Chapter 4
LOVE AND BIO
We interrupt this diary for an announcement: There’s a new kid in bio!
He’s just standing at the front of the room scanning the class with his big blue eyes, like maybe he can’t decide where to sit. He chews on a fingernail, adorably nervous. I’m still all about Operation Happiness, so I walk right up to him and introduce myself.
“Welcome to North Plains High School!” I say. “We’re all about helping each other here. Our motto is ‘We’re in this together!’ ” (Actually, our motto is “Educating students to succeed in a changing world,” but that sounds kind of ominous to me. Mine’s better.)
“Um, thanks.” An awkward laugh stumbles from his lips. “Uh—do you want to take a seat?”
“Oh, sure, but I already have a lab partner.” I wave my finger at Flatso, who is sitting at our black marble lab table with her notebook open and pen poised.
“Helleeeeew!” Flatso calls in an inexplicably English accent.
“Okay, well, why don’t you go sit down,” New Kid says, which strikes me as a little weird. But I assume he thinks maybe we’ll have more time to hang out after class, so I head over to my seat.
“He’s absolutely darling!” Flatso whispers.
“Why are you suddenly British?” I whisper back.
“Don’t you think it makes me sound more refined?” she asks as the New Kid walks up to the front of the room and starts the class.
Yes, that’s right—he’s not the New Kid. He’s the New Teacher!
I can feel my science grade drop out from under me.
“Um, hello. I’m Winston Quinn.” He starts to write it on the board, and the chalk gives off a deafening screech. “Heh,” he says, and starts again, but then the chalk breaks. He scrambles underneath his desk to get it, and when he pops back up, his face is pink. He takes a deep breath and says, “Well, anyway, you can all call me Winnie.”
“What happened to Ms. Donaldson?” Langston Connors shouts from the back of the room.
“Uh—I’m not—” Winnie blushes deeper, and sweeps his blond bangs out of his eyes. I swear, he looks like he’s sixteen. “I’m not actually at liberty to discuss it.”
That sets the whole room off.
“Um, could everybody… could you all… settle down, please,” Winnie says, sort of waving his hands a little bit.
He’s never going to get anywhere with that, I think. I feel pretty bad for him as he sits down behind his desk and nervously looks at his watch. Then he starts scanning the room again, but I realize he’s not just looking at the students. He’s studying the walls, the desks, even the ceiling, like he’s never been inside a regular old classroom before.
The room is still going strong with theories, but the main points for now are she’s not coming back, Winnie is our new teacher, and the front row no longer needs to worry about Ms. Donaldson’s rampant spittle problem.
Meanwhile, beside me, I can see Flatso falling madly in love.
I’m not the kind of person who gets crushes on teachers, but I can absolutely see where she’s coming from. He’s definitely working the cute cherub look with his pink cheeks and punk preppy haircut.
I try to picture Flatso and Winnie out on a date. Where would they go? The gym first, then the natural science museum?
Winnie eventually gets everyone calmed down and calls the roll, and when he says, “Margaret Clarke?” I raise my hand and say, “Everyone calls me Cuckoo.”
He gives me a dimply smile. “All right, if you insist. Cuckoo it is.”
“Her friends call her Kooks,” Flatso chimes in. Still English.
“So noted, Kooks.” And he actually writes that down. I’m starting to suspect that Winston Quinn might be extremely cool.