How To Be A Perfect Girl Read Online Free PDF

whatever, I
thought we could just assign it as homework and talk about the
Italian language instead.”
    “Is that the royal we?” Carrie whispered.
Val didn’t get it, but when Carrie looked at her for a response she
smiled and shrugged.
    Miss Wells continued, “Italian is one of the
so-called ‘romance languages’. Now, does anyone know why they’re
called that?”
    A boy raised his hand across the room; it
was Keenan, from Chemistry. “Yes?” Miss Wells called on him.
“Because, when you speak in a romance language, girls can’t help
but fall in love with you.”
    The whole class laughed; “Not quite,” Miss
Wells looked around hopefully for another hand. “It’s because
they’re based on Latin,” Carrie whispered.
    Val raised her hand; it took a few moments
for Miss Wells to turn from Keenan’s side of the class, “Yes?”
    “Is it because they’re all based on Latin?”
Val asked.
    “Bingo! Roman’s language, romance language,
get it? What’s your name again?”
    “Oh, it’s Valentina.”
    “Valentina. Well, let’s see if lightning
strikes twice, Valentina, shall we?”
    “Um, ok.”
    “Do you know what the conjugational
differences between Italian, Spanish, and French are?”
    Val wasn’t sure she’d understood the
question, “Conjugational differences?” she asked.
    “Yes—you know, the conjugation of verbs.”
The clarification did little to improve Val’s comprehension.
    Carrie came to her rescue, “There aren’t
any,” she answered, loudly enough that Miss Wells could hear.
“Exactly!” the teacher exclaimed, “That’s what’s so great about the
Romance languages. They’re all so very similar—why, I bet if you
put an Italian and a Spaniard in the same room they could have a
whole conversation with one another even if they each knew only
their own language.”
    “Doubt it,” Carrie’s voice had fallen back
into a whisper, so only Val heard the remark. Miss Wells continued
talking about how speaking Italian was really like speaking four
languages, which seemed to irritate Carrie. Val tried to
acknowledge her classmate’s numerous guffaws and whispered
criticisms, but it soon became hard to do, in addition to paying
attention to Miss Wells. As a result, by the time the bell
interrupted one particularly long-winded sentence, Val had only
taken about a half-page of notes.
    Avery was at the Student Gov. meeting after
school; she paid no attention to Val, and gave the same directions
as Raelyn had given the day before, “This first week is all about
getting to know your peers, especially if you’re a freshman. That’s
why we meet every day the first day of school; if you want a
particular office, start floating the idea around and see what kind
of response you get. We’ll vote for leadership positions next
Wednesay, so be prepared.”
    Val had completely forgotten about her
agreement with Aiden, so she was surprised when he presented her
with a deck of Mini Monsters cards. “Here,” he said, “For you. I
can show you how to play now, if you want.”
    Behind them, someone laughed. Val groaned;
she thought she knew who the laugh belonged to, and she was too
worn out to endure more of Alex’s joking. “King nerd, do you really
think this goddess wants to learn to play your stupid card
game?”
    “It’s not a stupid card game!” Aiden
protested.
    “Oh, of course not, King Nerd. I humbly
apologize. What I meant to say is—“ he smirked, “—look at Val, and
then compare her to the type of girl you see playing at cards.
Notice the distinct presence of self-esteem? And—perhaps more
importantly—notice how she’s actually, you know, attractive?”
Alex’s posse followed him to where Val and Aiden were sitting. Alex
leaned on the table between Val and Aiden.
    “You’re wrong,” Aiden whispered, “She’s
actually interested in Mini Monsters!”
    Alex laughed, “But not really, right?” He
looked at her.
    Val looked pleadingly at Alex, and then at
Aiden.