I’m going to get Derek and Lowell back for this. I haven’t figured out exactly how, yet, but I have plenty of time to plot my revenge. They’ll never see it coming, because they don’t expect me to fight back. Well, they have no idea who they’re dealing with. I’m Chelsea freaking Knot.
* * *
While Derek and Lowell may not have tired of giving me a hard time yet, the good news is Mrs. Finch seems to have resigned herself to my silence.
After class, I stand at her desk, fully prepared for my customary sentencing. Instead of pulling out her detention slips, though, she has the study guide I turned in today in her hands.
“This is very good work, Chelsea,” she tells me, and it’s enough to bowl me over. She tosses the guide onto a stack of papers and looks at me over the tops of her glasses. “I believe you read the novel. Truly a first.”
The truth is, she’s not wrong. Usually I just skim the pages and Wikipedia the book summaries. I mean, you can find anything online. A lot of teachers aren’t Net-savvy enough to figure that out.
“You have some very…strong feelings,” she says.
That’s probably a reference to the two paragraph rant I did on how much I hate reading about dead puppies, and how much it sucks that the only female character in the book is, of course, a temptress who leads to the two main guys’ downfall. Sexist much, Mr. Steinbeck?
“But your criticism stems from an understanding of the material,” she goes on. “And it’s a marked improvement from your past work. So I have to concede that if this…vow of silence of yours is strengthening your focus as a student, it isn’t fair of me to punish you.”
Wow. No more detentions? As much as I’ll miss sitting in that tiny windowless room every day, I’ll find it in me to persevere. Somehow.
“Don’t think I’ll be letting you slack off from now on,” Mrs. Finch warns me. “I expect to see more work of this caliber. You understand?”
I nod fervently. I am so willing to let myself be blackmailed into doing my homework if it means I get my freedom back.