This is so unfair.
Wednesday, January 20,
Outside Principal Guptas Office
I can't believe it is only the second day of second semester, and already I am sitting here outside the principal's office.
And I didn't even do anything! I mean, yeah, I didn't finish my homework, but I fully have a note from my stepdad.
I turned it in to the administrative office first thing. It says:
Please excuse Mia for not completing her homework for Tuesday, January 19th.
She was crippled with jetlag and unable to attend to her academic
responsibilities last evening. She will, of course, make up the work tonight.
- Frank Gianini
It kind of sucks when your stepdad is also your teacher.
But why would Principal Gupta object to this? I mean, I realize it is only the second day of second semester, and already
I've fallen behind. But I'm not THAT far behind.
And I haven't even seen Lana today, so it's not like I could have done anything to her or her personal belongings.
OH, MY GOD. It just occurred to me. What if they realize they made a mistake, putting me back in Gifted and Talented?
I mean, because I have no gifts or talents? What if I was only put in there in the first place because of some computer glitch, and now they've corrected it, and they're going to put me in Tech. Ed. or Domestic Arts, where I belong? Oh, my God,
I will have to make a spice rack!!! Or worse, a western omelette!!!
And I will never see Michael any more! OK, I will see him on the way to school and during lunch and after school and on weekends and holidays, but that's it. By taking me out of Gifted and Talented class, they will be depriving me of five whole hours of Michael a week! And true, during class we don't talk all that much, because Michael really is gifted and talented, unlike me, and needs to use that class period to hone his musical abilities. But still, at least we are together.
Oh, God, this is awful! WHY didn't Lilly just tell me what my talent is? Then I could throw it in Principal Gupta's face
when she tries to deport me back to Tech. Ed.
Wait. . . who does that voice belong to? The one coming from Principal Gupta's office? It sounds kind of familiar.
It sounds kind of like . . .
Wednesday, January 20,
Grandmere's Limo
I cannot believe Grandmere just did this. I mean, what kind of person DOES this? Just yanks a teenager out of school?
She is supposed to be the adult. She is supposed to be setting a good example for me. And what does she do instead?
Well, first she tells a big fat LIE, and THEN she removes me from school property under false pretences.
I am telling you, if my mom or dad finds out about this, Clarisse Renaldo will be a dead woman.
She practically gave me a heart attack, you know. Good thing my cholesterol and everything is so low thanks to my
vegetarian diet, otherwise I might have suffered a serious cardiac infarction, she scared me so bad, coming out of Principal Gupta's office like that and being all, 'Well, yes, we are of course praying for his quick recovery, but you know how these things can be . . .'
I felt all the blood run out of my face at the sight of her. Not just because, you know, it was Grandmere, talking to
Principal Gupta, of all people, but because of what she was saying.
I stood up fast, my heart pounding so hard I thought it might go flying right out of my chest.
'What is it?' I asked, all panicky. 'Is it my dad? Is the cancer back? Is that it? You can tell me, I can take it.'
Because the reason that I, a technically illegitimate teenager (seeing as how my mom never married my dad), am heir to the throne of Genovia is that my dad can't have any more kids, on account of having been rendered sterile due to cancer. I was sure, from the way Grandmere was talking to Principal Gupta, that the cancer was back, and that my dad was going to have
to go through chemo all over again . . .
'I will tell you in the car,' Grandmere said to me, stiffly. 'Come along.'
'No, really,' I said, trailing after her, with Lars trailing after me. 'You can tell me now. I can take it, I swear I can. Is Dad
all right?'
'Don't worry about your homework, Mia,' Principal Gupta called to us, as we left her office. 'You just concentrate on
being there for your father.'
So it was true! Dad was sick!
'Is it the cancer again?' I asked Grandmere as we left the school and headed down to her limo, which was parked out
front by the stone lion that guards the steps up to Albert Einstein High. 'Do the doctors think it's treatable? Does he need
a bone-marrow transplant? Because, you know, we're probably a match, on account of my having his hair. At least, what
his hair must have looked like, back when he had some.'
It wasn't until we were safely inside the limo that Grandmere gave me a very disgusted look and said, 'Really, Amelia. There
is nothing wrong with your father. There is, however, something wrong with that school of yours. Imagine, not allowing their pupils any sort of absences except in the case of illness. Ridiculous! Sometimes, you know, people need a day. A personal
day, I think they call it. Well, today, Amelia, is your personal day.'
I blinked at her from my side of the limo. I couldn't quite believe what I was hearing.
'Wait a minute,' I said. 'You mean . . . Dad isn't sick?' '
Pfuit!' Grandmere said, her drawn-on eyebrows raised way up. 'He certainly seemed healthy enough when I spoke
to him this morning.'
'Then what. . . ?' I stared at her. 'Why did you tell Principal Gupta . . . ?'
'Because otherwise she would not have allowed you out of class,' Grandmere said, glancing at her gold and diamond
watch. 'And we are late, as it is. Really, there is nothing worse than an overzealous educator. They think they are helping,
when in reality, you know, there are many different varieties of learning. Not all of it takes place in a classroom.'
Comprehension was beginning to dawn. Grandmere had not pulled me out of school in the middle of the day because
anyone in my family was sick. No, Grandmere had pulled me out of school because she wanted to teach me something.
'Grandmere,' I cried, hardly able to believe what I was hearing. 'You can't just drive over and yank me out of school
whenever you want to. And you certainly can't tell Principal Gupta that my dad is sick when he isn't! How could you
even say something like that? Don't you know anything about karma? I mean, if you go around lying about stuff like