Today was Monday, the day we were going to be presenting our debate. I'm not really nervous because I think Elle and I did really well.
"Okay, class, who said that boys and girls are treated equally?" Mr. Thompson asked.
Most of the class raised their hands. Really? How the heck do they think that?
"Good, now who thinks they aren't?" He asked again.
I raised my hand high and proud. Only a few other people, along with Elle, raised their hands.
"Hallie, since you seem so enthusiastic, would you like to go first?" Mr. Thompson questioned in a slightly mocking tone.
"Yes, I would," I replied.
I made my way over to the wooden stand, thinking of how I should begin.
"Well, as you know, I do not think that boys and girls are treated equally. In fact, I think boys are treated much better," I started.
"You see, my friend Elle and I asked a few boys if we could play baseball with them a couple of weeks ago, and do you know what they said? They laughed in our faces and told us we couldn't because we were girls," I continued.
Most of the boys looked annoyed, but I could tell some of the girls seemed interested.
"One idiot even said we could be their cheerleaders. Like what the heck? Girls can be just as good as boys, if not better. And, this isn't the only thing that happened recently that made me think on this question."
I continued telling everyone about all of the other things that happened over the last few weeks.
"Then, I thought to myself, if I was a man, then I'd be the man! So that's exactly what I did. I dressed up as a boy, and guess what? Those boys asked my friend Elle and I if we wanted to play without even thinking twice," I finished.
"Thank you for that, Hallie," Mr. Thompson said, unimpressed.
I couldn't believe it. I did exactly what he had said and probably worked harder on it than anyone else.
At the end of class, he graded all of our debates, and when I got mine, I was shocked.
"A C plus?! Mr. Thompson, you've got to be kidding me!" I exclaimed.
"I didn't like your answer," he simply stated.
"This is exactly what I'm talking about. This is so ridiculous, " I said, storming out of the classroom.
..........
Elle and I were walking to sandlot now to actually play as girls this time. I couldn't believe they actually kept their word, but I was glad they did.
"Hey, I heard you called me an idiot in your speech during debate," Squints said as we got closer.
"Yeah, I did. That was the nicest thing I could think of," I gave him a fake smile.
"I thought your speech was pretty good," Benny told me.
"Really? You're not messing with me?" I asked, surprised.
"Yeah, really," he replied and gave me a little smile.
"Well, I'm glad someone thinks so. Mr. Thompson gave me a freaking C," I rolled my eyes.
"Okay, enough of this. Let's get to playing," Ham said, clearly annoyed.
This time, Ham batted first. He pointed to where he thought he was going to hit the ball like Babe Ruth did.
Everyone laughed because they didn't think Ham would be able to hit it that far. Frankly, I didn't either.
He missed the first pitch that Kenny threw.
Squints and Yeah-Yeah made a couple of jokes, but then Ham hit the ball all the way over the fence.
"Ham, you idiot!" Benny said as they all chased him around the bases, hitting him with their gloves.
"Boys are so stupid," I whispered to Elle.
"Yeah, and they say we're dramatic," Elle rolled her eyes.
It was getting dark out now, so everyone decided to call it a day.
Since the new kid Smalls has no idea who the beast was and neither do Elle or I, the boys yelled campout before we could leave.
"What's that?" I asked no one in particular.
"Just meet at Tommy and Timmy's tree house at 8," Benny replied.
I guess since we were a part of the "team" now, we were going to their stupid little campouts, too.
So, Elle and I walked back to my house to get ready and pack for the campout.
Once we were finished, I realized that I had no freaking clue where Timmy and Tommy lived.
"Um, you wouldn't happen to know where they live, would you?" I asked Elle, hopefully.
"No idea," she replied.
"Great, so know we just have to walk around the neighborhood looking for a group of idiots, " I said, rolling my eyes.
"Yep, guess so," Elle responded.
After walking for almost an hour, we finally saw what looked like a tree house and sounded like the boys.
"What took you guys so long?" Squints asked impatiently.
"Oh, I don't know. Maybe because no one told us where to go, so we spent an hour looking for it. You guys are lucky we even came, so don't start with me Squints," I said, glaring at him.
"Geez. What's got you in such a bad mood," Benny said under his breath.
"What, Benny? I couldn't hear you," I directed my attention to him now.
"Hmm? Oh, nothing," he replied, giving me a fake smile.
I gave him once right back and laid my sleeping bag next to Elle's.
"So, who wants to hear the story of," Squints paused for dramatic effect as he turned on his flashlight, holding it under his chin, "the beast!"
Oh boy, this was gonna be one long night.
