The Good Girl

Chapter 6: Lit

The bell instantly rang, so Mrs. Alexander closed the door and starting talking.

"Hello, class. Last semester we finished reading some of Oscar Wilde's works, and this semester we will start with William Shakespeare's tragic play Othello." Oscar Wilde is one of my favorite poets, so I enjoyed the unit. His quotes are my favorite.

"Hannah, please be a dear and pass out copies to everyone." Hannah Lewis was the classic teachcer's pet. She was constantly talking to Mrs. Alexander about who knows what.

After Georgia received her copy of Othello, she turned to me and said, "You know why this is a tragedy? Othello kills his wife Desdemona. It's terribly sad."

"Georgia! You just ruined the whole story for me." Georgia read all the literary classics, including most of Shakespeare's plays, because it made her seem sophisticated and educated.

"Sorry, dear. I think Niall is trying to talk to you." I quickly turned toward him.

"In Ireland, we hardly even learn about William Shakespeare, even though he's the greatest writer in the English language. I find it so interesting how America cares about writers no matter their country."

"I mean, we're not called the melting pot for nothing!" In elementary school, we were taught about accepting others by learning about all the types of people living in America. We even put on a play to show how immigrants from all over the world are accepted in America.

Mrs. Alexander started to talk, so Niall and I faced her at the front of the room.

"You will each need to complete about twenty questions for each act of Othello. There are five acts so you will have roughly 100 questions. But no need to fret, they're not too hard. Most are comprehension-based and you can work on them with a partner.

"There will be litter instruction for this unit, so please work diligently. I will always be at my desk if you have any questions. The test will be in three weeks, so use your time in class wisely. You will write and essay about one of the themes in the play and answer 40 questions about the characters and plot. You may begin reading." I could see turning towards me. I had to make a decision: did I want to partner with Georgia or Niall? Georgia already knows the answers to the questions, but working with Niall might be fun. It could give us an excuse to see each other outside of school.

"So, love, do you want to work with me on the questions? I don't really know anyone else in this class." I almost fell out of my chair when he called me "love."

"Umm, hold on." He played the best card yet. But thankfully I saw Georgia move next to one of her old flings, a boy named Luke. He had dirty blond hair and a lip piercing. I was so surprised when she broke things off with them - he was really attractive and apparently was a great singer.

"Okay, yeah I guess we can be partners. So you've never read anything by Shakespeare?" Reading Shakespeare was really hard because of the words and the placement of words. Sometimes the verb would be at the beginning of the sentence while the subject was at the end. It can be pretty hard to follow.

"No, I actually haven't. Why, is it hard?"

"No, it's not bad," I lied. I was trying to seem confident.

"Let's get started, shall we?" His Irish accent and fancy words were so delightful.

I read Act I in about half an hour. When I was finished, I looked over at Niall. He was concentrating so hard on figuring out the meaning of the sentences. He looks so cute when he's focused.

"Stop staring at me," he said playfully. Oh shit, this is embarrassing. I guess I had been looking at him for too long.

"Oh, um, well I'm finished with Act I. Are you close to being done?"

"No way! This is so troubling. When does the bell ring?" This was his first day at my school, so I guess he didn't know the bell schedule yet.

"Hmm, in about a minute. You should probably just pack up and read a summary online."

"Or you can call me later tonight and tell me what happened." His smile was so dreamy.

"I'm going to have to go with... no. Spark Notes should have a good summary of each scene, I would go there."

"Thanks, love. Here's my schedule, do we have any more classes together?"

"No, fortunately we don't. I'll see you tomorrow in art."

"Have a great day, Charlie. See you!" He walked out of the classroom with his backpack on one shoulder. Was he trying to look cool? It wasn't working.

"Charlie, my darling. I hope you have a splendid day. Text me after school! I might be able to come over for dinner." Georgia's parents worked a lot and were hardly home for dinner, so she ate with my family often.

"Okay, see you tonight." She air-kissed my cheeks like she was French and sauntered out of the room and down the hall. I could see boys staring at her; she was so beautiful and so kind. I was lucky to be her friend.

The rest of the school day dragged on. After Lit, I had biology and then lunch. Seniors are allowed to leave campus for lunch, so I drove home and made myself a turkey and cheese sandwich and watched a little tv. The house was so quiet and empty, but I liked it. I had Latin, calculus, and US government after lunch. This was my Latin teacher's first year at the school and she wasn't very good. I felt like I knew more Latin than she did. My calculus teacher, however, is like a second mom. She is so sweet and makes calculus so much more enjoyable. Government is basically a joke. The class is an hour long but we do nothing during the first half hour. I don't have any close friends in those classes - only acquaintances - but it's alright. During the free time in government, I normally just read. Today I read part of A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini. It's one of my favorites and made the school day a little bit better.

While driving home, I thought about hanging out with Niall on Friday. I really hope it's just as friends...