Free Period by Ali Terese

Author:Ali Terese [Terese, Ali]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Scholastic Inc.
Published: 2024-05-03T00:00:00+00:00

HELEN

Monday morning, aka at least I wasn’t in science

It was time for our punishment meeting with the principal. Madison was already sitting at the talking table when Gracie and I arrived. At the sleepover, we’d all agreed, even Larisa, to sidestep Madison for our next action. But we couldn’t avoid her everywhere.

“What if I spill the beans,” Gracie said through a super-fake smile.

“I’ll do the talking,” I whispered as we took our seats.

The sad plastic PTA box for the pads sat in the middle of the table.

“We’re past the two-week mark, and here is a physical manifestation of your accomplishment,” Ms. Varone said, gesturing to the puffy-painted disappointment. I expected her to laugh, but she was beaming at us. “Also, I have not had a single staff member complain to me about either of you in days. Tell me all about it.”

Madison opened her mouth, but the principal shook her head.

“I want to hear from them first.”

I cleared my throat and dove in. “We attended a club meeting, contributed ideas, supported Madison at the board meeting, convinced the PTA to let us fundraise, and held a delightfully disgusting bake sale to buy these pads.” It sounded like we had been very busy.

Madison had been waggling her foot the entire time Varone and I talked and busted out now. I braced myself for the impact of her accusing us of screwing everything up.

But she said, “This is just the beginning. Next, we’ll show how all bathrooms should have pads provided by the school district.”

“Excellent, and you didn’t do it by having your parents open their checkbooks,” Ms. Varone said, pointing at me and Gracie. Given that my parents had spent the night before arguing about car payments until Seraphine came out of her room crying, Ms. Varone had nothing to worry about.

“I don’t have baking funds for the rest of the year, but it was a tasty way to go,” Gracie said.

“Do you have any suggestions for how we can complete the project?” Madison said.

A brilliant strategy. Get the adults talking when what they really want is information from you.

“Not covering board members in red jam again is a good option. Or making parents email me that their sons shouldn’t know about menstrual cups. Girls, you’re asking to be trusted with knowing what is best for the school, the budget, and yourselves, but then behaving in some ways like you shouldn’t be trusted with anything. Is the larger issue starting to come into focus?” Ms. Varone said.

“Vaguely, like it is just around the corner, but I don’t like it so I keep walking,” Gracie said.

Ms. Varone shook her head. “Try this. You’ve got to get the community to believe the board would be foolish to not do what you’re advocating for. It needs to be the obvious choice, and better yet, make it sound like something they’re already planning. At least, that’s what I’m doing in my contract negotiations.”

Those two things couldn’t be more different. She was an adult, literally running

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