Finding Hope in Texas Read Online Free PDF Page A

your
dad?”
    “Mr. Peet. He teaches the eleventh graders in
U.S. history.”
    “Mr. Peet is your dad?” I sounded amazed.
    “Yeah,” Lizzy said shyly. “Sorry for
that.”
    I giggled. “Why are you apologizing? He seems
like a pretty good teacher. He wasn’t boring on the first day,
anyway.”
    “Well, he’s kind of crazy.”
    “I think you have to be if you want to be a
teacher. You know, they have to put up with a lot of junk. Being
crazy just comes along with the assignment.”
    “Yeah, I guess so. I wouldn’t want to be
one,” Lizzy smiled as if I understood when in fact I didn’t. My dad
had been a lawyer, a high-powered successful attorney in New York
City. When people looked at him, it was practically in awe of his
accomplishments. He was also able to provide the world for me with
a nice house, a top dollar education, and a future that was also
going to make me all that and more. Well, it was, but I wasn’t so
sure any more. But I really had no idea what Lizzy was talking
about, being the daughter of a teacher, especially in Texas where
you were probably overworked and underpaid. Where my father set up
my world for me, Lizzy was doing her best to avoid everything about
hers.
    We ate most of the meal in silence, not
really knowing what to say to each other. I was the new kid on
campus and she was the daughter of the crazy history teacher. Soon,
our table would be cliqued as the “losers” group. Still, I didn’t
seem to mind. I had come to get away from things, and in the world
of a teenager, this was about as far as I could go. The first bell
rang, warning us we had five minutes to make it to the next class.
My last school didn’t have bells, but everyone knew where they were
supposed to be and that there were few excuses for being tardy. But
here, the bell rang so often that it became confusing. How many
warnings do you have to give someone before they understand they
are needed to be in class? We scraped our trays of any leftovers
and tossed them in the bin to be cleaned. We turned to each other
as if to say something, but didn’t know what.
    “Well ...”
    “Well, um ... thanks for lunch?” Lizzy said
more like a question than a statement. “And I guess I’ll see you in
class.”
    “Yeah, thanks for lunch.”
    She smiled and began heading in the opposite
direction.
    “Oh, Lizzy?”
    “Yes?”
    “I wouldn’t worry about your dad being too
weird. I mean all parents are weird, right?”
    She smiled at me. “Yeah, but just wait till
he puts on his uniform and brings his musket to class.” Before I
could respond she was swept away in the crowd of teenagers barging
their way to class.
    I turned to go myself when a large splash of
milk flew straight across my front, saturating my shirt. I froze like a deer in the headlights . This was no accident and I
knew it. When I opened my eyes I could see Jody and her collection
of friends laughing as they headed towards the door, mischief in
their glinting eyes. I was now their new project targeted for
destruction, all for talking to a boy. How shallow can some
people be?
    After I cleaned my shirt, I made it to music
just after the bell. The teacher, Miss Appleton, glared down her
straight-line nose at me. “Miss Kilpatrick, it is only your second
day here and you are already tardy.” I was expecting a write-up,
but was given a warning. “If you’d have the decency to get to class
on time so we may start our lesson, that would be just
perfect.”
    I nodded but didn’t say anything, catching
the sorrowful eyes of Lizzy sitting across the room. I sat down,
sighed, and unbuttoned my violin case and pulled out the
instrument. The feeling that I was being watched began to overwhelm
me, and I looked over my shoulder to see the glimmer in Jody’s eyes
as they bore into me. I was going to leave it alone. Besides, this
was her turf and I was only the new girl in town who meant next to
nothing to her, especially now. She helped me because she had to,
for