Ice frozen dreams turned golden

Chapter 7

„Do you guys think we will finally get back our essay about the poem we had to analyze?" Betty asked Thea and Lizzie while they were grabbing their books from their lockers.

"I don't know, but I really hope so. We've already waited for like four weeks – that's more than we had time to actually write the essay." Thea was huffing, now trying to stuff her winter jacket into her locker as well.

"Thea, you can put your jacket into my locker, if you'd like," Lizzie offered as she saw Thea struggling, not wanting to think about their next lesson. Just like Thea and Betty, she also thought they would finally get back their grades for their last poem-analyze and while she was pretty sure she had done a very good job, she couldn't help but think about her other 'homework' from Dr. Galler.

"I want you to pretend to have gotten a bad grade on your next exam or essay you will get back."

Lizzie shuddered just thinking about it, but to actually pretend to have gotten a bad grade on this particular essay would not be fun. They had had to analyze a poem of their choice and put it into context with the author's life.

Taylor had helped her choose an author and a poem, and Lizzie would hate it to have to pretend to have gotten a bad grade on it. But then again – there was not much of a choice if they would really get back their essays today.

"Alright, class," Mr. Jackson said after they had greeted him, "Today is the day you all have been waiting for – I finally got around to grading your essays. I must say that most of you did a great job – I loved all the poems you chose and the direction you took to analyze them – some of you actually had very inspirational ideas."

Lizzie watched her teacher anxiously as he grabbed the pile of papers on his desk and went on to give them to their respected students. Thea got her essay, and Lizzie smiled as Thea excitedly turned to Betty and mouthed an "A-minus" to her friend.

Betty soon mouthed the same back, and Lizzie nervously waited for her own result. What if she really had a bad grade? She had been so confident to have gotten a good grade, but what if that had just been arrogance? Maybe Mr. Jackson didn't like her approach, and he had actually given her something other than an A.

Finally, Mr. Jackson came over to her desk and gave her her essay back with a smile on his face. That was a good sign, wasn't it? Lizzie collected herself, took one deep breath, and then looked at the front page. There it was... A big, bright red A with a plus behind it. Lizzie sighed in relief but quickly remembered that she still had to pretend to have gotten a bad grade.

The rest of the day Lizzie tried not to think about the essay that was now safe in its folder and waiting to get signed by Taylor or Joe. Thea and Betty had both been excited about their grades but hadn't asked Lizzie about her grade, which was weird because they usually did so – maybe they had sensed Lizzie's nervousness. The girl didn't want her friends to worry about her though and tried to focus on their conversation at lunch. But her mind was still trying to picture the conversation she would soon have with Taylor and Joe. Would they be mad at her?

When Joe picked them up from school after their last lesson, Thea immediately told him about the A she got on her essay, and Lizzie watched as Joe's face lit up with joy hearing the good news. While Taylor had helped Lizzie with her essay, Joe had done the same for Thea, and the both of them had spent days searching for the perfect poem. Lizzie still didn't want to picture Taylor's disappointment when she would tell her she had only gotten a B minus.

The girl knew that technically a B minus wasn't a really bad grade, but she couldn't pretend to have gotten worse than that. She couldn't do that to herself nor Taylor and Joe. Just remembering what her mom had done to her the one time she had had a B minus on a test, was enough to make her shiver, even though it was comfortably warm in Joe's car.