us have learned something today. Zane, why is the book In Cold Blood so important?â
Crickets were chirping somewhere. âUhâ¦becauseâ¦â
Ms. Pitt tried to help him along. âBecause it was a revolutionary event of literatureââ
ââthat blurred the line between, you knowâ¦reality and fiction,â Zane blurted, almost stunning himself. âWhen Truman Capote wrote it, he used, like, newspaper writing and then he combined it with creative writing, basically.â
Ms. Pitt raised her eyebrows. âVery good. And how did his writing change because of Harper Lee?â
âWell, weâll never know. I wasnât there. Just as Capote wasnât there the night Perry and Smith killed that family in Holcomb, Kansas.â He sort of smiled, maybe a bit proud. That was it. I was officially in love. I knew he was the sort who had to be coaxed and once they were on a roll, theyâd be unstoppable. âBut I can imagine that Truman as aâ¦well, letâs just say not a lot of dudes like Truman were showing up much in Kansas. He was pretty flamboyant and I bet having Harper with him made the townspeople open up and trust him more. I bet he got a better story because of her.â
âAnd I bet youâre right. Great work, Zane. Okay, Hadley. Youâre up next.â
Soup and Nan spun in their seats and shot daggers my way. I froze in my chair.
âHadley? I said youâre up.â I had no choice. I felt myself walk to the front of the classroom, empty-handed. No oral presentation to cling to and read from. My heart thump-thumped, thump-thumped in my chest.
âWhenever youâre readyâ¦â Ms. Pitt offered.
Except I wasnât ready. I was dying! Couldnât she see that?
Ms. Pitt cleared her throat as if to say âbegin already.â
I cleared my throat in response. And gulped. I had to begin. âSo, uh⦠To Kill a Mockingbird . Great book. Harper Lee knows how to write a book. And she did write one. Which is the one we read.â I just knew it, I couldnât put any thoughts together. My head was swirling.
Nan and Soup shared a look and I knew this was going to be as bad as I thought. Ms. Pitt leaned in, concerned.
âSo the bookâ¦the book was,â I heard myself say. Was that even a sentence? â To Kill a Mockingbird . I mentioned thatâ¦is about this girl. I mean it is and it isnât. Thereâs also a trial, soâ¦â The room was getting fuzzy.
âHadley, isnât your topic about how race impacts justice?â Ms. Pitt said.
I just nodded vaguely.
âWould you like to talk about that, then?â
Zane was wincing while he watched me, as if he was sucking on lemons. Focus, focus, focus, you idiot! Think of something!
âUmâ¦yeah. So O. J. Simpsonâ¦?â
âWhat about him?â
âHe, uhâ¦well, you knowâ¦I have no idea,â I mumbled. This was more pronounced than any otherpanic attack Iâd ever had. I was defenseless and mute.
âHadley, I need to speak to you in the hallway.â Ms. Pitt trotted out of the class into the hall and I had no choice but to follow.
I had never hated a Monday more in my entire life.
CHAPTER 5
âHadley. This is so unlike you,â Ms. Pitt stated the obvious.
All I could do was look down, humiliated. I had never ever in my life been called into the hall by a teacher.
âI know itâs unlike me. I tried to tell you before!â was my only defense.
âOkay, so tell me now. Iâm listening.â Ms. Pitt gave me her best âI-really-get-youâ eyes. Which only made me know how much she didnât get me.
âI switched to this Super Student Planner Plus organizer thing and I guess I spaced on writing down the date. Iâm so, so sorry, but I forgot.â
Ms. Pittâs eyes grew like saucers. â You forgot?â
All I could do was nod yes. âMaybe I could
Rebecca Hamilton, Conner Kressley