Lilly

Chapter 6

Priscilla Pimlott came into her class the next day, a little later than the other students. The somewhat petite girl went straight to the back of the class, and even chose a desk away from other students back there. She was silent, and in kept to herself. From her expression, and her actions, it seemed as if she was embarrassed, but Kristi couldn't see anything embarrassing about. Her clothes seemed like nice new clothes, if not the best choices. Her backpack also looked new, but there was a wariness to her.

Not able to think any further on the matter, she began the class. She considered trying to give the girl some special attention, but decided against it. Kristi wanted to see what she was capable of, or if she'd even ask for help.

When class ended, Priscilla packed her belongings and left, never having even looked at her. She never spoke to any other student, and no one made any attempt to speak with her, almost like they wanted to avoid her. Kristi realized the kids knew her reputation and these kids didn't like it, and as a result, her.

That increased her curiosity on how Priscilla would do on the homework. She'd already missed the first two months of class, so she was far behind.

From the time she got home until bedtime, Leonard sat with Lilly. He filled in the blanks from he time in rehab, which was an impressive feat. His methods were a little different, but they made sense to her, and she caught on fast. It surprised It surprised Leonard how fast Lilly understood it, and told Sherri as much.

Doing something very unusual for her the next afternoon, Kristi Lewis collected homework. Several students hadn't finished it, and she looked at them all as she collected it. Priscilla pulled out two neat pages of work. Not only had she done the homework, an initial glance showed her it looked good.

"Did you get help with your homework?" she asked.

"Yes, ma'am. My foster father explained it," she answered. Her show of respect, and decent speech further mystified Kristi, considering the reputation the girl had. Sure, she had a deep southern accent, but they were in the deep south. Things didn't add up for her, and this was only Priscilla's second day in her class.

What bothered her most was how easy the adults around her, the ones that should try to help and protect her, were key in beating her down. Although she wasn't certain, she was almost believing the rumors were just that, rumors.

With her already abnormal collection of homework, another idea sprung to her mind. She scanned through the papers in her hand, and found what she wanted. She called out, "Stacy, can you do problem one?"

"I didn't understand it, Mrs. Lewis," the girl replied.

"What about you, Marcus?" she then asked.

"I'm sorry, Mrs. Lewis. I didn't finish my homework," he said.

"But that was the first problem. If you began it, you'd have at least done that one," she said. She had embarrassed these two students, two of her better students, but she'd decided to make a point, and they were the victims of this scheme.

"Sarah," she asked, and again got a negative response.

"Priscilla, you're new to the class, and you're still trying to get caught up, but can you do this problem?" she asked. Assuming the girl did it herself, she knew Priscilla could.

"I guess," she replied, looking nervous. Although the answer wasn't as respectful as she'd been the day before, it wasn't disrespectful.

"Please go to the board and show everyone how it's done," Kristi told her, and handed her back her homework.

Priscilla walked to the front of the class, with a slight shake. She wrote the problem first, then worked her way through it. Although her technique was a little different than how she'd taught it, her method worked, and her answer was correct.