Nobody's Perfect by Marlee Matlin Read Free Book Online Page B

excitement.
    â€œAre you ready, Alexis?” asked Ms. Endee, shamelessly building the suspense.
    â€œI’m ready,” said Alexis.
    Megan crossed her fingers. Make it a tough word , she thought. Make it something impossibly difficult.
    â€œAlexis,” said Ms. Endee, with a dramatic pause, “would you please spell the word ‘cornucopia’?”
    Alexis smiled.

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    â€œNOT FAIR,” SAID CINDY. “IT’S not fair! to-tally not fair!”
    â€œIt was the luck of the draw,” said Megan. “Fair is fair.”
    â€œBut cornucopia was your word!”
    â€œIt’s everybody’s word,” said Megan. “Nobody owns it.”
    â€œWhat is up with you?” asked Cindy. “I think you’re glad Alexis won the spelling bee.”
    â€œShe didn’t win,” Megan responded. “She beat me , true. But Ronnie Jiu won.”
    â€œOnly because Alexis forgot about ‘ i before e except after c ,’ ” said Cindy.
    The final word had been “perceive,” a total softball as far as Megan was concerned. But Alexis had blown it. She was headed in the right direction, but then she took a wrong turn after the c , and, well, the rest is spelling bee history. Ronnie Jiu had stepped forward and spelled “perceive” as easily as if he’d been spelling his own name.
    Ms. Endee said, “I’m sorry, Alexis.”
    Ronnie Jiu smirked with confidence. Alexis simply shrugged.
    â€œIt was a pretty stupid mistake, if you think about it,” Megan observed. “ I before e ! Who doesn’t know ‘ I before e except after c ’!”
    â€œTrue,” said Cindy. “Maybe Alexis is human after all.”
    â€œOr maybe she didn’t want to win,” said Megan.
    Both girls fell quiet. It was a thought that hadn’t occurred to them before. Could Alexis have deliberately thrown the final round of the spelling bee to avoid drawing attention to herself? Could anybody be that shy?
    â€œNah, it couldn’t be,” said Cindy. “Not where there are blue ribbons and trophies involved.”
    â€œYou never know,” said Megan.
    â€¢Â Â â€¢Â Â â€¢
    Everyone in the fourth grade was allowed to pick his or her own book to read and write a report on.
    Megan enjoyed reading. In fact, Megan read so many books that she could have written a report on a book she’d already read. But she enjoyed books so much that she wanted to read something new.
    Megan was the kind of reader who relied on other readers’ recommendations. She was searching through the library for a copy of Island of the Blue Dolphins that her mother had recommended. When Megan happened to mention her mother’s recommendation, Jann got all excited. “That’s one of my favorite books,” Jann said.
    â€œMe too,” Ms. Endee agreed.
    Somebody named Scott O’Dell wrote it, but when Megan reached the O section of the shelves of fiction, she was surprised to find Alexis standing in the stacks holding a copy of Island of the Blue Dolphins .
    â€œAre you going to read that?” Megan asked.
    â€œI’m sorry?” Alexis whispered. It wasn’t the whisper that annoyed Megan. She knew that people were supposed to whisper in libraries. It was just that something about the effort to whisper made it seem like Alexis didn’t want Megan to be talking to her.
    â€œThat’s my book,” said Megan, pointing to the copy of Island of the Blue Dolphins . “I came to the library to read that book.”
    â€œWhat if I was going to read it?” Alexis asked, holding her ground.
    â€œI’m reading it for the report in class,” said Megan, asserting herself. She had noticed that Alexis was scrunching her nose again.
    â€œSo take it,” said Alexis. “I’ve already read it. I was just flipping through the pages to reread my favorite parts.”
    Megan felt a