Kara's Cross

I sit down next to Maddie in the front row. It is the second day of school and my first day in first period Reading class. On my way into the room I stopped and apologized to Mrs. Summers, our teacher, for being absent yesterday.

I chose to ignore the whispers, snickers and stares as I walked in the room and while I sit here now. I still hate hearing them, and part of me wishes I was home again, but I feel good about our plan.

The bell rings and I wink and smile at Maddie. Operation Bookworm is about to begin. The code names were my idea. It gives our project a sense of seriousness.

“Class,” Mrs. Summers begins in a firm voice, “we are going to begin today by reading the first chapter of our story aloud. Do I have any volunteers?”

My hand springs straight up. I notice Maddie’s does as well. Glancing around, we are the only two volunteers. The teacher will obviously pick one of us. We’re off to a good start.

“Okay, then,” Mrs. Summers looks down at her roster. “Maddie, you seem eager today, why don’t you start.”

I’m slightly disappointed, but know I will get my chance. We decided yesterday when the teacher chooses one of us the other will be the only one to volunteer the ne

Maddie reads the next several pages before Mrs. Summers asks her to stop. The teacher then spends the next twenty minutes asking the class questions about the reading. Maddie and I take turns raising our hands and answering questions as much as Mrs. Summers will allow us. We only get a couple of opportunities, though; she seems to have a random way of picking students, even students who never raise their hand.

For the next portion of class, we are told to read to ourselves and write a few predictions when we finish. I work my way through the passage quickly and put my answers down as swiftly as possible so I can be the first to stand up and hand in my paper, being sure the look on my face indicates how easy the assignment was. Maddie finishes almost as fast and follows suit. I give her a smile as she sits back down. Operation Bookworm is in effect.

As the bell rings, I rise and follow Maddie toward the door. In the hallway, I hear whispers and some laughs, but it is still early, we haven’t had a chance to show everybody our plan yet.

A wave of fear spreads over my body as we approach Mrs. Pickford’s classroom, the room I threw up in. It is going to be hard to impress anyone in that room. Maddie has a good chance, but how can they forget the show I put on yesterday?

“Good morning, Mrs. Pickford.” I stop at her desk to test her mood with me and to find out where I sit.

“Ah, Miss Eldridge,” she leans back in her chair and looks up at me. “I trust you are feeling better today?”

“Yes I am, Mrs. Pickford,” my confidence increases. She doesn’t seem to be holding a grudge. “I am sorry about what happened yesterday.”

“Water under the bridge, Miss Eldridge,” she almost smiles, “I’ve raised four children and have five grand-children; I’ve been the victim of many kinds of accidents in my time. Needless to say, I would appreciate it if you were more aware of your state of health in the future and stay home if you are sick.”

“Yes, Mrs. Pickford,” relief washes over me. “Don’t worry; it was only a 24 hour bug. I’m all better now.”

“That’s fine. Now, please have a seat in the third row, second seat from the front. Class is about to start.”

Locating my chair, I am disappointed to find out I am not sitting next to Maddie. She is two rows over in the front. She turns to smile and wink at me, reminding me of our secret mission. I glance in both directions before winking back. I feel like a spy.

We keep to our plan through second and third period, raising our hands and volunteering whenever possible. We don’t have as much luck in Mr. Carroll’s class. He was nice and asked how I was feeling when I came into class, but he didn’t call on us any more than anyone else in class, no matter how many times we raised our hands. Like he knew what we were trying to do and he wasn’t letting us. Mason was also acting different during third period. After a while, he kept giving us weird stares every time we volunteered. He even shook his head a couple of times at Maddie.

I’m not sure how fourth period went. Maddie is in a different class during that period, so I was able to have almost all of the volunteering to myself. In World Geography, Mr. Booth asked many questions and no one else would raise their hand, so I was able to show my stuff. Toward the end, the students around me started sighing and rolling their eyes when I raised my hand. I’ll have to ask Maddie what she thinks. Maybe we’re making a mistake.

I rush to the lunchroom and jump in line right away. Maddie and I decided this morning whoever got here first should hurry through and get a good table. I glance ahead in the line and don’t see her, so I must have arrived first.

I am just about to get my food when Maddie gets in line. I give her a small wave and a smile. I grab my plate from the counter and am not disappointed today. Hot steam drifts upward from the plate and the smell of turkey, mashed potatoes and gravy fill my senses in a wonderful way. I scan my ID and grab a couple of napkins on my way to a table. Even as quickly as I got here, the tables are already filling up. I grab an empty one as far from the tray return and from the table Shayna and her cronies sat on as possible. I sit down and open my milk, waiting for Maddie.

“Hey, Kara!”

I am so busy looking to make sure Shayna isn’t anywhere nearby I don’t even notice Maddie’s arrival. She sits down beside me and begins mixing her gravy and potatoes together.

“Hi, Maddie. I’ve been looking around, and I don’t see Shayna’s group anywhere. Maybe they aren’t here today.”

“Even if they are, there are no empty tables near us. We should be okay.” Maddie points to another table with several boys and a couple of girls sitting in a group. “Do you see that boy in the middle, the one taller than the rest? The one with straight black hair and a red shirt?”

“Yeah,” he looks like someone I’ve seen in a couple of my classes. “Why?”

“I’m pretty sure he keeps staring at you.”

I angle my head toward my tray, but make sure I can keep eye contact on the boy with black hair. He is talking with someone across the table from him. Maddie was probably imagining things. Wait a second. He’s turning his head in my direction. He’s definitely staring this way. Maybe it’s not at me. I look directly at him to see where he is directing his attention. He looks away instantly.

“I think you’re right, Maddie.” I am shocked. “Why do you think he’s watching me?”

I’m not sure if I should feel flattered or creeped out.

“Maybe he noticed how smart you are, or maybe he likes you.” Maddie’s guesses. “We have been trying to get acknowledged today, you know.”

I keep the corner of my eye on him. He doesn’t appear to look in our direction anymore. Maybe he thought I was someone else or something. It’s probably nothing.

“How did it go in fourth period, Maddie?” I change the subject. We have bigger things to worry about than some boy.

“Yeah,” she hesitates. “I was going to talk to you about that. Mason stopped me before class and asked what we were doing, so I told him.”

“What did he think? Did he like the idea?”

“Not exactly.”

Another pause.

“He said popular people don’t raise their hands all the time. They may be smart, or at least seem smart, but they don’t act like teachers’ pets. I don’t think our idea is going to work.”

“They haven’t been laughing as much today, though, Maddie.”

I don’t want this to be a failure. I’m tired of being a nobody.

“We’re not exactly getting smiles and high fives either, Kara. Maybe Operation Bookworm is a bust.”

“Let’s at least see how next period goes. We’ll back it off some, but still stick with the plan.”