Read Online So Mote it Be by Isobel Bird - Free Book Online

grudge holding.
    â€œYou know Sherrie,” Tara answered. “She always has to be the center of attention. Give her a few days. She’ll settle down.”
    They walked into Miss Blackwood’s room and took their seats. The mood in the class was subdued, because everyone knew that they’d be getting the results of their midterms back. When Miss Blackwood came in carrying a stack of test papers, they all held their breath.
    â€œWell,” their teacher said, “I’ve graded all of your papers.”
    No one said a word as they waited for her to continue. Miss Blackwood picked up the test on the top of the pile.
    â€œI have to say, I was a little surprised by the results,” she said. “The grades were better than I had expected.”
    There was a collective sigh from the students, and some even smiled.
    â€œAt least some of the grades were better than I expected,” Miss Blackwood said, dropping the test paper back onto the stack. The sighs of relief turned into groans.
    Miss Blackwood walked down the rows of desks, holding the tests in her hands. She stopped in front of one student and paused.
    â€œAs usual, we had an A,” she said. She took a paper and handed it to Annie Crandall, who smiled slightly and immediately stuck the paper into her notebook without looking at it.
    Annie’s getting an A was no surprise at all. She always got A’s in chemistry. In fact, she was so far ahead of everyone else that Miss Blackwood didn’t count her score when setting the grading curve for everyone else.
    Miss Blackwood continued walking. “However, we also had another A,” she said.
    Everyone looked around, trying to figure out who might have done so well on one of Miss Blackwood’s tests. As she moved down the rows, they waited for her to stop and present the lucky person with the paper.
    Miss Blackwood stopped in front of Kate and held out her test. “Congratulations, Miss Morgan,” she said. “You scored a ninety-seven, the highest grade in the class after Miss Crandall’s.”
    Kate looked at the bright red number circled at the top of her test paper. It had an exclamation point beside it, and with good reason. She could hardly believe it herself. She’d thought she’d done well, but this was better than she could ever have imagined. The highest score she’d ever gotten on one of Miss Blackwood’s tests before was a 78.
    â€œI think Miss Morgan’s score proves that this material is not as difficult as some of the other test scores would suggest,” Miss Blackwood said as she began to pass out the other test papers. “I’m disappointed that so few of you improved from the last test to this one, as she did.”
    Tara was handed her paper, and Kate looked at it. She’d gotten a 69.
    â€œI passed,” Tara said with a sigh. “Barely, but I passed.” She smiled at Kate, and it was the first genuine smile she’d given her since their misunderstanding the week before.
    â€œNormally I would consider a grade of sixty-five passing on an exam such as this one,” Miss Blackwood said as she gave the last couple of tests back. “But given Miss Morgan’s grade, I can only assume that the rest of you should be capable of the same results. Therefore, the passing grade on this exam is seventy.”
    There were exclamations of protest from a number of students.
    â€œThat’s not fair,” said Robert Pela, who waved his test with a 65 on it in the air. “I studied really hard for this.”
    â€œNot as hard as Miss Morgan did, apparently,” said Miss Blackwood. “I’m sorry, but I have to set the curve according to the highest grade. Perhaps next time you’ll all put as much effort into learning the material as Kate did.”
    Robert turned and glared at Kate. So did a number of other students. Suddenly, her 97 turned from a badge of honor to a mark of shame. She