The Perfectionists by Sara Shepard Read Free Book Online Page A

heroes would be challenged to behave as criminals—and vice versa. Some people love this about crime film, and some people hate it.”
    Ava glanced down at her notes. She’d written the words heroes , criminals , and hate . She realized with a sinking feeling that the hate she’d written looked far too similar to the hate she wrote on Nolan’s face last weekend, the one that was featured in newspapers and newscasts and nationwide blogs. She quickly flipped to a new page before anyone could notice.
    â€œNow, before we keep going, I’ll hand back your papers on And Then There Were None .”
    Everyone in class sat up, on alert, as most kids did when a teacher was handing back a paper or a test. Ava knew that in the next few moments, there would be huge smiles . . . and some tears, too. Yes, even a class like film studies mattered. Every grade mattered at Beacon.
    â€œSome of you did very well,” Mr. Granger murmured, peeling a paper off the stack. Ava was sure Mr. Granger looked right at her as he said that, and she sat up a little straighter in her chair. “Some of you, however, need to be challenged. The moral questions this movie asks are complicated and maybe even a little subversive. I’d like to see you really push your arguments on this next unit.” Mr. Granger picked up a stack of papers from his desk and started to move around the room.
    When he got to her row, Mr. Granger set her paper facedown on the desk. Ava turned it over, eager to see his notes—and gasped at the bright red C scrawled across the top.
    A C ? She couldn’t believe it. She put lots of effort into this class, watching long-winded interviews with directors and reading film theory articles online. Her papers on the first movies they’d watched, Psycho and Vertigo , had earned her A-pluses. Then again, she’d written the And Then There Were None paper after that eerie group discussion in class—and after she’d lured Nolan upstairs at his party. She remembered the heaviness of his body as he leaned on her, the smell of beer on his breath as he tried to kiss her sloppily. The moment his muscles had gone lax . . .
    She shook her head. The last thing she had wanted to do was think about Nolan, the movie, or what she’d done.
    â€œHow’d you do?”
    She glanced up to see Alex, his arm resting on the back of his seat. His expression changed quickly when he saw that she was upset.
    â€œUm, not so great,” she mumbled.
    â€œIt’s okay. Maybe he’ll let you rewrite it. We can watch the movie again together—”
    â€œ No ,” Ava said quickly, then winced at the flash of hurt in his warm brown eyes. She just didn’t want to see that movie again, no matter what. “Sorry, I just—”
    â€œMiss Jalali, if you don’t mind, we have more material to cover.” Mr. Granger was watching them both with a frown. Alex quickly turned back to face front.
    Ava barely heard the rest of the lecture. She turned through the pages of her essay, staring at the red ink in the margins. What point are you trying to make? Mr. Granger had written next to one paragraph. This argument doesn’t hold up was scribbled next to another. She felt crushed. It had been so, so long since she’d gotten a C. The grade almost made her feel dirty, and she stuffed the paper into her Hervé Chapelier tote bag, not wanting to look at it anymore.
    Finally, the bell rang for lunch. “We’ll be assigning new groups for this next unit,” Mr. Granger called out over the buzz of people standing up and starting to pack their bags. “Get ready for a new project next week.”
    Thank god , Ava thought, looking up to see her relief mirrored on the faces of her other And Then There Were None group members. Julie took a heavy breath. Mackenzie drummed her fingers against the desk. Ava looked away. She didn’t have anything against any of those