The TV Kid Read Free Page A

Bond, who, he thought, might be growing anxious.
    “Either one is fine.”
    Lennie’s throat was dry. The tests were coming. He put down his pencil, wiped his hands on his shirt, and picked up his pencil. He took the tests from the girl in front of him, selected the top one, and passed the rest to Letty Bond.
    “Well, here we go,” he said with false liveliness. He glanced at Letty Bond. She had already written her name at the top of the page and was ready to take on the first question.
    Lennie turned back to his desk. The test was mimeographed in purple ink, and for a moment Lennie had a vision of another red 23 at the top of his. He let out his breath in one long unhappy sigh. He felt like writing the 23 there and saving Miss Markham the trouble.
    Glancing down the page, he decided to skip the first part, which was fill-in-the-blanks, and go on to the second part, which was a plant with all the parts to be labeled. He had done that last night for the schoolteachers—two times.
    Very carefully he printed the word “petiole” in the line opposite the stem. Then he looked at the word. It looked wrong. Quickly he turned his pencil and erased the word. He wet his lips. He wanted to turn around and ask Letty Bond if she was sure the petiole was the stem. It seemed to him ... Nervously he printed “petiole” back in the same space.
    He printed in four more words, and then he got up. With his eyes on his paper, he went to the teacher’s desk. “Miss Markham?”
    “Yes, Lennie.”
    “Is that word spelled right?”
    “I’m sorry, but I can’t give you any help after the tests are passed out.”
    “Oh.” He stood there for a moment staring down at the word he had written. “Stupile.” He had never felt more miserable in his life. He gave Miss Markham a weak smile. He said, “I feel kind of stupile myself today.”
    “I do believe, though,” Miss Markham went on kindly, smiling back at him, “you should look at what you’ve written very carefully. There may be something wrong.”
    “Thank you, Miss Markham.”
    As Lennie hurried back to his desk, Miss Markham said, “Remember, spelling counts, class.”
    Lennie erased the word and respelled it. He filled in two more blanks and erased one. His test now had a worked-over look. He had worn through the paper in two places. He thought that anyone who thinks school isn’t hard ought to take a look at this paper.
    He bent over his desk, wet his pencil point, and filled in another blank. He went on to the multiple-choice section and filled in three of those. He glanced again at the word “stepile.”
    “Time’s up, class,” Miss Markham said.
    Lennie looked up, startled. He turned to Frankie. “Are you through?”
    Frankie shrugged.
    “Are you through, Letty Bond?”
    “I’ve been through since ten thirty,” she said. He glanced at her desk. She was writing a note to someone named Anne. It started out: “Am I bored!”
    Lennie spun around and glanced in desperation at his test. Only half of the blanks were filled. Quickly he began filling in the rest, guessing, putting anything down so that Miss Markham would see a full, completed sheet when she got to his test. That was bound to make a better impression.
    “Lennie.” It was Miss Markham.
    “Yes’m.” He kept writing. He did not have time to look up.
    “I have to have your test now.”
    “Yes’m.”
    “The next class is coming in.”
    “One more word.” In desperation Lennie kept writing. Cammie Hagerdorn was standing by his desk, waiting to take Lennie’s seat. Lennie looked up.
    “Hard, huh?” Cammie said.
    “Hard for me.” Lennie sighed. He got up, dropped his test on Miss Markham’s desk, and went out into the hall. Shoulders sagging, he went slowly to World Studies.

Chapter Five
    “H ow’d you do on your Science test?” His mom didn’t glance up as he came in the office door. She was looking at the guest register. She was going over the names carefully, as if she were hoping they