The Unseemly Education of Anne Merchant Read Online Free PDF Page A

Long legs.”
    When my surprise shows on my face, he grins. His nose wrinkles charmingly. It’s far cuter a smile than I’d have expected from someone like Ben, someone who’s more of a starched-shirt guy than a funny T-shirt guy. Not that I care about his smile. Not that his extremely adorable crinkle-nosed grin really affects me, per se.
    All at once, I realize who Ben is. The only way he could watch me run to school is if he was off-campus, too. Pilot had said something to Dr. Z about “his kid” shoving him.
    “You’re the Zin boy next door,” I say in a breath. “And Dr. Z—that’s Dr. Zin. Your dad.”
    “I assumed you’d pieced that together already.”
    I shake my head. He looks disappointed.
    “I’ve been living in that monstrosity of a house for years,” he explains. “No one’s lived with Gigi in all that time. I would have thought she’d have mentioned me.” Before I can continue with the small talk, Ben glances up the hall and lowers his voice. “Look, A.M., I assume Villicus is going to assign your Guardian to you and get you to declare your PT.”
    Unsure why there’s this sudden air of secrecy, I reply with a shrug, “Your guess is as good as mine.”
    “It’s no guess. Most kids get assigned this stuff the second they arrive on the island—”
    “The second?” I smirk at the exaggeration.
    “—but yours is a special case.”
    “Special. Right.” Of course, I know he’s referring to my ghetto background.
    “You’re going to get assigned a Guardian right away. We all have one—well, everyone that’s going for the Big V, at least.”
    “What’s the Big V?”
    “The valedictorian race. Listen,” his mint gaze darts to the secretary again, and when she finally turns away, the pace of his speech quickens, “Villicus will explain all that stuff soon. Don’t tell him I was talking to you.”
    “Um, are you okay?”
    “Just do this one thing for me, will you, Anne?”
    “I just—I don’t even know you.”
    He flinches when I say that. The brass knob on Villicus’s door squeals.
    “Just make your Guardian happy,” Ben whispers to me hurriedly through his teeth, like a ventriloquist, as the door starts to swing open, “and you’ll be valedictorian next year. You have to.”
    Then, abruptly, he leans back against the bench and closes his eyes, as if he’s been napping all this time. Pilot and Dr. Zin appear in the doorway. Pilot’s eyes are wet and red, and he looks furious as he’s ushered out. I’m hardly able to take in what’s happening—with Ben’s warning so fresh in my mind—as Pilot turns back and speaks boldly to our unseen headmaster. Ben slowly opens his eyes to join me in watching what follows.
    “It’s called free will,” Pilot bellows, his voice deep but quaking. “I have every right to exercise it. And that means I get to make my own choices.”
    “Come along, Mr. Stone,” Dr. Zin advises, taking Pilot by the arm.
    Pilot shrugs his arm free and glowers at everyone but me.
    “And I choose,” Pilot continues boldly, “not to declare a PT, not to take a Guardian, and not to enter this BS race to become valedictorian. Let the rest of the students here try to impress their pathetic, uninvolved parents with some stupid title, but that’s not how I’m going to live my life. And you can’t force me. I will not declare a PT!”
    In a flash, Pilot runs down the hall and, blankly, Dr. Zin turns his attention to Ben. He hands him a piece of paper.
    “The headmaster was kind to you,” Dr. Zin says stiffly to his son. I can easily see the resemblance now—it’s not just their height, their hair, or their eyes but the formal way they speak. “He has not declined your application to assist Mr. Weinchler, in spite of your outburst. Take this form to the front desk for processing.”
    Then Dr. Zin turns to me and extends his arm toward the door, welcoming me to a room I’m pretty sure I don’t want to go into. Not that I’ve ever had a reason to