A Lot to Tackle by Belle Payton Read Free Book Online

want his pity. She kept her head down and hurried into French class.
    â€œ Bonjour! ” Madame Knowlton’s cheery voice rang out.
    Alex shook herself free of her foul mood. She turned her attention to the translation flashed onto the smart board. She liked French class. Everything was going to be fine. It always was.
    Two minutes before the final bell ended the school day, Madame Knowlton walked down the aisles, placing the graded tests that they’d taken yesterday facedown on the desks.
    Alex flipped hers over.
    A red C scrawled in marker at the top of her test blurred and swam as tears pricked her eyes. She blinked them back, trying to process what she saw. She’d thought the B she’d gotten last week was bad. A C was unthinkable.
    This had to be a mistake, she decided. She checked the paper, half expecting to see another student’s name written on it. All she saw was Alex Sackett in her own rounded print.
    â€œAlex, check me out. I got an A!” Charlotte leaned forward from the desk behind her. “Oh, wow.” Charlotte had caught sight of Alex’s paper. “I can’t believe I got a better grade than you. That never happens. Now I’m doubly proud of myself.”
    â€œThat’s great,” Alex said tightly. But it wasn’t great. Alex always got the highest grades in the class. Something had to be wrong. Madame Knowlton had messed up.
    She waited until everyone had left the classroom. She straightened her pale-blue plaid shirt and walked confidently up to Madame Knowlton’s desk.
    â€œ Bonjour , Alex.” Madame Knowlton smiled warmly. Teachers always loved her. She knew Madame Knowlton would apologize when she saw what she’d done to Alex.
    â€œCan you please check to see if you made a mistake grading my test?” Alex smiled back and handed the teacher her test.
    â€œI can check.” Madame Knowlton raised her thin eyebrows. She adjusted her glasses, then scanned the test questions. “No, Alex. This is the grade you deserve.”
    â€œI don’t deserve a C!” Alex’s voice cracked. “I knew the vocabulary words. I knew the conjugations.”
    â€œBut you didn’t know the translation or the history of French cooking.” Madame Knowlton pointed to a bunch of questions marked with nasty red x’s.
    â€œHistory of French cooking?” Alex had been confused when she’d seen that on the test. When had they done that in class? “We never reviewed that. No one could’ve known those answers.”
    â€œThat information was on the study guide,” her teacher reported.
    â€œThe study guide? You never said that!”
    â€œI clearly told the class to complete the study guide,” Madame Knowlton said.
    â€œBut I thought I didn’t need to. I was busy that night. Besides, study guides are for kids who don’t know everything,” Alex protested.
    â€œBut you didn’t know everything.” Madame Knowlton folded her hands, as if the conversation were finished.
    This was so unfair! Alex tried desperately to convince her teacher not to count those questions. Madame Knowlton wouldn’t agree. Alex suggested a makeup test. Madame Knowlton refused. Alex begged for an extra-credit project. Again, Madame Knowlton turned her down.
    â€œThis is your grade,” Madame Knowlton said. “Think of this experience as a learning tool. You now know that you need to use the study guides.”
    Alex didn’t want a learning tool. She wanted her A. “B-but . . . but . . . ,” she sputtered.
    â€œIt’s one test, Alex.” Madame Knowlton’s voice grew warmer. “Have one of your parents sign it, and I’m confident you’ll do better next time.”
    â€œSign it?” Alex asked.
    â€œAny student receiving a grade of C or below needs a parent’s signature,” the teacher explained. “That’s the school policy, remember?”
    I don’t