Addie didn't think it was fair to be punished along with the rest of her class for not showing up on the first day of school. She showed up yet she was running laps with the rest of them the next morning. The Dean of Students seemed ambivalent to her plight as she counted down the ten laps. When Addie visited her the day before and told her which class she was in, the woman's face soured instantly, muttering something about mischief.
"The student whose place you're taking was expelled. I hope we can expect better from you."
Addie was affronted by the prejudice but said nothing; just as she said nothing when the class was informed of their punishment. Hopefully, it would endear her to her classmates who all seemed to know each other. She recognized a boy from the entrance exam. He was tall and muscular with black, floppy hair shading his eyes. He had made as though he was going towards her and so she grinned at him but he had been heading to meet a friend. Now every time she out lapped him, he shot her a mocking grin.
The second bell rang, and they were unceremoniously dismissed to their first class. Addie was kind of miffed about this since she had ran more than half the number of laps. Then it dawned on her that the boy with floppy hair might not have mocked her because he thought she had a crush on him but because she was a sucker for pushing herself so hard when there was no expectation to complete the punishment.
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Exposition
JugendliteraturIt was a sign of how her school year would be; that the whole class didn't show up for the first day of class.
