The Cat Ate My Gymsuit Read Free Page B

Finney looked around the room. “You may have known each other since kindergarten, but do you really know each other? I bet you don’t. I’ve noticed that some of you don’t even talk to people who aren’t in your classes.”
    She split us up into pairs and told us to spend fifteen minutes getting to know the other person. I thought I was going to die. She had put Joel and me together.
    Joel pulled his desk near mine and said, “Hi. I’m Joel Anderson.”
    I just nodded my head.
    “You should tell me your name now.”
    How could I tell him? I was so nervous, I couldn’t remember anything. Finally, it came to me.
    “Hi. I’m Marcy Lewis.”
    Joel asked, “Have you always lived here?”
    Again I nodded my head. I couldn’t stand it. I felt like such a blob, a real idiot.
    Joel tried again. “What would you like to tell me about yourself?”
    I didn’t know. Was I supposed to tell him I was a blimp trying to disguise myself as a real person; or that I probably had a horrible case of contagious impending pimples; or that I had this weird brother with a teddy bear filled with orange pits; or that I thought that he was cute and brave and probably thinking about how suicide would be better than talking to me?
    I finally looked down at my desk and said, “I’m Marcy Lewis . . .thirteen . . .I hate dancing lessons . . .grammar tests . . .and questions.”
    He said, “Don’t you like anything?”
    I thought for a while and said, “Yeah. I like Ms. Finney, reading books . . .and felt-tip markers.”
    Then I sat there, trying to think of something, anything, to ask him.
    “Joel, do you like Ms. Finney?”
    “Yes. I do.”
    “Were you scared when you got mad at the class and told them to give her a chance?”
    “Why should I be scared saying what I believe?”
    “Aren’t you afraid that people won’t like you?”
    Joel just looked at me. I decided that I’d better change the subject.
    “Do you have any brothers or sisters?” I asked.
    “No.”
    “What do you want to be when you grow up?”
    “Joel Anderson.”
    Ms. Finney told the class to pull the desks into a circle, and that each of us had to introduce our partner to the group. Everybody seemed to know new things about the others. When my turn came, I said, “This is Joel Anderson. He doesn’t have any brothers, sisters, or pets, and I think he’s smart.” Then I sat back and waited for Joel to introduce me.
    “This is Marcy Lewis. She says that she doesn’t like lots of things, but I bet she really does . . .and she has a nice smile.”
    I couldn’t believe it. I’d been sure he was going to say something like “This is Marcy Lewis. She’s a real creep and doesn’t know how to talk.” Or “This is Marcy. She might even look human if she didn’t look like a Mack truck.” I wasn’t used to anyone saying anything nice, except Nancy and my mother, because they had to.
    Once we had finished with all the introductions,Ms. Finney told us all to reach out to the people at the desks on either side of us, hold hands, close our eyes, and think about the group. Joel was on one side of me, Ms. Finney on the other. All I could think about was how scared I was that my hands were sweaty. I was also afraid that they would notice that my fingernails were all bitten down.
    The group sat like that for a long time. Then everybody sort of let go, and Ms. Finney said that we should all go home and write a self-description to bring in for the next week, one that only she would read.
    I was afraid to look at Joel. All of a sudden, I heard him say, “ ’Bye, Marcy. See you in class tomorrow.” He had talked to me in front of all those people! I was so excited, but I just smiled and said, “Yeah. See ya, Joel.”
    Nancy and I walked home, Beauty and the Blimp, Wonderwoman and the Blob Who Ate Brooklyn. Nancy was really excited about Smedley. She kept saying how much fun it would be, how she liked to get to know people, and how she thought it