He turned back to me.
"For now, you'll just have to listen, but I'd like you to read it tonight."
"Oh, I have read this story, sir," I said.
"What?" He smiled. "You know this story?" I nodded. "And the main character is . . ."
"Dupin, Poe's detective."
"Then you know who the killer is?"
"Yes, sir," I said, smiling.
"And why is this story significant?"
"It's one of the first American detective stories," I said.
"Well, well, well . . . seems our neighbors in the bayou aren't as backward as some of us had anticipated," he said, glaring at the class. "In fact, some of us fit that description more," he said. It seemed to me he was looking at Gisselle. "I sat you across the room from your twin sister because I was afraid I wouldn't be able to tell the difference, but I see I will," he added. There was a lot of laughter this time. I was afraid to look back at Gisselle.
Instead, I looked down, my heart still thumping, as he continued his discussion of the story. Every once in a while, he gazed my way to confirm or reaffirm something he had said, and then he assigned our homework. I turned very slowly and looked at Gisselle. She wore this pained expression, a mixture of surprise and disappointment.
"You made a big hit with Mr. Stegman," Mookie said when the bell rang. "I'm glad you read, too. Everyone makes fun of me for reading so much."
"Why?"
"They just do," Mookie said. Gisselle caught up with us, her flock of girlfriends and boyfriends around her.
"There's no sense introducing you to everyone now," she said. "You'll just forget their names. I'll do it at lunch." Two of her girlfriends groaned and some of the boys looked disappointed. "Oh, all right. Meet Billy, Edward, Charles, and James," she catalogued so quickly I wasn't sure what name belonged to whom. "And this is Claudine and this is Antoinette, my two best friends," she said, indicating a tall brunette and a blonde about our height.
"I can't believe how much you two look alike," Claudine remarked.
"They are twins you know," Antoinette said.
"I know they're twins, but the Gibsons are twins, too, and Mary and Grace look a lot different."
"That's because they're fraternal twins and not identical," Mookie said somewhat pedantically. "They were born together, but they came from separate eggs."
"Oh, please, give us a break, will you, Miss Know-it-all," Claudine said.
"I'm just trying to be helpful," Mookie pleaded.
"Next time we need a walking encyclopedia, we'll call you," Antoinette said. "Don't you have something to look up in the library?" she added.
"I'm supposed to show Ruby around. Dr. Storm assigned me."
"We're reassigning you. Get lost, Mookie," Gisselle said. "I can take my sister around if I want."
"But—"
"I don't want her to get into any trouble, Gisselle," I said. "It's all right." Mookie looked grateful, former life, but no one laughed because everyone was more interested in hearing my stories. Finally, she got up in a huff and declared she was going out for a cigarette.
"Who's coming?" she demanded.
"There's not enough time," Beau said. "And besides, Storm's patrolling the grounds himself these days."
"You were never afraid before, Beau Andreas," she said, flashing her furious eyes at me.
"I'm older and wiser," he quipped. Everyone laughed, but Gisselle pivoted and marched a few steps away before turning around to see who was following. No one had gotten up.
"Suit yourself," she said, and headed for two boys at another table. Their heads lifted in unison when she smiled at them. Then, like bait cast off the fishing boat, she drew them off to follow her outside.
At the end of the day, Beau insisted on taking me home. We waited for Gisselle at his car, but when she didn't show up immediately, Beau decided we would leave without her.
"She's just making me wait for spite," he declared.
"But she'll be so angry, Beau."
"Serves her right. Stop worrying about it," he said, insisting I get in. I looked back when we drove away and thought I saw Gisselle coming out of the doorway. I told Beau, but he only laughed.
"I'll just tell her I thought you were her again," he said, and sped up. With the wind blowing through my hair, the warm sunlight making every leaf, every flower look bright and alive, I couldn't help but feel good. Nina Jackson's cat bone had worked, I thought. My first day at my new school was a big success.
And so too were the days and weeks that followed. I quickly discovered that instead of Gisselle's helping me to catch up, I was helping her, even though she had been the one attending this school and these classes. But this wasn't what she let her friends believe. According to the stories she told each day at lunch, she was spending hours and hours bringing me up-to-date in every subject. One day she giggled and said, "Reviewing everything because of Ruby, I'm starting to do better."
The truth was I ended up doing homework for both of us and as a result, her homework grades did improve. Our teachers wondered aloud about it and gazed at me with knowing glints in their eyes. Gisselle even improved on her test grades because we studied together.
And so my adjustment to the Beauregard School went along far easier than I had imagined it could. I made friends with a number of students, especially a number of boys, and remained very friendly with Mookie, despite Gisselle's and her friends' attitude toward her. I found Mookie to be a very sensitive and very intelligent person, far more sincere than most, if not all, of Gisselle's friends.
I enjoyed my art lessons with Professor Ashbury, who after only two lessons, declared that I had an artistic eye, "The perception that lets you distinguish what is visually significant and what is not."
Once word of my artistic talents spread, I attracted even more attention at school. Mr. Stegman, who was also the newspaper adviser, talked me into becoming the newspaper's art editor and invited me to produce cartoons to accompany the editorials. Mookie was the editor, so we had more time to spend together. Mr. Divito asked me to join the glee club and the following week, I let myself get talked into auditioning for the school play. That afternoon, Beau appeared too, and to my surprise and secret delight, both he and I were chosen to play opposite each other. The whole school was buzzing about it. Only Gisselle appeared annoyed, especially at lunch the following day when Beau jokingly suggested that she become my understudy.
"That way if something happens, no one will know the difference," he added, but before anyone could laugh, Gisselle exploded.
"It doesn't surprise me that you would say that, Beau Andreas," she said, wagging her head. "You wouldn't know the difference between pretend and the real thing."
Everyone roared. Beau flushed and I felt like crawling under the table.
"The truth is," she snapped, poking her thumb between her breasts, "Ruby has been my understudy ever since she came wandering back from the swamp." All of her friends smirked and nodded. Satisfied with her results, she continued. "I had to teach her how to bathe, brush her teeth, and wash the mud out of her ears."
"That's not true, Gisselle," I cried, tears suddenly burning behind my eyelids.
"Don't blame me for telling these things. Blame him!" she said, nodding toward Beau. "You're taking advantage of her, Beau, and you know it," she said, now in a more sisterly tone. Then she pulled herself up and added with a sneer, "Just because she came here thinking it was natural for a boy to put his hands in her clothes."
The gasps around the table drew the attention of everyone in the cafeteria.
"Gisselle, that's a horrible lie!" I cried. I got up, grabbed my books and ran from the cafeteria, my tears streaming down my cheeks. For the remainder of the day, I kept my eyes down and barely spoke a word in class. Every time I looked up, I thought the boys in the room were leering at me and the girls were whispering to each other because of what Gisselle had said. I couldn't wait for the end of the day. I knew Beau would be waiting for me by his car, but I felt horribly self-conscious about being seen with him, so I snuck out another entrance and hurried around the block.