The Education of Bet Read Online Free PDF

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Chapter three
     

    "Are you
insane,
Bet?"
    Not exactly the reaction I'd been hoping for when I made my proposal to Will, I'll grant you. Still, I tried to tell myself it was a start. At least my idea was now out there, loose in the world.
    Turn the clock back a minute or two...
    "Perhaps," I said, feeling the smile stretch across my face, "there is a way we can help one another out."
    "Such as?"
    "You will go into the military, while I will take your place at school."
    "Don't be daft," Will scoffed. Then he added, in an effort to humor me or out of genuine curiosity, I couldn't tell: "I understand the part about me going into the military, which I suppose could be accomplished if I were willing to deliver unto Uncle an emotional deathblow, but how could you possibly take my place at school?"
    "First off," I said, "you wouldn't be dealing him a deathblow. On the contrary, that would be the purpose of my taking your place at school. So long as
someone
named Will Gardener reports to school, your great-uncle will never know what you've done. As to the question of how I could possibly take your place at school, the answer should be obvious: by becoming you." I added smugly, feeling rather pleased with myself, "By becoming
a boy.
"
    It was this last that brought us to:
    "Are you
insane,
Bet?"
    He seemed so convinced of that possibility, I gave it a moment's serious consideration.
    "No," I at last concluded. "Or, rather, I may be insane about some things, but I think I'm seeing this quite clearly. We each want something, and it's my belief that if we're willing to work really hard, we can both get what we want."
    "And how do you propose to go about
becoming a boy?
" Will's exasperation with me was growing by the second. "What are you going to do? Cut your hair? Wear a suit?"
    I reflected. "Yes, I suppose I'll have to do both those things eventually, won't I?" I didn't mind the suit part so much—the idea of wearing masculine clothing struck me as liberating—but giving up my hair would be hard. It was the only thing about myself I regularly thought pretty.
    "Even if you do those things, people will still know you're a girl."
    "How so?"
    Will waved his hand at my body, toe to crown, blushing furiously all the while. "Your body, for one thing. You have a woman's body, Bet." More furious blushing. "Or at least a girl's."
    Now it was my turn to blush. I had never thought of Will noticing that I was different from him in that manner. Still, I was determined. "Then I will find a way to ...
disguise
my shape."
    "But then there will be the matter of your voice, and after that, the matter of your walk, and after that..." He paused. "Really, Bet, do you not see? No matter what you do, no matter how much you change, there will always be one more thing you haven't taken into consideration. I'm sorry, but this harebrained scheme of yours can't possibly work."
    "All I
see,
Will, is a boy who is unwilling to do what it takes to get what he wants out of life."
    "That hurts, Bet." It was impossible to tell whether he was being sincere or sarcastic. For my part, I chose to treat it as though it was the former.
    "Not as much as going through life without getting the opportunity to live your dream. Not as much as knowing that there are things you could do to achieve that dream but choose not to."
    "You are wearing me down."
    "Good."
    "It's not like I have anything better to do with my summer."
    "Exactly! Look at it as an adventure! Look at it as a game! Your task, Will Gardener, is to help me transform myself into you."
    He laughed then, recovering his good humor for just a moment before becoming sober again.
    "It is impossible," he said. "This thing you want to do—it can never work."
    What Will didn't count on was that I could be fierce when I wanted to.
    "At least," I countered just as soberly, "we can try."
    ***
    That night I stayed up late, thinking of all that would need to be accomplished over the next few months and making a list. The