Testy

.
9th grade honors English.
June finals.
Sun is shining.
I’ve been taking the exam for roughly 2 hours.
Friends, not on the honors track have finished their finals, and are gathering together outside the gym to go to lunch. Boys might even come too.
But I have one more lengthy essay to write for Mrs. Collins’ - worth 15 points.

To make matters worse.
I have to get 85 or higher on this final to achieve the 90 pt. grade average required to continue in honors English.
If I don’t, I’ve lost my shot at AP English, and in doing so my tutelage at a decent college. It’s a weighty matter for a 14 year old.
And I really want to go to lunch.

I then recall a story Mrs. Collins shared earlier in the year, about Gertrude Stein.
How she walked out on an exam, preferring to take in the beauty of the day and write about that, than be forced to answer a question she didn’t care about.
The professor, impressed with her gumption, gave her an A.

And I decide, it’s an ironic plan that just might work.
Perhaps if I make Mrs. Collins’ smile, I’ll get enough points on the essay and get into Cornell. (or at least AP English)
So, I half-assed my essay – pulled a Gertrude Stein, and met my friends for a classy lunch …
The Pizza Hut All You Can Eat lunch buffet.

And the next year I was in Mrs. Fine’s 10th Grade Honors English Class.

I received an e-mail with responses from some other wise-@$$e$.
Here is how they answered some test questions.
Maybe they didn’t know the answer.
Or maybe their friends would go to lunch without them.