Remembering Raquel by Vivian Vande Velde

Author:Vivian Vande Velde
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

Paul Phillips, Classmate

I don't understand girls.

Last week nobody liked Raquel Falcone much.

As far as the guys were concerned, if she'd been one of those fat girls who are desperate, she wasn't so fat that a guy would have turned her down. If there'd been a few pounds less of her, you would have said she was kind of cute. She was smart without being in-your-face smart. I mean, it wasn't like she had her homework at every single class or waved her hand when she knew the answer. And she was funny when she spoke up—which wasn't often—the kind of funny that didn't make you worry that tomorrow it would be directed against you. So, all in all, Raquel was the kind of girl who—if she was your sister, you wouldn't have been embarrassed.

So, as far as the guys were concerned, you could take her or leave her.

Except...

Big except here...

EXCEPT: The other girls didn't like her.

Not understanding girls and all, I couldn't say why. It wasn't like she was competition for any of them or anything. I mean, she wasn't the smartest, or the funniest, and—with or without the weight—she wasn't that cute. And besides not having the looks, she didn't have the clothes, or the voice, or the moves, or most especially: The Attitude.

Girls can be merciless.

Tough? Girls have got guys beat on that any day.

Nobody had to say anything—you just knew: If you were the kind of guy who missed those cues, who would talk to Raquel, you might just as well have a big LOSER tattooed onto your forehead.

But now, all of a sudden, it's Poor Raquel, and Sweet Raquel, and No-I-Never-Talked-to-Her-in-School-but-She-Was-My-Role-Model-and-Best-Bud Raquel. They're gloomy in the halls and writing solemn poems for her for the school paper and buying teddy bears to leave by the road where she died. I think Mara Ravenell is talking to someone in the Catholic Church to see about getting her nominated for sainthood.

I don't understand girls.

I didn't especially like Raquel, but I know well enough not to admit that now.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.