Little Black Lies by Tish Cohen

Author:Tish Cohen
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
ISBN: eBook ISBN: e9781606842959
Publisher: EgmontUSA
Published: 2009-08-17T04:00:00+00:00

chapter 17

nobody

It’s Friday morning and Mandy still hasn’t taken my calls or answered my messages. My slip-up was bad, but did it really warrant complete and total exclusion from her life? Seriously. And now I’m stuck with my mom’s smoky French accent running through my brain like the clunking pipes in the wall behind my bed. But instead of wanting an extra pillow to put over my head, I want someone to remind me that experimenting with foreign languages is good, nothing at all like a textbook mother who lives on a different page from her unborn baby.

I try Mandy’s number one more time on the way to class. When she doesn’t pick up, again, I head inside.

Mr. Curtis, we’re all quickly discovering, is a huge fan of pop quizzes. He strolls in cradling a stainless-steel Starbucks travel mug and waves a stack of light blue papers up in the air. “I hope you’ve all been following my advice and spending your spare time studying. Today’s quiz differs from our first in three ways.” He sets his things on his desk and removes his blazer. “It’s longer. It encompasses everything we’ve learned in the last two weeks, plus the material you’ll all remember fondly from our first quiz.” He rolls up his sleeves. “And it will comprise ten percent of your mark in my class.” He sets his hands on his hips and winks. “Enjoy. Saint Sarah, can I call upon you to pass out these tests?”

I make my way to the front of the class, aware I’m one of the few in the room who isn’t wrecked with anxiety about the quiz. Carling leans forward like she might throw up, and Little Man Griff is flung back in his seat, looking as if he needs life support. Or maybe the comfort of his teddy. The joke of this being, he’ll ace it no matter what. Isabella isn’t concerned at all. She continues to pick at a muffin on her desk as if worried she might find a dead mouse inside.

Up goes Sloane’s hand. “Mr. Curtis, will all of our quizzes be surprises? Because most of us do much better with a bit of warning.”

“You’re meant to be learning as we go along, Miss Montauk. I thought I made that point clear after the last quiz. Life, I can assure you, will not come at you with an appropriate period of warning, so you might want to consider putting a little more effort into it.”

Isabella and Carling burst into peals of laughter, and Mr. Curtis shushes them and turns back to Sloane. “The more time you spend preparing yourself now, the better you’ll do on my tests, it’s as simple as that. You could learn a thing or two from your friend Sara. I’m willing to bet she’s ready for this, am I right?”

I look up from where I’m setting tests in front of Carling, Sloane, and Izzy. “I don’t know. I guess.”

He leans on his desk and grins, twisting the lid off his coffee.

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