Documenti di Didattica
Documenti di Professioni
Documenti di Cultura
KIND OF GIRL
SIOBHAN VIVIAN
SCHOLASTIC INC.
PROLOGUE
much a recitation of donts, from Dont use your phones during school hours to Dont run at an inappropriate pace in the
hallways. More than half the students struggled to stay
awake, while the rest focused on subtly and not-so-subtly
checking each other out.
If it were up to me, things would be run a lot
differently.
First off, Id split up freshman orientation by gender.
For boys, thered be a simple presentation, done in ten
minutes tops. In fact, I could probably cancel their
assembly altogether and just hand out a memo. Because
there were only three things that added up to a successful high school experience for guys: doing your
homework, wearing a condom (if you were so lucky), and
deodorizing your leather school shoes every night,
because foot sweat plus polyester dress socks makes for
unbelievably rank conditions.
Obviously, things would be more involved for the
girls.
Id run their orientation like those scare em straight
drunk-driving lectures, where the police department
parks a mangled, twisted car on the front lawn of school,
and a guest speaker cries about how he accidentally
killed his best friend on the way home from a party.
Except instead of the danger of drunk driving, Id
How often she raised her hand in class. What shed dare
to put on her plate at lunch. She was never the same girl
again. Not really.
She was Fish Sticks.
This was why trusting boys was just like drinking and
driving. Sure, some people took the risk. One or two
beers never feels dangerous at the time. And not everyone who drinks and drives gets into an accident.
But to me, it was obvious: Why would you even take
the chance?
So, yeah. Orientation should be something more like
that. We could provide something useful, instead of policies on locker maintenance. Hearing a story like that
was just as important as knowing your blood type, or if
youre allergic to bee stings. It was information that
could save a girls life.
CHAPTER ONE
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
CHAPTER TWO
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
her. Like this one time in the cafeteria, when Mike stood
underneath one of the banners wed painted together,
flashing two thumbs-up and screaming something about
me having wicked bubble letter skills.
Autumns cheeks blushed the most awful shade of
purpley red, the same as the undercooked steak on her
tray. She kept her eyes locked on that steak, pushing a
gristly piece back and forth with a plastic fork that was
about to snap in her death grip. And then, without
warning, she shot straight up, bumping our table so hard
my soda splashed on my lab worksheet.
Leave her alone, she said, overenunciating each
word in as stern a voice as someone as sweet as Autumn
could muster. I looked up at her with a half-smile,
shocked that shed had the guts to say anything. She was
shaking, the tiniest quivers. My heart broke, knowing
what a good friend I had in Autumn. If that was hard
for anyone to do, it was hardest for her.
Mike reacted like Autumn had suddenly appeared
out of thin air, with phony surprise and awe. He strutted
over to our table, sniffing the air like a bloodhound
tracking a scent, and stopped right in front of her. Hey,
Fish Sticks! I didnt smell you there!
Those words sucked the air out of the entire cafeteria. I couldnt move. I couldnt look at Autumn. I just
26
27
28