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Sorry it has been a while. I am cowriting a novel, and my
co-author is highly tolerant that I can manage 3000 words a day on
many days, even though he views this as catastrophically slow.<br>
<br>
We shall piously hope that the HitGirlz remembered their
bulletproof underthings.<br>
<br>
<span style="font-size: 10pt;">CHAPTER
YYY</span><br>
<br>
<span style="mso-bidi-font-size:10.0pt">Benjamin Franklin
Technical Junior High
School</span><br>
<br>
<span style="mso-bidi-font-size:10.0pt">Joseph Henry Boulevard,
Medford</span><br>
<br>
<span style="mso-bidi-font-size:10.0pt">January 17, 2018 </span><br>
<br>
<span style="mso-bidi-font-size:
10.0pt">2:30 PM</span><br>
<br>
<span style="mso-bidi-font-size:10.0pt">“Students, there
will be an in-class exam this Friday. The test is through Lesson
60; be sure to
review. Everyone has passed that mark already, so no need to
worry.” Mrs.
Gostak looked around her Editing English class. “You should all
have your next
lesson coming up on your computer screens. Anyone who doesn’t,
please speak
up.” Three hands went up.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>“James,
William, you want to restart the lesson, not begin from where
you left off?
Just a moment, I can key that. Trisha, I’ll be with you in a
moment.” Trisha
smiled back and lowered her hand.</span><br>
<br>
<span style="mso-bidi-font-size:10.0pt">A few moments later,
Mrs. Gostak was at Trisha’s side. Trisha pointed at her computer
screen. “I
can’t go farther unless I do those two tests,” she said, “and I
have to do them
in-class not at home and it won’t let me do them.” </span><br>
<br>
<span style="mso-bidi-font-size:10.0pt">Mrs. Gostak poked at
the touch screen. “I’ll release the first one for you. You have
to do it all
in-class this hour.”</span><br>
<br>
<span style="mso-bidi-font-size:10.0pt">“Got it,” Trisha
said. “So if I’m done by three, I can do the other one?”</span><br>
<br>
<span style="mso-bidi-font-size:10.0pt">“The rule is one a
day,”Mrs. Gostak said. “Unless your score on the first one is
absolutely
perfect.”<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span></span><br>
<br>
<span style="mso-bidi-font-size:10.0pt">Trisha grimaced.
‘Perfect’ was challenging, not something she did all the time.
“I’ll try,” she
answered. The math and biology teachers had been more agreeable.
Editing was
sort of easy, but it was real easy to make mistakes or miss
things. </span><br>
<br>
<span style="mso-bidi-font-size:10.0pt">* * * * *</span><br>
<br>
<span style="mso-bidi-font-size:10.0pt">Trisha skipped out
of editing class. Her first exam had not been perfect, no matter
how simple it
had seemed, but she’d persuaded Mrs. Gostak to over-ride the
block so she’d
have something to do for the rest of the hour.</span><br>
<br>
<span style="mso-bidi-font-size:10.0pt">“Trisha!” Ingrid
Fairhaven waved hello to her friend and competitor, Trisha
Wells. “Has Mr.
Przemysl said anything to you?”</span><br>
<br>
<span style="mso-bidi-font-size:10.0pt">“No news,” Trisha
answered. “But don’t worry. You,” she pointed at Ingrid, “have
the lead singer spot.
I’m dropping out. I’ve already told him.”</span><br>
<br>
<span style="mso-bidi-font-size:10.0pt">“You’re what?”
Ingrid said in amazement.</span><br>
<br>
<span style="mso-bidi-font-size:10.0pt">“Dropping music
club. Quitting singing.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Going
away. I
finally got to hear the recordings of the two of us, and your
voice is way
better than mine, so I don’t see why I’m competing for lead
voice,” Trisha
said. “Other than my Mom pushing me and he.”</span><br>
<br>
<span style="mso-bidi-font-size:10.0pt">Ingrid wrinkled her
eyes. “But Mr. Przemysl keeps saying how good you are.”</span><br>
<br>
<span style="mso-bidi-font-size:10.0pt">“Helicopter mom. Agreeable
teacher. Besides, I’m totally grounded like forever, so I can’t
travel with the
club.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>You know, like I
can’t travel to
concerts.” Trisha said.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Well,
she
thought, that is what Dad said.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes">
</span>Home,
school, in between. That’s no trips.</span><br>
<br>
<span style="mso-bidi-font-size:10.0pt">“You? Grounded? Why?<span
style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>What did you do?” Ingrid
asked. “You don’t
have to say.”</span><br>
<br>
<span style="mso-bidi-font-size:10.0pt">“I don’t know,”
Trisha answered.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>“Nothing
that makes
sense. I didn’t leak Janie’s super-extra-special City move, no
matter what the
stupid Boston Post said.”</span><br>
<br>
<span style="mso-bidi-font-size:10.0pt">“Ooo. Weird.
Sympathies.” Ingrid shook her head. “That means also no birthday
party for
Kaylee? My little sister will miss seeing you. Other question.
Where did you
get the pantsuit you were wearing yesterday?<span
style="mso-spacerun:yes">
</span>My mom saw it—she does fashion design—and said it had to
be four digits
in the price.”</span><br>
<br>
<span style="mso-bidi-font-size:10.0pt">“I wouldn’t dare go
to the party. I wouldn’t dare ask. Can I slip you my present for
Kaylee?”
Trisha asked. She looked pleadingly at Ingrid.<span
style="mso-spacerun:yes">
</span>Ingrid nodded. “The pantsuit I sewed myself.<span
style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Would you like one?
Similar, not the same.
But you choose the colors. Maybe blue, and darker blue trim? You
look really
good in blue. And you need to get me the fabric and
measurements. Fabric gets
expensive. I’ll go with your mom’s call on fabrics. We can’t
meet for fittings;
I can sew it loose and your mom can mayhaps pin it so I can
tighten it up?”</span><br>
<br>
<span style="mso-bidi-font-size:10.0pt">“I’m sure she can. That’s
super generous of you. You’re always so nice to everyone,”
Ingrid said.</span><br>
<br>
<span style="mso-bidi-font-size:10.0pt">“You were an
incredible lots of help when I was trying to sing better. <span
style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>I owe you. But I have to get
going. New club
today.”</span><br>
<br>
<span style="mso-bidi-font-size:10.0pt">“Which?” Ingrid
asked.</span><br>
<br>
<span style="mso-bidi-font-size:10.0pt">“Fitness,” she
answered.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>“Weights.
Running. Things I can’t
do at home while grounded.”</span><br>
<br>
<span style="mso-bidi-font-size:10.0pt">“They’re real
tough.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>My older brother
is in it. And a
lot of boys,” Ingrid said.</span><br>
<br>
<span style="mso-bidi-font-size:10.0pt">“The girls’ sports
teams are in it,” Trisha said. “Except girls’ lacrosse.<span
style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>They think it’s soft.
They’re crazy. I have a
brother. And he’s a base ball nines jock. I can cope. Really got
to run.”</span><br>
<br>
<span style="mso-bidi-font-size:10.0pt">“Sads on grounding,”
Ingrid said. “You need any help, things you need, tell me.”<span
style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>She stared at Trisha’s back
as Trisha headed
down the stairs.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Grounded?
She
wondered.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>And does not
know why?<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>What’s the
point of that? It made no
sense.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>What was the
point of grounding
someone, if they didn’t know why?</span><br>
<br>
<span style="mso-bidi-font-size:10.0pt">* * * * *</span><br>
<br>
<span style="mso-bidi-font-size:10.0pt">Trisha knocked on
the gym teacher’s door. “Mister Mahoney?” she asked. Mahoney was
an older man,
somewhat heavy-set.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Not
in the
waistline, she thought; he must do a lot of training himself.</span><br>
<br>
<span style="mso-bidi-font-size:10.0pt">“Indeed.<span
style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>And you are? And you want?”
he asked.</span><br>
<br>
<span style="mso-bidi-font-size:10.0pt">“I’m Trisha Wells.
I’d like to join the Fitness Club.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes">
</span>I
have machines at home, but can’t use them now, but this,” she
waved a data
stick, “shows where I am in training.<span
style="mso-spacerun:yes">
</span>Well, that’s what the manual says.”</span><br>
<br>
<span style="mso-bidi-font-size:10.0pt">“Come in.<span
style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Have a seat.” He took the
data stick.
“Mercury machines. We have Silverplates, about the same.” He
waited for his
computer to interpret her file. “Hmmh, very good. Very good
indeed. I want to
see you go through each of these before I let you loose on the
machines
yourself. There’s a running group first, indoor track, by the
time you’ve done
your mile-plus I’ll have time to check you out on the weights.
You want credit
for this as your activity?” </span><br>
<br>
<span style="mso-bidi-font-size:10.0pt">“Switching over from
music,” she said. </span><br>
<br>
<span style="mso-bidi-font-size:10.0pt">“This is a six day a
week activity,” he said.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>“You
get one
miss a week, unless you’re sick.” He entered a few lines of
data. “I have to
check with Mr. Przemysl on continuity. Any reason you are
changing?”</span><br>
<br>
<span style="mso-bidi-font-size:10.0pt">“My singing voice is
someplace between ‘badly-played bagpipe’ and ‘cat having its
tail pulled’,” she
said, “and I wasn’t getting better, so I’d rather do something I
enjoy than
something my mom thinks I enjoy because she is a really good
singer.”</span><br>
<br>
<span style="mso-bidi-font-size:10.0pt">“Your call. Change
in the girls’ locker room, be out in five minutes,” he said.
“It’s the boys
base ball nines club running first.” Trisha had a grin on her
face. Brian had
told her about them being really slow around the track.</span></font><br>
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