Elizabeth Betrayed by Pascal Francine

Author:Pascal, Francine
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2016-01-26T16:00:00+00:00

Seven

Jessica sat in history class watching a fly try to find a way out the window. She wished she could find a way out the window, too. Up at the front of the room, Winston Egbert, Bruce Patman, Andrea Slade, and Rosa Jameson were giving their group talk on the French Revolution. Mr. Jaworski had divided the class into groups of four and given each group a topic to present. He seemed to think that the class would be more interested in the topics and get more out of them if they had to teach them themselves.

Jessica yawned. Mr. Jaworski was wrong. It was bad enough listening to him drone on and on about dead kings and generals, but it was a lot better than listening to Winston Egbert try to explain the causes of the French Revolution. It was a revolution after all! Jessica thought as Winston stumbled through his speech. It must have been more exciting than this!

Josh Brown, sitting two seats away, caught her eye and pretended to be dropping off to sleep. Jessica pointed to the girl next to her, who was practically snoring. She glanced around the room. While Mr. Jaworski sat in the front row looking interested and attentive, people doodled in their notebooks, a few were writing letters, and Aaron Dallas and April Dawson were playing tic-tac-toe. Jessica turned back to the window. The fly was gone. She yawned again.

After what seemed like hours, if not days, Mr. Jaworski stood up and thanked Winston, Andrea, Bruce, and Rosa for their talk.

"All right," he said to the rest of the class. "Let's have your comments on the presentation."

One or two hands went up. April Dawson said she thought the talk was very interesting. John Pfeifer said that he thought it was very interesting, too, but that Rosa could have spoken a little louder Aaron said he thought he had learned a lot. Josh said he really thought he understood the French Revolution now. Jessica shifted restlessly in her seat. No one ever said anything critical or unkind about the presentations—anything honest. Even though it was obvious that everyone had been as bored by the talks as Jessica was, they always pretended that they had been spellbound through the whole thing. Talk about dishonesty, thought Jessica. George Washington would be horrified!

Mr. Jaworski nodded at her. "Yes, Jessica? Would you like to give us your opinion?"

Jessica raised her head. The old, dishonest Jessica would have told Mr. Jaworski that she thought the presentation was great. But the truth had set her free. She smiled. "Yes," she said in a strong, clear voice. "I would."

No sooner had the bell rung than Bruce, Winston, Andrea, and Rosa all rushed over to Jessica's desk, murder in their eyes. Jessica looked at the four angry faces surrounding her. They all started shouting at once.

"Thanks a lot!" Andrea snapped. "Remind me not to count on you for anything again as long as I live."

" 'Superficial and monotonous'!" Bruce said with a disgusted face.

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