Chapter 35
MORE “PROGRESS”
Flatso and I are working on an osmosis lab when the school secretary knocks on the doorframe. Winnie waves her in, and she hands him a note. He frowns as he reads it.
“Now?” Winnie asks Ms. Alter.
“That’s what it says,” the secretary snaps. She’s always like that. I think she needs to stop drinking those giant Dunkin’ Donuts coffees, because she is way irritable.
The class stares at me as I gather my stuff and follow Ms. Alter out the door. She doesn’t say where we’re headed, but I can take a wild guess.
Ms. Kellerman looks up from her desk when I walk in. “Margaret—please sit down.”
I plop into the chair across from hers. From the highly concerned look on her face, I guess my “progress” meeting with Mr. Tool didn’t go all that well. From his point of view. That worries me a little. I don’t want to get sent back to Crazytown. Can they do that?
“I am concerned, Margaret.”
“Actually, it’s Cuckoo.” I shift my weight in the wooden chair. Ms. Kellerman’s chairs aren’t half as nice as Mr. Tool’s. Maybe it’s easier to get students to confess to things when they’re uncomfortable.
The school psychologist smiles faintly. “I don’t wish to make light of a serious situation.”
“Really? Sometimes I think that’s the best thing to do.”
Ms. Kellerman looks at me like I’m a sentence she can’t quite make sense of. Or maybe one of those word jumbles.
“In light of the recent developments in your case, I think it’s time for you to show me your diary.”
“No.”
“I’m not asking. I demand to see it, Margaret.” The corner of her mouth twists into a triumphant smile. “It’s for your own safety.”
“Nope.”
Her smile falters. I think she really wasn’t prepared for me to just flat-out refuse. But I can’t figure out why she wants to see it so badly. She must think it’s chock-full of crazy ramblings. I can’t help thinking about how disappointed she would be by all my failed attempts to come up with a new ending for Twilight.
Maybe I should just show it to her. But don’t I deserve a little privacy?
Just a shred?