EVE
ADDIE COMES into my classroom the next day like she’s being marched to the electric chair.
I can’t help but feel a jab of sympathy for the girl. She has been struggling in my class, and I have known it. Maybe I’m the one at fault for not trying to do more to help her. In the past, when I had other students who struggled the way she has, I offered them tutoring suggestions, which is why I have written down a list of peer tutors who will work with her for a reasonable price.
As soon as the bell rings for class to end, I motion for Addie to come to my desk. She looks like she would rather jump out the window, but she obliges.
“Addie,” I say.
She lifts her eyes, which look watery.
“I have decided not to bring this matter to the principal,” I tell her. Her eyes widen. “You…”
“I am giving you a zero on the midterm,” I say. That is a blow that will make it almost impossible for her to pass the class, so if I have any heart, I need to soften it. “And I have made a list of peer tutors. If you bring up your grades significantly by the final, I will drop the midterm grade.”
I hold out the list of tutors to Addie, and she takes it with a shaking hand. “Thank you so much, Mrs. Bennett. I really appreciate that.”
I grunt, knowing that if Nate hadn’t been so persuasive last night, I would be marching her to see Higgins now. But he was right. She did what she did because she was desperate, and it wasn’t like she planned it in advance. I can let this slide for once. “If it ever happens again…”
“It won’t.” She looks like she’s about five seconds away from getting on her knees and kissing my feet. “I swear. I’m turning over a new leaf.”
“Good.”
I’m willing to forgive this one lapse in judgment, but I’m not about to become friends with the girl. She’s just lucky that Nate sees something in her, because God knows I don’t.
