Total pages in book: 154
Estimated words: 145728 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 729(@200wpm)___ 583(@250wpm)___ 486(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 145728 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 729(@200wpm)___ 583(@250wpm)___ 486(@300wpm)
I didn’t notice, that was, until she raised her hand and shouted,
“Mr. Barron, Emma Plunkett is trying to cheat off my test paper!”
Of course, this got the attention of everyone in the class and woke Mr. Barron right up.
“Excuse me?” he said, frowning as he put down his coffee and came over to us. “That’s a very serious accusation, Miss Starchild.”
“I know but it’s true.” Morganna pointed at me dramatically. “She was looking over my shoulder and copying everything I wrote!”
I was burning with indignation at her lie, so when Mr. Barron asked me what I had to say, I was all ready to defend myself. I wanted to talk about what a blatant liar the Fae girl was and how I had no need to cheat because I had actually studied unlike some people I could name.
Unfortunately, my defense came out like this:
“Morganna is a dreadful liar
Just see, her pants are all on fire!
I would not, could not ever cheat,
My knowledge here is quite complete.”
Mr. Barron gave me a blank look, as though he wasn’t sure why I was talking like a Dr. Seuss book.
“Um…all right,” he said at last. Looking over his shoulder, I saw Morganna smirking at me. She was the only one in the room who wasn’t surprised by my sudden fit of rhyming and it was clear she was prepared to make me keep talking and sounding like a fool.
“She’s lying, Mr. Barron!” she exclaimed and put on her best pouty face. “I think I know when someone is cheating off of me—I mean, it happens all the time.”
At this, I couldn’t stop myself from responding.
“You think you are so very smart
That I’d want your answers, whole or part?
Mr. Barron, to find out who is smarter
Check our papers, for a starter.”
Mr. Barron gave me another odd look.
“Well…I guess that’s a good point, if somewhat strangely put, Miss Plunkett,” he remarked. “Girls, let me see your test papers, please.”
I handed mine over willingly, trying to ignore the snickers from the rest of the class and the head shaking and eye rolling that was going on. After my breakdown about poor Spike the day before and my bout of rhyming today, it seemed like almost everyone in my Bio class thought I was mentally unstable.
And my performance at the moment wasn’t doing anything to change their minds.
The only one who wasn’t looking at me like I was crazy was Bran O’Connor. He had a frowning, thoughtful expression on his face, as though he was trying to work something out in his mind. But I wasn’t about to ask what he was thinking—I was too busy feeling miserable because I couldn’t stop rhyming and I had been accused of cheating.
But after barely a moment of checking our papers, Mr. Barron was handing them back.
“Miss Starchild,” he said, frowning at the pretty Fae girl, “Before you accuse another student of cheating, you might want to make sure your test is worth cheating from.”
“Excuse me?” Morganna gave him a huffy look and put one hand on her curvy hip.
Mr. Barron tapped her paper with his pen.
“Almost every answer on your test is wrong. Can’t you tell the difference between cardiac muscle and red blood cells by now? I even gave you an extra day to study yesterday!”
“I…but I…but she was cheating off me!” Morganna exclaimed, her face going scarlet with fury and embarrassment.
“I don’t think so. Every answer on Miss Plunkett’s test is correct,” Mr. Barron told her. “Which means she couldn’t have been cheating off you, since all your answers are completely inaccurate.” His frown deepened. “If I didn’t know better, I would suspect that you were trying to get Miss Plunkett in trouble as revenge for her exposure of your wanton cruelty with the living hair ornaments yesterday.”
For a moment Morganna just looked at him, as though she wasn’t quite sure what he was talking about.
Mr. Barron gave her a leveled look.
“Translation: just because I’m old, doesn’t mean I’m stupid. I see what you’re trying to do, Morganna, and it won’t work. Not in my class.” He waved a hand at her. “Now go on with your test. You still have three microscopes to go—you might even get one of them right. If you’re lucky.”
Morganna’s face was almost the same royal purple as the Fae banner in the Dining Hall. She shot Mr. Barron a glare and me a hateful look before slapping her unfinished test down on the lab table.
“I don’t need this stupid class!” she announced. “My mother has a place in the Summer Court and I’ll have a place there too, as a Lady in Waiting to Queen Elia! The human world is nothing compared to the Realm of the Fae!”
Turning on her heel, she left the class with a bounce of her perfect blonde hair.