Molly McGinty Has a Really Good Day Read Online Free PDF Page B

“and I thought she wanted me to take a swing at the old bat, so I did.”
    “You hit the hall monitor?” Molly turned to Irene. “You didn't
want
her to hit the hall monitor, did you?”
    “No, of course not. Violence is never the solution. But”—Irene turned and hastened to reassure Carly—“I can see where you might have gotten that idea. My voice
was
very firm.” She turned back to Molly. “And, to be fair, Carly didn't actually strike her.”
    “So now what happens?” Molly asked.
    “I'm sure we'll get things cleared up with the monsignor—just as soon as he's able to see us. There's quite a line today.” Irene didn't look at all disappointed by the idea of spending an entire class period visiting with the Detention Squad.
    “Take a seat, pussycat. You're dripping ink all over the floor,” Irene said offhandedly to Molly. Herattention had been captured by a covert poker game that had started in the corner of the room.
    Molly sighed in resignation before she squeezed onto a bench—the kids on it seemed quite willing to give her room once they saw her eye, the dead bag she was dragging and the trail of ink she was leaving behind—and gingerly opened her science book, careful not to leave inky fingerprints.
    She'd get notes from Mary Pat later. If she read the next chapter on her own, she wouldn't fall behind just because she had to miss class to help Irene plead for the elimination of hypocrisy in middle school disciplinary policies. Molly was quickly lost in a history of germ theory, tuning out the commotion surrounding her.
    “Uh, excuse me, but you seem to be on fire.”
    Molly's head jerked up and she looked into the face of Tommy Adams, the scariest boy at Our Lady of Mercy Middle School. Molly had been warned by the Marys to steer clear of Tommy and his bunch. They were responsible, it was rumored, for the mysteriously dwindling squirrel population in the neighborhood. Molly remembered jotting areminder in her notebook to follow up on the plans she'd heard that Tommy was making to actually build the perfect mousetrap once his experiments with the local rodents were complete.
    Mary Pat's older brother, Clinton, was in Tommy's Screaming Madness rock band. After they practiced in Tommy's father's garage, Clinton was left temporarily deafened and walked around screaming “What did you say?” for several hours.
    Tommy reached over and brushed at Molly's shoulder.
    “There. You weren't actually on fire. Just slightly singed from a couple of pieces of burning paper that landed on you. Must have been those guys.” He jerked his head at three boys who were giggling maniacally and tossing lit matches at each other now that the drama of Molly in flames had ended without serious casualties.
    Molly frantically twisted around on the bench, trying in vain to look at her own back and reassure herself that she wasn't still smoldering.
    She finally found her voice and stammered a trembling “Th-thanks.”
    “Hey, great shiner. YouVe gotta be pretty tough if you can take a smack like that,” Tommy told her with an admiring glance.
    Molly reached up to touch her face, caught sight of her blue-black hands and tucked them quickly under the now jagged hem of her skirt. “Oh … uh … well.…not exactly.”
    “Who's the old lady in the wild pants?”
    “My grandmother.”
    “What did they get you for?”
    “I beg your pardon?”
    Tommy spoke slowly, as if to a dim-witted child. “Why … are … you … in … the.…principal's … office?”
    “Oh, urn, well, you see …”
    “I only asked because if your grandma had to come down to bail you out, it must have been a beaut.”
    “I got busted for smoking in the girls’ room,” Irene called out proudly. “I'm a juvenile delinquent. She's just here for support.” She beamed fondly at Molly.
    “Cool.” Tommy looked impressed.
    Molly shifted awkwardly on the hard bench, reluctant to get lost in her reading again. The firebugs might try to incinerate