* * *
Later that evening at dinner, I'm trying like crazy to clean my plate so I don't raise any suspicions that something's bothering me, but I think it's too late. I can tell my parents are waiting for Hailey to leave so they can question me. And sure enough, as soon as she walks out?
"You wanna talk about it?" my mom asks, looking up from her plate with concern.
I know I've always worn my heart on my sleeve, but this is getting ridiculous. I can't seem to hide my feelings lately to save my life. It's like there's a flashing sign above my head that says 'Troubled mind, please ask me all about it' with an arrow pointing downward. It's annoying.
"Yeah, you're usually on your third plate by now," Dad says, taking a sip of his milk and looking at me.
I shrug as I look down at my fork, piled high with mashed potatoes. And I realize I actually wouldn't mind talking about this.
I briefly expressed my concern to my parents the other night about the whole Becca/Summer situation, but that was before it really became a problem.
"Is everything okay at school?" Mom asks, just as I look back up.
"Yeah, everyone's been really nice to me since I've revealed my genius. It's just?" I lower my eyes again, shaking my head.
"Is it about Becca and Summer?" my dad asks.
I nod, my eyes still on my plate. "Yeah. I just wish Becca would give Summer a chance." I say, looking up. "It really does seem like Summer's changed."
"Have you told Becca that?" My mom asks.
"Several times. But it hasn't done any good. She's certain Summer's being fake, and I feel like I'm stabbing her in the back every time I talk to Summer."
They both look down at the table in thought.
"That's a tough situation," my dad says. "So I guess Becca can't forgive the fact that Summer used to pick on you."
I shake my head. "And I appreciate her looking out for me, but--"
"Well, that's a nice gesture from Becca," Mom interrupts. "But you're doing the right thing by giving Summer a chance."
"Absolutely," Dad agrees. "People do change sometimes, and they deserve a chance."
A short silence follows.
"Becca's your best friend. She'll come around," Dad says.
I look at him and smile, even though I know he's dead wrong. He doesn't know Becca like I do, and neither does my mom. They don't understand her hatred for Summer and frankly, I have no desire to explain it. So I just nod along with them, pretending everything's going to be fine.
25
Shocking Request
Surprisingly, Becca has chosen to behave so far this morning. But I'm not getting excited just yet.
The 'Ask Dori' segment is underway, and I'm desperately hoping Summer doesn't have a question for me. Becca will surely pounce on her like she did yesterday morning, and the last thing I want is to watch Summer drop her head again in embarrassment while the class laughs. So I'm definitely nervous.
After Joey Kestle asks me out again--like he's done every morning--and after a few other class clown trainees ask me a few silly questions that I obviously can't answer, such as "Is there a God?" and "What happens after we die?" and "Is there life on other planets?" (all to which I just smiled, shrugged, and said, "Obviously I can't answer that"), Meagan Reeves, a shy honor-roll student, cautiously raises her hand and asks, "What came first, the chicken or the egg?"
The class chuckles and then begins debating as usual. I look over at Mrs. Anderson as she sits at her desk, resting her chin on her hands and smiling while her eyes bounce from student to student as they talk. She plays the role of silent observer during the 'Ask Dori' segments. She enjoys watching the class discuss these thought-provoking questions, and she stays out of the action whether she knows the answers or not.
As the discussion dies down--which I was enjoying, as well--the class starts looking to me for the answer.
"Well, the ones who said the egg came first were right," I inform them, causing a chorus of "I told you!" to echo around the room. And after laughing at everyone's reactions, I direct my attention to Meagan, and keep my explanation condensed and simple as always.
"It was a process of evolution," I tell her as the class quiets down completely. "At some point in history, a bird that was kind of like a chicken laid an egg. And then some DNA changes took place and developed a new offspring which we now know as the chicken. So the first chicken essentially hatched from its own egg," I explain.
"Interesting," Mrs. Anderson says with a nod. I guess she didn't know the answer to that one, either.
Then after the usual post-answer rumblings throughout the class, Daniel Berston raises his hand.
"Shh, quiet down," Mrs. Anderson says softly, gazing around the room. "Go ahead, Daniel."
"Okay?umm?why is it light down here on Earth, but when you get into space, it's dark? I mean, how can it be lit up here and not--"
He takes a rather long pause, so I finish his sentence.
"In space," I say, nodding, conveying I understand his question.
"Yeah," he shrugs.
Strangely, the class remains silent, as if they're completely stumped on this one. No discussions, no opinions, no arguing?nothing. They're all just staring at me curiously, so I get right to it.
"The reason for that is light can only reflect off matter, and the planets are matter. Space, on the other hand, is empty; it has no matter. So basically, there's nothing for the sun's light to shine on. It would be like shining a flashlight into the night sky. You wouldn't see anything unless some form of matter came into contact with the beam of light, like a bug or dust or something like that."
Daniel and I nod at one another.
"So the sunlight reflects off the Earth, to answer your question."
"Got it," he says, now nodding in a way like he feels he should have known that.
"Good question, Daniel," Mrs. Anderson praises. "Does anyone else have a question?"
"Yeah," Summer says, raising her hand. Right away my heart drops and I get extremely nervous. She just opened the door for Becca to ridicule her and honestly, I have no idea why she would even open her mouth at this point.
I quickly glance at Becca. Just as I suspected, she's leaning back in her chair, squinting at Summer, waiting to ambush her like a scene right out of a grotesque horror film. Only Becca doesn't have a machete, butcher knife, or a glove with razor-sharp claws anywhere on her?as far as I know.
I shoot a glance up at the clock, desperately hoping the bell will ring in like two seconds and defuse this situation. But no such luck.
So with no other option, I lock eyes with Summer and smile as she asks her question.
"Is it true you'll gain weight if you eat late at night? Because my sister swears that's how she gained weight."
I planned on answering quickly in order to cut Becca off, but she beat me to it.
"Aww?a much simpler question from a much simpler, idiotic person."
"Becca!" Mrs. Anderson snaps.
About half the class is now laughing as Summer slowly turns forward in her seat and plants her eyes down on her textbook, refusing to make eye contact with anyone.
"One more word and you're going to the office. This is the last time I'm gonna tell you," Mrs. Anderson warns, pointing and widening her eyes at Becca with a fury I've definitely never seen from her. But she has every right to be angry. She's given Becca multiple chances and Becca keeps ignoring her. But it looks like it struck a chord this time. She looks at Mrs. Anderson and nods submissively, not saying a word.
And now, just like Summer, Becca's staring down at her desk, avoiding eye contact with everyone. Especially me. I had every intention of narrowing my eyes at her, glaring at her, frowning at her, shaking my head at her, or whatever I could do to most effectively express my anger, as well. But she never looks at me. She knows I'm upset.
As awkward as it is now, I proceed to answer Summer's question for lack of a better idea.
"The answer to your question is no, Summer."
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She slowly turns and looks at me.
"It's all about calorie count, and your body doesn't process food differently at different times of the day. But the reason people tend to gain weight when they eat at night is because they typically eat more at night, and usually higher-calorie foods, you know, like snacks and things like that."
She presses her lips into a smile and nods.
Then Joey Kestle raises his hand again and asks, "Does body hair grow back thicker when you shave it?" His mouth is half-open and his expression dead serious. The class bursts into laughter at his random, off-the-wall question.
"No," I barely reply, laughing myself. "No, that's a myth."
"Dang it!" he exclaims, looking distraught, as if he was planning an experiment on himself that won't work now.
The class laughs even louder, including Becca, Summer, and Mrs. Anderson. When the laughter finally dies down again, a guy sitting a few seats behind Joey--whose name I don't know--asks, "Will wearing a hat make you go bald?"
Although there's still some lingering giggles from Joey's performance, I can tell this is a serious question.
"No, it won't," I say. "It might cause breakage or split ends depending on where the hat is on your head and how tight it is, but that's all." And as soon as the words leave my mouth, the bell rings.
"See y'all tomorrow!" Mrs. Anderson says.
My smile quickly fades as I'm loading my backpack. I glance up at Becca just in time to see her peeking at me?and believe me, neither one of our expressions are pleasant. As we walk to our lockers, not a word is spoken from either of us.
"Okay, so do you want me to apologize or what?" Becca finally says as we open our lockers. Her tone was sarcastic, though.
"Becca--" I pause, turning to face her. "Do you have any intention of leaving her alone at some point? Because if not, I'm not going to her party."
Right away, she turns back to her locker and starts changing out her books.
"You shouldn't want to go to her party anyway, Dor. I feel like you're taking her side, and it sucks." She's now slamming her books around. Then she stops and looks at me. "How can you not see that she's putting on a show? I mean, why do you think she keeps asking you questions in the 'Ask Dori' segments? Because she knows I'll attack her and she'll gain sympathy from you."
I have to admit, she's making sense. Even though I'm the genius, Becca's always been a much better judge of character, and of people, in general. I'm easy to fool; I accept that. But why is Summer being nice to everyone rather than just me? What is she trying to prove? If she's really just trying to avoid being an outcast in the wake of my sudden popularity, wouldn't it seem more reasonable that she would simply stop bothering me, and maybe even smile and say hey to me once in a while instead of going out of her way to befriend me along with the entire school?
I really have no idea what the deal is. But the sad fact is none of it matters anyway. It doesn't change things. I can't be mean to Summer, regardless, and I'm pretty sure that's what Becca wants.
"Why would Summer go to all this trouble just to fit in? She could've just stopped bullying me and that would've probably had the same effect. Why this elaborate, fake personality change? Explain that to me." I cross my arms and wait for an answer.
"I don't know, Dori. I don't know what she has up her sleeve. All I know is that she's being fake. I can tell."
"So, basically, you want me to be mean to her?is that seriously what you're asking of me?"
"Yes!" she snaps, whipping her head around and widening her eyes at me. "That would be great." She gives me a look of disdain as she says that, like what she's really saying is, "That would be great, if you could stop betraying me."
I stand there and look at her as she turns back to her locker and continues loading her books. Feeling hurt, and not knowing what else to say, I just close my locker, turn, and walk away since our next classes are on opposite ends of the hall.