Georgia's Greatness Read Online Free PDF

shook ourselves like cats coming in out of the rain.
    Then, with Ms. Harkness encouraging us, we set about finding things to play with.
    At first, we played some indoor soccer. Not because any of us liked soccer—we didn't—but because Mandy kept thinking that Will liked it, and she was trying to get his attention. So we played for fifteen minutes, kicking the ball back and forth.
    But then Rebecca reminded Mandy that Will didn't like soccer at all, which caused Mandy to remember that she didn't like soccer either, and so we stopped.
    "What do we do now?" Mandy asked.
    "Play, children! Play!" Ms. Harkness shouted from the sidelines. She was still holding Petal's little pink umbrella over her head... indoors.
    "There's something not natural about that woman," Mandy muttered as she followed us to the gymnastic equipment, where we climbed all over the uneven bars and the horse thingy, some of us hanging upside down, not caring if our panties were showing. For once, even Annie didn't reprimand us about this. She was too busy hanging upside down herself.
    "What do you mean by that?" Jackie asked Mandy. "Why would you say Ms. Harkness doesn't seem natural?"
    "Because she doesn't," Mandy said. "Just look at her over there, with that umbrella over her head... indoors. " She shuddered. "She reminds me of that book The Cat in the Hat. "
    "What are you talking about?" Rebecca demanded.
    "I've always liked that book," Zinnia said, adding, "It's a doozy." But no one seemed to care.
    "Those two kids in the book—" Mandy started.
    "Sally and her brother," Jackie put in.
    "Right," Mandy said. "Those two kids in the book are bored because it's raining out, so when the Cat arrives they're very happy."
    "Not entirely," Jackie said. "They are somewhat happy, but they're also concerned, particularly when the Fish gets into the action."
    "I've always been fond of the Fish," Petal said wistfully.
    "The Fish is a great worrier," Jackie said.
    "And rightfully so," Petal added.
    "But don't you see?" Mandy said. "Petal is right. The Fish has every good reason to be worried because once the Cat in the Hat comes into the picture, things start to go horribly wrong!"
    "But everything turns out all right in the end, doesn't it?" Jackie said.
    "But it takes an awful lot of work to get there," Mandy countered. Now she had her hands on her hips. If we hadn't known any better, we'd have sworn this was a new Mandy!
    "So what are you saying?" Durinda was puzzled. "Are you saying our teacher is the Cat in the Hat?"
    "She's not our teacher," Mandy said irritably. "Mrs. McGillicuddy is. This other woman, on the other hand, she's just an ... impostor!"
    We were so stunned at the notion, the accusation we stopped hanging upside down and things and instead circled around to confront Mandy.
    "I don't think so," Annie said. "An impostor is someone who assumes false identity or title for the purpose of deception."
    "Ms. Harkness is just a substitute," Marcia said.
    "I'm fairly certain no one in the history of the world has ever impersonated a substitute," Durinda said, sounding like Annie.
    We all thought for a moment about some of the nasty things we'd done to substitutes over the course of our education. Then we hung our heads in shame. We had been bad.
    "Well, I don't think she's like the Cat in the Hat at all," Will piped up. "In fact, I think she's the most amazing teacher of all time! She's like Cinderella or Sleeping Beauty or Snow White or something, but with a shorter skirt."
    Normally, we would have been jealous. We would have been jealous that Will, whom we thought of as belonging to us, was paying so much attention to a female other than us Eights.
    But we couldn't be jealous. As he gazed at her adoringly, so did we all.
    Well, except for Mandy.
    "I want to be like her when I grow up," Durinda said, a light in her eyes.
    "I want to be like her right now," Zinnia said, a light in her eyes too.
    "I just wish I hadn't made such a jerk out of myself in front of