose again.

“So take it,” said Alexis. “I've already read it. I was just flipping through the pages to reread my favorite parts.”

Megan felt a little ashamed that she had been so gruff about the book and that Alexis had handed it over so easily. She turned the book over in her hands. It looked pretty well worn. “Must be good, huh?” Megan asked, running her hands over the threadbare cover. “You already read it?”

“Twice,” said Alexis. “So I really don't need to read it again.” She turned her attention back to the shelves, browsing over titles.

Megan was ready to take the book and head for the checkout desk but then she thought of her mother and how shy her mother had been. Megan also remembered how her mother had said that she wished that other girls had been nicer to her when she was a girl. What was one more second chance?

Megan hesitated, and then spoke to Alexis again. “Maybe you could recommend other books for me to read?”

Alexis turned toward her and planted a finger against her lips. “Shhhhhh!” she hushed firmly. “This is a library! You're supposed to be quiet!”

Megan winced. “I know you're supposed to be quiet,” Megan said. “If you knew how to sign—if you knew sign language, I wouldn't have to make any sound at all!”

“Well, I don't know how to sign!” said Alexis.

“Well, you should!” said Megan.

“Stop talking to me,” Alexis insisted.

Megan stepped back to consider the girl. Then she spoke, almost softly. “What's the matter with you?” she said. “Why are you so
mean
to me? All I've been is friendly toward you. It's because I'm deaf, right? You have a problem with me because I'm
deaf
.”

Alexis's jaw dropped slightly, as if she were stunned. She turned toward Megan and gently licked her lips, as if about to speak. Megan didn't notice in the shadows of the library stacks, but the corners of Alexis's eyes had welled up slightly with the earliest trace of tears. “It's just—that I—,” Alexis began, and then abruptly she pushed past Megan and kept walking until she had left the library.