This Is Me From Now On by Barbara Dee Read Free Book Online

puny days for a major research project? That she assigns to us the first day of school? I swear, you guys, that woman definitely
is
a wicked witch.”
    â€œActually,” Lily said, “I feel kind of sorry for her.”
    Nisha laughed in disbelief. “You do? Why?”
    â€œBecause she obviously has no life.”
    â€œHow can you tell that?” I asked curiously
    â€œJust the way she’s so intense about everything. Like she really thinks U.S. history is so important. And interesting. And also the way she looks.”
    â€œOmigod. Her hair. Those
pants,
” Nisha hooted. “Almost goth.
Nerd
goth.”
    â€œThere’s no such thing as nerd goth,” I said. “Besides, I think she looks sort of cool.”
    â€œRight. And you also like bug jewelry.”
    I pretended to ignore that. “Anyway, who cares what she
looks
like? Don’t you think she’s incredibly un-teachery? I mean, compared to, like, Mr. Womack?” Last year Mr. Womack was our teacher for sixth-grade Social Studies. All he did the whole year were these dorky PowerPoint presentations with the same title:
The Legacy of Ancient Greece, The Legacy of Ancient Rome, The Legacy of Fill in the Blank.
    â€œI still think she’s evil, assigning this huge project the very first day,” Nisha grumbled. “And then acting like there’s no right or wrong, even if someone is lying.”
    Before I could say that I actually didn’t think that’s what Espee had meant, Lily grabbed my arm. “Look, Evie, is that Zane?” With her non-grabbing hand, she pointed to a clump of jersey-wearing eighth-grade boys on the grass in front of the faculty parking lot.
    â€œUh, yeah, it is,” I said. I squinted as if he were a tiny, smudgy dot way off in the distance. “I mean, I’m pretty sure.”
    Lily grinned. “So why don’t you go over and talk to him, then?”
    â€œAnd say what? ‘One scoop of chocolate chip, please’?”
    â€œNo. You could say something like, ‘Hey, Zane. I heard you had Espee last year. Is she actually a wicked witch, or does she just dress like one?’”
    I groaned. I mean, I loved Lily, but she kind of thought she was an expert on flirting and dating just because she went to the mall last June with Tyler Corbett. And really, it was barely even a date. Tyler’s mom left them at a booth at the IHOP and then went off to shop at Payless, and the only thing Tyler said to Lily
the entire time
was,
Can you please pass the syrup?
So that’s what we’ve called him ever since: Can You Please Pass the Syrup. Of course not to his face
    â€œOh, leave her alone, Lily,” Nisha said. “Evie doesn’t even like Zane, remember?”
    â€œThat’s not what I said,” I protested. “I said I wasn’t sure.”
    Nisha grinned at me. “Well, that’s not my
interpretation.
Based on the
evidence.”
    Pretty soon we were at Nisha’s. We’d be going there all the time now, because Mrs. Guptil had convinced Lily’s dad to let Lily do homework there in the afternoons ratherthan be totally unsupervised in a messy house full of junk food. I was happy for Lily, who I knew sometimes got lonely with no one home all day except Jimmy. But to be honest, I wasn’t so sure about this new arrangement, mainly because we’d have to be dealing with Nisha’s mom on a daily basis.
    â€œAnd how was school?” Mrs. Guptil asked, pouncing on us the second we walked in the door. “Did you like all your teachers?”
    Nisha opened the refrigerator. “Meh.”
    â€œWhat does ‘meh’ mean? Speak English, Nisha, my darling.”
    â€œThey seem okay,” Lily told Mrs. Guptil. Then she turned bright pink. “Especially the art teacher.”
    â€œOh, yeah, Mr. Rafferty’s definitely hot,” Nisha said. “But I’m not so sure about that little