As an exchange student from Scotland, a whole new world opens up to Darren Green when he moves to the United States. He'll live with a host family, start at a new school, and he'll have to make new friends. However, what won't be a part of this new...
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AS EXCITING AS FRIDAY HAD been, as dull Monday was. It was a school day like any other: first period, bell, second period, bell, and this streak continued while the students and the teachers fought their way through the day until the last bell would sound.
That last bell was nowhere in sight yet when Nova and Darren took a seat at a lunch table and both put their plate down.
"Can I say something?" she asked, taking a small bite.
Darren nodded and did the same.
"González is a dick."
He almost choked and had trouble keeping his food from spilling. "What?" he gulped. He gasped for air, and Nova laughed when she saw his face turn red.
"I'm only speaking the truth here," she said, unapologetic about her earlier remark. However, what had surprised him wasn't the sentiment she had voiced regarding her Spanish teacher but rather how she had chosen to voice it. She wasn't the type to curse.
"What happened?" he asked once he'd safely swallowed his bite and any choking hazard had passed.
She put down an elbow on the table. "He hates me, and I don't know why," she said. "I'm acing the class" – this wasn't a surprise; Darren had learned she spoke Spanish on the daily with her family at home – "and am fluent in Spanish, but instead of that being a head start to becoming his favorite, he got mad at me when I asked if I could work ahead, independent of the class." She rolled her eyes. "Said that wasn't the attitude he wanted to see in his students, but that students are supposed to 'participate and pay attention in class.'"
Darren raised one eyebrow and let her continue.
"So, I asked him about the students that were way ahead in their Spanish skills compared to the class, because that's what I think are excellent students. Do they really need to pay attention and stoop down to the level of asking, ¿Puedes hablar más despacio? And do you know what his rebuttal was?"
He shook his head. Of course he hadn't; he had been in a different class than Spanish class during the last period. He had decided not to pick up Spanish because he had zero experience with it and knew he would have to keep up with the others that had been trying to learn Spanish for years now.
"That that wasn't the attitude he expected to see from me. He said I was rude."
Darren frowned. "That's impossible, you can't be rude." Although, just as he said it, he thought back to the language she'd used earlier to describe González. That could be considered rude.
"Exactly! No le entiendo! So, to prove a point, I sat in the class like any other student, but answered every question he asked without raising my hand, and I showed him I am the best student he's ever had." She grinned; thinking back to the class almost made her seem proud of her behavior. "I don't need his class anyway," she continued. "I only took it because it was easy. It's useless for university, aside from the good grade it will get me."
