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The next morning, a nicely dressed middle-aged woman greeted the class. “Good morning, everyone. I’m Mrs. Hawthorne. I will be taking Mr. Leonard’s place for the time being.”
Eyes darted around the room from Melanie to Yolanda, to Maggie, Mark, and Keith. Whispering and giggling followed. Melanie shrugged and wished she could clap her hands instead. She knew her parents must have made a good case in order for Mr. Rigley to question her classmates. She was convinced Mr. Leonard would somehow be punished for not following the rules. She wasn’t sure what rule he had disobeyed, but there had to be one about breaking things on students’ desks and being a jerk.
Chapter Four
Mr. Flynn
After the Mr. Leonard incident and her presentation on Treasure Island, Melanie began to have a reputation for being cool, calm, and collected. Granted, some of the kids were wary of her. She seemed to have an edge on them, more of a “big picture” approach, but others found her company appealing, perhaps because Melanie’s take on things was slightly more mature than that of her peers.
With Mrs. Hawthorne at the front of the class, the rest of the school year passed without incident, and they were promoted to the sixth grade.
Melanie wanted to have a summer job, but at eleven, there weren’t many options. Instead she fashioned one of her grandmother’s shawls into a cape with the words “MelDrake the Magician” written in hot-pink glitter. Every morning, on her way to work, Dorothy would drop Melanie off at one of the community’s nursing homes or the local hospital, where she would perform card tricks for the patients.
As the new school year approached, she went through her closet with her mother. Melanie had grown two inches since the prior year. She was about to turn twelve and was five feet, four inches tall with long legs. She tried not to feel like a freak, since most of her friends were hovering around five-feet-two. But sixth grade proved she was not the only one going through growing pains. Many of the boys began to show signs of acne, and girls were experimenting with their hair.
By the time she entered junior high, she was increasingly aware of the biological changes she and her female classmates were going through. Everyone around her was in some phase of a hot mess.
The phys ed teacher had her hands full with all the hormonal fluctuations. For the first time, everyone had to change into a gym suit, and the girl’s locker room became a gawking place where a variety of breast expansions and boxes of feminine products were visible. It was time for the teacher to educate the class about menstruation and what it meant. Some of the girls were looking forward to this big change, because they believed it would make them more mature. Little did they know it was just the beginning of an often-bumpy ride on the road of womanhood.
* * *
By high school, cliques, mean girls, spoiled girls, nerds, geeks, and jocks were among the many new things to navigate, including the notion of being “popular.” For the girls, stereotypical blondes and cheerleaders were at the top of the pyramid. Melanie did not meet either criterion. For one thing, she wasn’t blond. For another, she didn’t have boobs. Her mother promised she would “develop,” but Melanie was skeptical. She would have to depend on her keen sense of observation and her smarts.
One afternoon a few boys made a snide remark about her friend Audrey’s “knockers.” Better to be known for your brains than your boobs, she encouraged herself. Of course, that would ultimately depend on who was in charge, and who was following the rules of proper behavior. That theory was tested in 1998 during the Clinton and Monica Lewinsky scandal, and we know how that turned out.
Melanie wasn’t a loner by any means, but her priorities were a little different from those of her friends. She studied, volunteered, and pleased audiences with her magic tricks during the school talent shows. If she got invited to a party, she went. If not, she didn’t give it much thought. She wanted to be considered one of the brightest students, and that ambition propelled her forward.
As the idea of college loomed in the distance, she appreciated her parents’ view of education. It was important and available; and if you were a good student, it was free or almost free. With that in mind, Melanie was determined to continue her run of getting straight As. Biology was a problem for her, though. She did not want to cut up dead worms or frogs. Even the smell of formaldehyde made her nauseous. She knew it would take some extra credit work to circumvent the dissecting part of the curriculum and decided it was necessary to discuss her situation with her teacher, who had already become impatient with her “queasy dramatics.”
Right after the class was dismissed, she approached her teacher. “Mr. Flynn, may I speak to you for a moment?” Melanie was now a mature fifteen-year-old. “I need some advice.”
The cranky, bald man with the beady eyes looked at her suspiciously. He was flabbergasted. “Advice?” No one ever asked for his advice. “Yes. I have a few minutes.” He really had lots of minutes, hours even, but no one needed to know that. He gestured toward the desk in the first row. Melanie chose to stand.
“Mr. Flynn, I do not want you to think I don’t respect the requirements of sophomore biology, but is there some way I can do something besides cutting up invertebrates?”
Mr. Flynn blinked in surprise. She had been paying attention. At least once. “I’ll have to speak with the principal. Deviating from the curriculum is highly frowned upon.”
“I understand. But it’s not as if I want to shirk my studies. With your experience, I am certain you could find something comparable to the knowledge I would garner from the dissections.”
Flynn blinked rapidly. Yes. Yes, he was experienced, even if the rest of the faculty thought he was a dullard. He stood and started to pace slowly, resting his chin between his thumb and forefinger.
Melanie recalled a cartoon. She couldn’t remember the character, but it depicted the inside of a man’s head with wheels turning as the nuts and bolts flew off and spilled out of his ears. She bit her upper lip, repressing the urge to laugh out loud. She quickly regrouped and put a pleasant smile on her face, hoping to encourage a favorable answer.
He turned on his heel. “I think you may be onto something, Miss Drake. There are many other aspects of biology that can be substituted. I will have to get permission, but in the meantime, we will call it an ‘experiment in education’.”
“Thank you, sir.” Melanie smiled again. “I appreciate your interest in the fundamentals of education and how they apply to real life.” Melanie had an impeccable grasp of the English language. If you didn’t know she was fifteen, you would think you were having a conversation with someone older. More educated. More mature. And she was. Both those things. Having been a voracious reader since grammar school, Melanie had a far larger vocabulary than her fellow students. Probably a good many adults, as well.
Flynn nodded as she exited the room and decided he was quite brilliant.
The following week, during the regular lab period, Mr. Flynn called Melanie up to the front of the class. “Ms. Drake will be cataloging your results, so be sure your writing is clear.”
He handed her a clipboard and waved her off.
And that’s how it’s done, she thought to herself. Asking advice is one of the biggest compliments you can give to another person. Insert a dash of puffery, without sounding smarmy, and you have an excellent chance of achieving your goal. More info for the vault, she noted.
Melanie’s personal life could be considered boring to those who simply wanted to have a good time. Not that she was averse to fun; she was simply able to compartmentalize her life and maintained a healthy balance. She had little interest in dating boys. That could wait. Besides, they were immature. She was easily bored with their conversation. She did, however, have a study buddy. It was her fifth-grade friend, Mark Tucker. Mark had been impressed with Melanie’s presentation of Treasure Island, and from that point up until the time they finished high school, the two bonded over their shared love of books.
Chapter Five
