Tallahassee Higgins Read Online Free PDF Page B

shaggy hair, blown every which way by the wind. Wishing I'd brought a comb with me, I said good-bye to Aunt Thelma and followed Dawn out of the office.
    Walking behind her, I noticed that her hair was layered in perfect waves, her jeans fit just right, and her pale blue sweater matched her running shoes. Dawn was the kind of girl everybody wants to sit next to, and I was sure that all the knock-knock jokes I knew wouldn't impress her; she would have already heard every one of them.
    "I never met anybody named Tallahassee before," Dawn said as she led me down a long hall. "I always thought that was a city, not a person's name."
    I stared at the tan tiles under my feet and wished Dawn hadn't zeroed in on my name first thing. It was so embarrassing, and I'd never quite forgiven Liz. Oh, she had her reasons. "Higgins is such an ordinary last name," she always said when I complained. "I wanted something to jazz it up a little. Not Ann or Mary, they're too boring. You were born in Tallahassee, so I thought, why not?"
    Then Liz would laugh and say, "Just be glad you weren't born in Peoria or Kalamazoo, kid."
    Glancing at Dawn, I tossed some hair out of my eyes and said, "It's an old family name, but when I grow up I'm going to change it to something prettier. Like Tiffany or Meredith."
    "I don't like my name either," Dawn said. "When I have a kid, I'm just going to call it honey or something and when it's old enough it can pick out its own name."
    We paused by a water fountain and got drinks. Then Dawn asked me where I was from.
    "Florida," I said. "I'm just visiting my uncle and aunt for a couple of weeks. Then I'm moving to California. My mother's on her way to Hollywood."
    "Really?" Dawn looked impressed. "Is she an actress?"
    "Not yet," I said, "but her boyfriend knows a lot of people in the film industry, and he's sure she's going to be a big star."
    Dawn sucked in her breath. "Aren't you excited?"
    "Well, sure." I hesitated. What if I told Dawn that Liz was being considered for a role in a movie opposite somebody like Richard Gere? Would she believe me?
    "Here's Six-B," Dawn said. "I'll save you a place at our lunch table, and you can tell me all about your mother. Okay?"
    The minute we stepped through the door, everybody stopped talking and stared at me. A tall woman with gray hair got up from her desk and smiled at me.
    "Welcome to Pinkney Magruder Elementary School, Tallahassee." Mrs. Duffy took my hand and squeezed it warmly. "We're so glad to have you," she said. Her voice was as soft and warm as her hands.
    After introducing me to the class, she told me to take an empty seat by the window. "Your books are there already, just waiting for you. We're doing a review unit on fractions."
    I sat down and stared at the initials carved into the top of my desk. If there was anything I hated more than math, I couldn't think what it was.
    After a few minutes I glanced across the room at Dawn. She and a couple of other girls were passing notes back and forth. From the looks they sent my way, I was sure Dawn was telling them about my mother, the movie star.
    I noticed Jane DeFlores, too, sitting a couple of rows away. She caught my eye and smiled, revealing a mouthful of metal braces.
    "Tallahassee, do you know the answer?"
    Startled, I stared at Mrs. Duffy and the problem she had written on the blackboard. It was long and horrible and full of weird symbols. The boy across the aisle waved his hand, bouncing up and down in his seat in his eagerness to be called on, and a girl poked me and whispered something about finding the common denominator, whatever that was.
    My face reddening, I shook my head. "In my school in Florida, we hadn't gotten to fractions." Which wasn't exactly true. We'd gotten to them, but I hadn't paid any attention because I knew we were moving.
    I expected Mrs. Duffy to frown or look cross, but she just smiled sympathetically and said we'd have to work on them after school or something. Temporarily relieved, I