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not help but smile at her thoughtfulness and take refuge in her comfort.
    On Friday, Mrs. Daley summoned Jessica to her desk and told her that because of Jessica’s respectful manner through the first week of school, Jessica was allotted the most trusted homeroom job position: attendance delivery. Jessica was to bring the attendance card from homeroom to the office each morning. Anyone marked absent in homeroom got a call home. A student only had to attend homeroom and would be counted for being in school all day.
    However, in the wrong hands, the attendance sheet could be altered on the way from homeroom to the office, ensuring that kids who cut class could not be detected, at least until report card pickup.
    Jessica felt honored and a little embarrassed by the news. She figured out pretty quickly that kids who appeared really smart or highly responsible got made fun of. Not always to their face, but it was another way students pecked out social order in high school. But in Mrs. Daley’s classroom, there would be none of that. In that first week alone, she gave looks, had private talking-tos, and if needed, would make someone feel stupid for even thinking about laughing at another student in her presence. And once again, Jessica thanked God she had Mrs. Daley in her life.

 
    C hapter 5
     
     
    Jessica plodded through the first two months of high school hinged to the only two people who made her feel safe: Marilee and Mrs. Daley. She continued to change her clothes in the Ripp’s garage; Julie even donated a few items that did not fit her anymore. Eddie got clued in to what was happening when he was not allowed access to the garage by Marilee. Jessica, sporting her cool hand-me-downs, looked at him with pleading eyes.
    “Don’t worry. I won’t tell anyone,” Eddie said. “But make sure Dad doesn’t find out. That’s one secret he will not keep from Mr. Turner.”
    Jessica also spent the first two months working on overcoming her shyness with Paul. Despite having no bedroom privacy, she would sneak hours in front of the mirror, practicing how to talk to Paul without trembling, or at least with less redness in her face. And in homeroom it was working. Jessica purposely sat near Paul and a small group of his friends and would push herself to engage in the casual conversation being offered. Often she had nothing to contribute because she did not attend concerts or play video games, and radio or TV time was off-limits in her home. But on a few occasions, topics came up that she could comment on. One day everyone was sharing their favorite color, and Jessica said hers was green. Paul said that was his favorite too.
    “What’s your favorite dessert?” Paul asked Jessica.
    Jessica’s mother made the best Baked Alaska, but Jessica thought that would not be something most kids her age knew about, so she quickly thought of a dessert all kids seemed to enjoy.
    “Chocolate cake.”
    “Pudding in the middle or no pudding?” Paul volleyed back.
    Jessica never had chocolate cake with pudding in the middle, but it sounded divine so she went with her taste buds.
    “Pudding, of course.”
    Paul’s smile reached his eyes as he looked at Jessica and suddenly she felt like she scored some points, so she sat a little taller in her chair.
     

     
    The time she’d spent with Mary Carter had propelled Jessica into a higher plane. She earned straight As without much effort and was placed in accelerated classes for math and English. In just the first two months of school, Mrs. Daley invited her to join the Honors Society. Jessica also joined Key Club, an organization that worked on service projects throughout the city. Two excellent reasons not to go home after school.
    In October, the Key Club went to a community center in a Chicago neighborhood that had a high concentration of poverty and helped elementary students with a project they were working on. Her community project was focused on how to get kids to stop littering on the