CHAPTER25
Mrs. Ice is on the phone for so long that it’s almost a half hour before she gets off. She barely said a word at all, and I have no idea who she had been talking to or what they had been discussing.
“I’m here for my test,” I remind her.
“I know.”
I wait for her to hand it over, but she makes no move to.
“Um…”
“I don’t see how you will get a better grade,” she says.
“I will,” I assure her. “This won’t be a waste of your time. Someone erased some of my answers and then changed my numbers, switched them up. I know calculus. I can do better.”
“Someone else erased your answers? They switched around your numbers? Oh, Erika, you have no proof.”
“You can see the erase marks!”
“Of course, but I don’t see anything to suggest that someone else did the erasing.”
I grab my test, almost ripping it out of my folder. “Look here. That’s not how I draw sevens. I always put a line through it!”
“Erika, you were clearly in a rush—”
“You clearly don’t give a fuck about your students.”
“Erika! I do not appreciate such language!”
“You want to know what I don’t appreciate? Teachers who won’t fight for their students, who won’t believe them. I told you that someone else—”
“Did you see someone doctor your test?”
“No, but I know—”
“You can’t possibly know who did this, if someone other than you did it, that is.”
“Someone else did do it!”
“I’m sorry. Without proof, there will not be a retest.”
"Why not?" I demand. "Earlier, you said I could. Why did you have a change of heart?"
“I’m sorry that things are not going your way, but, Erika, that’s the way of the world.”
“Fuck the world,” I snap. My temper is flaring, and I can barely keep in my rage.
“Erika, this language and behavior are not becoming. You will treat me with respect.”
“You first,” I snap. “You treat me with respect, and I’ll respect you.”
“That is not how the world works,” she protests. “You are the student. You should respect me.”
“I would respect you a lot more if you would give me a chance to prove that I do know this material.”
“A second chance is not to be given.”
“Never? For anyone in this school or just for me?”