was like a cat with a mouse and he wanted to pounce, it was clearâ¦.
âMr. Wells, please, what do you really want to say to me?!â My voice was cracking and I was teetering on the edge. I didnât know who (whom?) I felt worse for, Ms. Pitt or myself.
âIt just seems that perhaps of late you have been more than uneven, Ms. Pitt. You seemâ¦scattered. Spread. Too. Thin.â
With that, the dam broke.
âYou know what? Maybe I am spread too thin! Maybe I do too much ! I mean, have you ever had six hours of homework in one night? No?! I didnât think so!â
Now Mr. Wells was REALLY nervous.
âDo you know that having a 4.0 isnât enough to get into an Ivy League school anymore? You have to get a 4.5or a 4.6 and basically be a genetic freak? You think Stanford cares if youâre on the softball team? Oh no! You have to be captain of the softball team and translate books for the blind and speak nine languages ANDââ
Mr. Wells was beyond freaked. âAll right, this is confoundingââ
âConfounding? Oh, you think you know confounding? No, noâyou donât know confounding like I know confoundingâ¦. Because me and confounding ?! We go way back.â I felt a little bit of spittle on my lip from this crazed outburst. I stopped just short of telling him what was the most confounding of all (answer: switching bodies with your eighth-grade English teacher).
Mr. Wells ran his hand over his head, slicking back his hair, totally unnerved. He looked down as if to regain his composure. âMs. Pitt. Frankly, you are not making any sense. I would like you to please go home at once to get some rest. And if I were you, I would definitely reschedule that interview.â
I tried to take some deep breaths but wasnât exactly successful.
There was a small knock at the door. It did not open but behind it, I heard Mr. Hudsonâs hesitant voice: âIf you need a rideâ¦â
Mr. Wellsâs eyes rolled and he gestured to the door.It was clear he wanted me to leave and fast. So I did just that.
I ran smack into Mr. Hudson and smiled at him gratefully. âThanks so much for the offer. And thanks, too, for the cool words.â
âI meant it. Now. You should really take a break. Iâll go get my car and pull on up.â Before I could say anything, he was off.
I had to admit, getting out of school and its strangeness would be a good thing. Maybe then we could get more active with finding a solution for this body switchâ¦I had to track down Hadley.
I scanned the cafeteria, searching for myself, which is an entirely bizarre thing to do. Instead, I saw Zane and whatever panic I felt melted a bitâ¦. Just the sight of him always caused an internal sigh. And it seemed he was headed my way!
I took a big calming breath.
âHey, Zane! Whatâs up?â I said way too singsongy.
âUmâ¦nothing much,â he responded with absolute perfect delivery.
âCool, cool. So can we take a rain check on that tutoring? Because I am psyched to hang outâ¦but I gotta blaze home early.â
Zane looked a bit puzzled and I realized the term blaze was probably not in Ms. Pittâs vocabulary. âI meanâ¦head homeâ¦Because my catâs sick. Not that Iâm this crazy cat person. Iâm not.â
âOkayâ¦So will the, uh, tutoring obviously help with my grade, then?â
I leaned in, smiling. âAbsolutelyâ¦â And then what I said just came out like verbal diarrhea: âYouâre only, like, the most A-plus person I know.â
Zane took off.
Not that I blame himâ¦but I couldnât help myself, I had never had so much contact with Zane before. Being near him scrambled my brain and made me completely inappropriate!
CHAPTER 9
I stood outside the school waiting for my ride. I looked down at my watch, and boy oh boy, Ms. Pitt had really taken the natural-world obsession too
âMr. Wells, please, what do you really want to say to me?!â My voice was cracking and I was teetering on the edge. I didnât know who (whom?) I felt worse for, Ms. Pitt or myself.
âIt just seems that perhaps of late you have been more than uneven, Ms. Pitt. You seemâ¦scattered. Spread. Too. Thin.â
With that, the dam broke.
âYou know what? Maybe I am spread too thin! Maybe I do too much ! I mean, have you ever had six hours of homework in one night? No?! I didnât think so!â
Now Mr. Wells was REALLY nervous.
âDo you know that having a 4.0 isnât enough to get into an Ivy League school anymore? You have to get a 4.5or a 4.6 and basically be a genetic freak? You think Stanford cares if youâre on the softball team? Oh no! You have to be captain of the softball team and translate books for the blind and speak nine languages ANDââ
Mr. Wells was beyond freaked. âAll right, this is confoundingââ
âConfounding? Oh, you think you know confounding? No, noâyou donât know confounding like I know confoundingâ¦. Because me and confounding ?! We go way back.â I felt a little bit of spittle on my lip from this crazed outburst. I stopped just short of telling him what was the most confounding of all (answer: switching bodies with your eighth-grade English teacher).
Mr. Wells ran his hand over his head, slicking back his hair, totally unnerved. He looked down as if to regain his composure. âMs. Pitt. Frankly, you are not making any sense. I would like you to please go home at once to get some rest. And if I were you, I would definitely reschedule that interview.â
I tried to take some deep breaths but wasnât exactly successful.
There was a small knock at the door. It did not open but behind it, I heard Mr. Hudsonâs hesitant voice: âIf you need a rideâ¦â
Mr. Wellsâs eyes rolled and he gestured to the door.It was clear he wanted me to leave and fast. So I did just that.
I ran smack into Mr. Hudson and smiled at him gratefully. âThanks so much for the offer. And thanks, too, for the cool words.â
âI meant it. Now. You should really take a break. Iâll go get my car and pull on up.â Before I could say anything, he was off.
I had to admit, getting out of school and its strangeness would be a good thing. Maybe then we could get more active with finding a solution for this body switchâ¦I had to track down Hadley.
I scanned the cafeteria, searching for myself, which is an entirely bizarre thing to do. Instead, I saw Zane and whatever panic I felt melted a bitâ¦. Just the sight of him always caused an internal sigh. And it seemed he was headed my way!
I took a big calming breath.
âHey, Zane! Whatâs up?â I said way too singsongy.
âUmâ¦nothing much,â he responded with absolute perfect delivery.
âCool, cool. So can we take a rain check on that tutoring? Because I am psyched to hang outâ¦but I gotta blaze home early.â
Zane looked a bit puzzled and I realized the term blaze was probably not in Ms. Pittâs vocabulary. âI meanâ¦head homeâ¦Because my catâs sick. Not that Iâm this crazy cat person. Iâm not.â
âOkayâ¦So will the, uh, tutoring obviously help with my grade, then?â
I leaned in, smiling. âAbsolutelyâ¦â And then what I said just came out like verbal diarrhea: âYouâre only, like, the most A-plus person I know.â
Zane took off.
Not that I blame himâ¦but I couldnât help myself, I had never had so much contact with Zane before. Being near him scrambled my brain and made me completely inappropriate!
CHAPTER 9
I stood outside the school waiting for my ride. I looked down at my watch, and boy oh boy, Ms. Pitt had really taken the natural-world obsession too
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