Finding My Place by Traci L. Jones

Author:Traci L. Jones [Jones, Traci L.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 978-1-4299-3998-0
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux (BYR)
Published: 2010-03-15T00:00:00+00:00

I could barely eat my breakfast the next morning because my stomach was tied in so many knots. Why hadn’t I focused on the test instead of spying on Clay and Jackie Sue? What if I proved Mrs. Steele right? And why hadn’t Jackie Sue told me what was going on in the first place? Then I wouldn’t have had to spy on her!

For the second day in a row, my mother and I arrived at school early. We had a meeting with Mr. Daniels and Mrs. Steele to discuss the results of the test.

“Well, thank you all for coming here so early,” Mr. Daniels began. “I’m sure that the results will clear up this little misunderstanding.”

“Yes, Mr. Daniels. We’re anxious to hear the results so we can adjust Tiphanie’s schedule accordingly.” My mother’s voice sounded calm, but her hands were clutching at her purse.

“Well,” Mr. Daniels said, “Tiphanie did not place into Mrs. Steele’s honors algebra class.”

My breakfast came up to my mouth. I could feel the dismay coming off my mother in waves.

Mrs. Steele was smiling and preening like a peacock. “Yes, well, I’m not at all surprised,” she said smugly. “As I was trying to tell Mrs. Baker yesterday about the education of colored—”

Mr. Daniels interrupted her. “Tiphanie actually placed out of ninth grade honors algebra and into an even higher level,” he said. “Does that surprise you, Mrs. Steele?” Mr. Daniels was beaming at me, his eyes twinkling. My mother began grinning hysterically. “Not only that,” he continued, “but she scored into eleventh grade honors trigonometry. So, Mrs. Steele, I’m sure she would have been fine in your class. In fact, it may have been a wee bit easy for her.” Mr. Daniels looked so pleased, it was as if he’d taken the test himself.

“Yes, well …” sputtered Mrs. Steele. Her hand clutched at her pearl necklace. “Are you sure she was alone in the library? Perhaps another student—”

My mother interrupted her with a dismissive wave of her hand. “Mr. Daniels, do you think it would be possible for Tiphanie to take a higher level of math this year?”

Mr. Daniels scanned a sheet of paper. “Yes, I’d suggest we put her in the advanced tenth grade class, honors geometry. Just to make sure she has a really tight foundation. Then next year when she’s a sophomore we can put her into honors trig. It looks like Mr. Hoops’s honors geometry class is second period as well, so there’s no need to juggle the rest of Tiphanie’s schedule around to accommodate the change. All this has been quite serendipitous. Mrs. Baker, I just need your John Hancock on the bottom of this form, and we are all set.”

I turned to Mrs. Steele. “Thank you so much, Mrs. Steele,” I said politely. “If you hadn’t said anything, I wouldn’t have had this opportunity.”

“Yes, indeed,” my mother added. “Thank you, Mrs. Steele. I guess that thirty years’ experience of yours is useful for something.” She turned and gave me a tight hug.

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