The New Girl Read Free Page B

which had settled down a little after it became clear the fifth-grade girls weren’t going to kill us after all, came fluttering back into my stomach.
    Then Mrs. Hunter was saying, “All right, fourth-gradeclass, follow me, and keep your line straight and quiet , please!” and we were following Mrs. Hunter upstairs to her classroom, which was decorated on the walls with puffy clouds that said things like EVERY CLOUD HAS A SILVER LINING , and silver stars that said things like REACH FOR THE STARS !
    Erica showed me where I could hang up my coat and backpack in the cloakroom, but when I got out my pencil case and school supplies I didn’t know where to take them. I stood there watching everyone else hurrying to their old-fashioned desks and wondering where I was going to sit until I felt a hand on my shoulder, and then I looked up and saw Mrs. Hunter smiling down at me.
    “Welcome, Allie,” she said. “We’re so glad to have you here. I did a little rearranging last night and made room for a desk for you over by Erica Harrington. I hope that’s all right by you—”
    I could hear Erica’s excited gasp all the way across the room. I glanced in her direction and saw her waving overby the giant windows that looked out across the playground.
    “But you two have to promise not to make me regret my decision to let you sit together,” Mrs. Hunter went on, very seriously, “by socializing when you’re supposed to be paying attention, or I’ll have no choice but to split you up. Do you understand?”
    I nodded. I couldn’t believe my good fortune. This was the best first day of school ever! Aside from the whole parents-following-me-to-school-and-brother-dressed-as-a-pirate thing.
    “I understand, Mrs. Hunter,” I said.
    “Good,” she said. “Now go and take your seat.”
    I hurried to slip behind the desk that had been put at the end of the row beside Erica’s, closest to the window. I could feel the gazes of everyone in the classroom as I moved to sit down in it. But that was all right. Even though it was old-fashioned and sort of stuck out a little, like it didn’t quite belong, it was my desk, and it was just perfect.
    “Good morning, class,” Mrs. Hunter said as she walked to the front of the room. “As I’m sure you’ve noticed by now, we have a new student joining us today. Allie Finkle, would you like to come up to the front of the room and tell us all a little about yourself?”
    The truthful answer would have been, no, actually, I would not.
    But I could see that I didn’t really have much of a choice. When a grown-up — especially a teacher — asks you to do something, it’s really rude not to do it. That’s a rule.
    So I stopped arranging my school supplies inside my desk and got up and went to the front of the room where Mrs. Hunter was, and after a nervous glance at her I said, “Well, my name is Allie Finkle, and I just moved here. I live next door to Erica Harrington—”
    “That’s me !” I heard Erica squeal, and a couple of people (well, okay, Sophie and Caroline) laughed.
    “Go on,” Mrs. Hunter said to me encouragingly. “What are some important things we ought to know about Allie Finkle?”
    The first thing that popped into my head, of course,was what Erica had said earlier—that Finkles were funny.
    But I couldn’t say that! Because what if Mrs. Hunter asked for examples? I’d have to tell her about how my dad had made popcorn for breakfast, and Mom had specifically told me not to tell any teachers about that.
    So I tried to think of something else to say…something else important to tell the class that they ought to know about me.
    You would think it would be easy to think of something, since I’m me all the time and I know myself so well, and that I would have thought of something right away.
    But it’s actually really hard to think when you’re standing up in front of twenty-five people and all of their gazes are on you.
    This made me start feeling really hot. I