Chapter Five

After lunch, Sunita walks with me up the super-crowded stairway to my study skills class on the third floor.

“What luck,” Sunita says. “There she is!” She grabs my arm and pulls me through the crowd.

“Excuse me, excuse me,” Sunita says as we weave our way up the stairs.

I’m excited, but it’s so crowded that I can’t figure out which girl is Maggie.

Uh-oh, I see the mean red-haired girl from the bus ahead of us. I let go of Sunita and go slower, hanging back, hoping that the red-haired girl will keep going and not notice me. Sunita waves to someone.

“Maggie, wait up!” Sunita calls out.

The red-haired girl stops and turns around.

Oh no. My heart sinks.

This couldn’t possibly be Sunita’s friend Maggie. But Sunita said there was only one Maggie in the whole school. So it must be the one and only Maggie, whose grandma is the veterinarian.

Yep, it’s her.

Maggie gives me a look, but waits for us to catch up in the hall at the top of the stairs. I know I should say something, but we already got off to such a bad start I’m worried that I might make it worse.

Luckily, Sunita jumps in and starts talking. “This is Jules,” she says to Maggie. “She and her family just moved here. I’m her school buddy today.”

Sunita turns to me and says, “Maggie’s grandmother is Dr. Mac—she runs the veterinary clinic.”

“Um, we sort of met,” I start, not knowing what to say. “I kind of accidentally ruined her science project on the bus this morning.” I turn to Maggie. “I’m Jules. And I’m still sorry.”

“Hi,” Maggie replies. She doesn’t seem happy to be talking to me, but she’s not yelling at me, either.

“Will you be at the clinic after school today?” Sunita asks her. “Dr. Mac asked me to come in and help feed the abandoned kittens.”

“Those kittens are cute, but man, do they need a lot of attention!” Maggie says, smiling. “But I’m not on kitten duty today. I have tutoring and then basketball practice, so I won’t be home until dinnertime.”

“You’re a tutor?” I ask hurriedly. Maybe this is a chance for me to connect with Maggie on something. “That’s cool. Sometimes I help my little sister, Sophie, with her homework. Maybe I could be a tutor, too.” I’m about to ask Maggie more about it, but she’s giving me a not-so-friendly look.

“I have a tutor,” Maggie says. “Not that it’s any of your business.” All traces of her smile are totally gone now. “See you later, Sunita,” she says, walking off.

I don’t know what to say. Having a tutor is nothing to be embarrassed or mad about, but once again I’ve stumbled into making Maggie mad at me. How could this keep happening? And how am I going to fix it?

I don’t feel like talking much after that. Sunita is still friendly. She says, “I’m glad you and Maggie have met,” but she doesn’t say anything more about my chances of being a Vet Volunteer.

A few minutes later, Sunita and I arrive at room 307. I’m feeling lousy about messing up with Maggie again and am not really looking forward to a whole new class full of students I don’t know. I say good-bye to Sunita, take a deep breath, and open the door.

Everyone in the class turns to look at me.

The study skills teacher smiles, and tells me her name is Ms. Harris. “You must be Julia. Come on in,” she says. She asks if I want to say something about myself.

“No, not really. Although I prefer to be called Jules. Thanks,” I say, staying near the door.

“Please allow me to introduce you,” Ms. Harris says. “Class, this is Jules Darrow.”

A few of the kids smile at me.

“Jules,” the teacher says, “I usually have my new students fill out this survey for me.”

“What kind of survey?” I ask.

The teacher smiles again and holds out a packet of papers toward me. “It’s to help determine your unique learning style,” she says. “So I can help you utilize the best study strategies.”

“Can I take it home to do it?” I ask.

Ms. Harris laughs, but it’s not a mean laugh. “It will only take you a few minutes. And it’s nothing to worry about. There are no right or wrong answers. You can fill it out here in the classroom, or if you want, you can use the desk in the hallway. Your fellow students will be practicing their oral reports in a moment, so that might be distracting.”

She walks closer to me and hands me the stapled papers. The rest of the class waits silently and stares at me. I look at the survey and wish I could disappear. I hate being the new kid.

The teacher whispers, but of course everyone hears her when she asks me, “Do you need some help getting started?”

I take a breath and look at my shoes. “I don’t need any help,” I say quietly.

“Do you have a pen or pencil?”

I feel trapped in this room, just like the poor dogs at the shelter in Pittsburgh, pacing endlessly back and forth in their cages. I take a step toward the doorway. “I have a pen. I’ll take the test in the hall, thanks.” It comes out more rushed than I planned, but I can’t wait to get out of there. Why is meeting new people so hard for me?

The next few minutes I sit in the hall checking off boxes with always, sometimes, often, rarely, and never.

It basically comes down to this:

I can answer sometimes for almost everything. Sometimes I like meeting new people. Especially new people like Sunita, who are friendly and put me at ease. Otherwise, rarely. Sometimes I like working with others, but usually it takes me a few weeks to feel comfortable. But I can’t write all that down. I have to check one of the boxes instead.

For all the questions about doing schoolwork independently and on time, I check off usually. I don’t want Ms. Harris to think I’m not a good student. I am.

Too bad there are no questions about understanding, helping, and being good with animals. That’s something I could check always for. I browse my answers and look around the empty hallway. I don’t want to be sitting out here when the bell rings. Finally I return to the classroom and turn my paper in to Ms. Harris. Even though she said there are no right or wrong answers, I wonder what she’ll think about me. Honestly, I think my study skills are just fine. It’s my people skills I keep messing up with. But again, there’s no box on the survey to check off for that.