Rainey Royal Read Online Free PDF Page B

Brennan, and Rainey knows she is thinking:
Abandoned girl, confused girl, give her a little rope
.
    Rainey is running the class now. “Oooh,” she says, “thank you,” and squirms on her stool. She takes the egg off the neck of the Erlenmeyer flask. She lights the strip of paper on fire, drops it into the flask, and sets the egg on top again.
    It takes only a moment for the air pressure inside to decrease and for the flask to suck in the egg—for the egg to stretch and narrow itself into the neck of the flask. The egg plops downinside with a tiny bounce, lands on the charred paper, and puts out the flame.
    “Oh, my God, I love that,” cries Rainey. “Thank you, Miss Brennan.”
    Miss Brennan thrusts her hand out and says, “Flask, Rainey. That happened because the air pressure inside did what? Andy?”
    But Andy Sak has his back to her and is looking directly at Rainey. When it’s clear he won’t turn away, Rainey lifts the flask, joggles it till the egg is in position, and blows into the opening.
    Not one eye is on Miss Brennan.
    “Rainey, get up here. Bring the flask.” Miss Brennan slaps the edge of the desk. “At the board, Rainey, now. I want the formula for pressure versus temperature if a gas is at constant volume. Now.”
    “I have to get it out,” says Rainey helplessly, and holds the flask upended over her palm. The egg narrows again, slithers into the neck of the flask, and drops neatly, warmly, wetly, into her hand.
    “Lunch,” she sings.
    “Five points off your grade,” says Miss Brennan. “Throw out the egg out and write the formula.”
    “It’s got
p
’s and
t
’s,” says Rainey. “But I forget it exactly. I’m sorry.” She looks contrite. Then she takes a slow bite out of the egg.
This is for you, Tina
.
    “Ten points off. Throw out the egg,” says Miss Brennan.“I know why you are doing this, Rainey. But just because you have trouble at home doesn’t mean you get to inflict it on us.”
    The silence in the room creaks and shifts. Someone coughs. Rainey stares into the eyes of Miss Brennan as if to drill a hole in her skull.
    “It’s. My. Lunch,” she says softly. She extends the tip of her tongue, which she knows is pretty because she has studied it in the mirror, and licks a bit of ash off the egg. The heads of boys lock almost audibly into position.
    Miss Brennan picks up her wastebasket, walks over to Rainey, and slams it on the floor. “Drop it,” she says through her teeth.
    “I’m hungry.” Rainey knows she is going too far, but Miss Brennan went farther, and besides, she no longer knows how to throw out the egg.
    Across the aisle Angeline Yost whispers, “Fight, fight.” Leah laughs, but when Rainey angles her a look she goes to work on a fingernail with her teeth. Miss Brennan’s eyes are bright as glass. “In addition to the ten points,” Miss Brennan says, “you have detention.”
    Rainey mouths a word that is silent but unmistakable and takes another bite of the egg. Leah emits a tiny gasp.
    “Detention’s Mr. Moreno today, isn’t it, Miss Brennan?” says Rainey. “You know his schedule, right?”
    She holds the half-eaten egg high above the trash can and waits, watching Miss Brennan’s face until color flows into it.“Thought so,” she says. She drops the egg into the trash. It thumps.
    Earlier that semester Rainey went to the library, her second-favorite place, and looked up the name. She held the word close till she needed it.
    “
Brennan
,” she says musically, deciding that today, even as she loses, she wins. “That means ‘sorrow’ in Irish, right?”
    M R . M ORENO ’ S CLASSROOM HAS pictures of the authors around the room. George Eliot, who was a woman. Fitzgerald, whose wife was crazy. There is no keeping up with English lit; you could read and read and never get through it, whereas one day she will have seen every painting in every museum in New York City.
    “Can I sketch?” says Rainey from the doorway.
    “You can do