¹ That was a sentence fragment. I will leave it because Ms. Silver told us to ignore grammar. Please don’t penalize me.

² Pronounced Shar-low. It’s my mother’s maiden name. It’s Creole, based largely on 18th-to-21st-century French.

³ Simile.

⁴ Circa 1983, when she won Miss America (except my hair is shoulder-length, clavicle-length when wet or flat-ironed).

⁵ I currently have 159 awards. (Complete list available upon request.) I have served as student council president for three consecutive years. I was captain of the eighth-grade track-and-field team. I have been a Girl Scout for seven years. I have never received a grade lower than A.

⁶ Latin for “truth.”

⁷ I just took a pause. I’m starting to fatigue from the surge of heavy emotions gathering in my hands.

⁸ A.J. failed eleventh grade and has to repeat it this year. He’s always getting suspended and he’s really disrespectful to Mom and Dad. The only things he cares about are cars. So they never let him drive one.

⁹ Best tempura! The same rule applies to A.J., only he’s never won anything. So it’s all on me.

¹⁰ Inspirational quotes are my caffeine. Same with caramel lattes from Starbucks.