Day 9
In Literature Class, we were allowed to sit where we wanted to and I got to sit next to Coral. It was slightly stressful though, I didn't want to embarrass myself or offend her. Though she didn't seem easily offended by any stretch of the imagination!
It was a Wednesday afternoon, or as Mr. Yates (our warm and understanding teacher) called it, "Bring A Book Wednesday". Every Wednesday, one student got to bring in some of their favourite books and tell the class about their love for the book. It was nerdy, but I loved it!
This week was Coral's week, I was looking forward to this. Coral and spent the last week telling me that her speech was going to be "revolutionary", I somewhat doubted that before remembering that Coral Bae is the most eccentric person I've met!
Coral cleared her throat dramatically and earned some chuckles from our peers.
"Friends, Romans, Countrymen!"
I burst into a fit of giggles along side Mr. Yates. Only Coral would mock a work of Shakespeare in front of the class.
"I promise you that this will be the most memorable Bring A Book Wednesday that you will ever experience!"
"Miss Bae, there's only so much time in the day, could you please tell us about your book." Mr. Yates said in his mocked stern tone.
"Calm down Eric! The hype is worth it!" Coral exclaimed, earning another cheer from the class and Mr. Yates himself.
"My book is none other than To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee"
"And what is the significance of this book to you?"
"Well Mr. Yates, where do I begin? The book is extremely relevant, particularly in regards to the persecution of the innocent! Whether that's Arthur Radley, Tom Robinson or Mayella Ewell!"
"You consider Mayella Ewell innocent?" Mr. Yates questioned, seriously.
"Well Mayella's a good chick at heart! She cares for her family, she buys the kids ice cream and she is treated like trash!"
"But Mayella falsely accused a man of rape!" Mr. Yates stated.
"But she's only doing it cause her abusive father is forcing her to! Mayella can never win, she has to decide between her life and the respect of the community and she decides to save her life!"
"That's an interesting take on the novel." Mr. Yates, or Eric as Coral called him, said matter-of-factly.
"I think that's a relevant theme."
"How so?"
"Well, I was walking through school the other day and that bitch Courtney Williams-" Coral was pointing towards Courtney. Courtney was queen bee at Green Lake High, I'd been here for nine days and I knew that nobody was meant to insult Courtney. She could ruin you with the click of her fingers!
"Language, Miss Bae."
"Sorry Eric!" she said sarcastically, "That wench Courtney Williams was to busy looking at her phone and she walked straight into me. She poured my coffee all over her, it was her fault. I did nothing wrong but the... wench still slapped me!"
"And how did you react Miss Bae?"
"I pulled the padding out of her bra!"
"So you made things worse for yourself and gave yourself a tarnished reputation. You were stupid."
"So was Mayella. Which brings me to my final point! We can all empathize with Mayella to an extent! She is the personification of human response to injustice! She's the most real character in that book!"
Coral stood on the table and bowed. The whole class cheered for her while Mr. Yates buried his head and Courtney tried to fade into the background. There was a flush of mortification across Courtney's face.
Coral Bae was trouble. Coral Bae was revolutionary in everything that she did! Coral Bae would not abide by the status quo.
