Read Online Al’s Blind Date: The Al Series, Book Six by Constance C. Greene - Free Book Online Page A

we like it too?”
    â€œWe’re kids. We like practically anything,” Al said. “Grownups, especially teachers, are harder to please.”
    We got our English papers back. Martha Moseley got an A minus and there was a minute there when I thought she might possibly blow her brains out.
    â€œHow can this be ?” Martha said. “How can this be?”
    I got a C. Al got a C plus. Ms. Bolton had written across the top of my paper, “Lacks focus!” Al’s was crisscrossed with Ms. Bolton’s red-pencil corrections of Al’s spelling and punctuation.
    â€œAre you sure this is a good idea?” Al said at recess. “What’re we gonna talk about, our test marks? ‘Ms. Bolton, you’re full of it,’ I might have to tell her. ‘Ms. Bolton, this is great literature. Don’t let punk spelling and punctuation turn you off. Don’t think Shakespeare didn’t have similar probs. Did he let that stop him? No siree.’
    â€œI just might have to say that to her,” Al said. “Then, when she’s coming up for air, I hit her with the rabbit punch. I say, ‘Ms. Bolton, ma’am, read between the lines. Ignore that other stuff. Taste the beautiful rhythm of the words. The symbolism. Memorable!’” Al closed her eyes and smacked her lips.
    â€œThen I hit her again, when she’s down. ‘Ms. Bolton,’ I say, ‘if you don’t change this mark to an A pronto, forget the freebie.’ Whaddaya think?”
    â€œThat’s blackmail,” I said. “She might report us. Anyway, quit grousing. The whole thing was your idea in the first place. To ask her, I mean.”
    â€œYou kidding me?” Al snorted. “I thought it was yours.”
    The day dragged. When the final bell rang, there was a tremendous noisy exit. Kids deserted that room like rats leaving a sinking ship.
    Simile? Aphorism? Whatever.
    I noticed Martha Moseley stayed put. That meant she was waiting for everyone to clear out so she could nail Ms. Bolton and demand an explanation for her mark.
    â€œWe’ll wait for you outside, Ms. Bolton,” I said in a loud voice.
    â€œIn a minute,” she said. Then I heard her say, “Martha, I can’t talk right now. Could you come in early tomorrow? We’ll go over your paper then.”
    As Al and I waited for Ms. Bolton, Al agonized, as was her wont.
    â€œWhat if he forgets his freebie offer and hits us with a gigantic bill when it’s over?” she said. “Suppose he turns nasty and bars the door until we cough up the cash? What then? He looks plenty skeevy to me. Sort of like a mobster.”
    â€œYou wouldn’t know a mobster if you fell over one,” I told her.
    â€œYou know what I mean. He looks like a mobster in a movie.” As she spoke, she paced back and forth at the top of the school steps. One false move and she’d hurtle to the bottom.
    â€œMaybe we ought to call Teddy in for a mobster spot check,” Al suggested. “He’s the Mafia expert, after all. He’d give us the straight skinny. Is the guy a mobster or isn’t he.”
    â€œWill you cut it out?” I said.
    â€œWell, I sure hope nothing goes wrong,” Al said. “If this whole health schmeer turns out to be a total bummer, then you just see what happens on your next paper. You think you lacked focus on this one, just wait until your next one. Man.” Al hit herself on the forehead with such force she wobbled around for a while, looking spacey.
    â€œMs. Bolton’s gonna hold it against us. Wait and see. See if I’m not right.”
    When she showed up, Ms. Bolton was smiling. She looked much younger than when she was in the classroom bawling, that’s for sure. She also looked quite pretty.
    â€œI’m really looking forward to this,” she said. “When I woke up this morning, the first thing I thought was ‘Today’s workout day.’