All Four Of Me

Chapter 20

KENZIE

"Can I please speak to you for a moment, Mackenzie." Mr Greene asks as the rest of the students file out of the room towards their next period class.

"Alright." Am I even allowed to say no in this situation?

"You're not in trouble or anything, I just wanted to discuss a couple of things that I've noticed you've been struggling with."

"If this is about my essay, I'm sorry. I really am trying to do better." I explain, latching my fingers onto my wrist out of habit in an attempt to relieve my sudden spike in anxiety. I should be using my stress ball instead, but I stupidly packed it into my bag before the bell rang thinking that I wouldn't need it in the time it would take to walk from one classroom to the next. I was wrong and now my arm is suffering for it.

"This isn't about your essay Mackenzie. I know you tried your best and that is all I can ask of any of my students." He does his best to placate my feelings "I do however have some concerns about your spelling and grammar which were brought to my attention in your essay and some of your homework tasks." He adds,

"I've never been very good at spelling." I admit, not willing to confess anything further at this stage.

"I thought that might be the case and that is alright, lots of people your age and even older have trouble with their spelling and grammar. It doesn't make you, or any of those other people any less worthy of an education, but I have to ask you something serious right now and I need you to be honest with your answer."

A tight knot forms in my stomach at his words while my mind instantly jumps to the worst conclusion possible. What if he thinks that I have been cheating? That seems like the only "serious" matter he could be alluding to in relation to this topic, but surely my poor-quality work couldn't be passed off as plagiarism, right?

"Do you find it hard to read the material we study in class?"

"I guess I find it kind of boring. Macbeth was ok when we listened to the audio version, but now that we have moved on to the next unit I find it harder to pay attention to what's going on." I reply honestly like he asked me to, frowning when his question doesn't make any sense.

"That's not what I meant, but that's my fault for wording my question the wrong way." Mr Greene offers me an apologetic smile before snatching a random book off his desk and holding it out for me to take. "Can you please read the first paragraph out loud."

With shaking fingers, I open the book to the first page and skim my eyes over the small sized print. I am able to understand the first three words, but after that the book might as well be written in another language. Saving myself from any further embarrassment, I close the cover of the book and hold it out toward my teacher while shaking my head.

"It's ok, Mackenzie. You have nothing to be ashamed about. In fact, now that I know what the source of the problem is, I can start finding the right resources to help you." Mr Greene is quick to reassure me, but it doesn't change the fact that I still can't read.

"Please don't tell anyone else."

"I can't promise you that I won't tell anybody because your other teachers need to be aware of this issue, but I promise you that I won't tell anyone who doesn't need to know." Mr Greene responds with an understanding smile. He knows all too well how horrible teenagers can be and even though I am not too bothered about being bullied by some of the other students, I still don't want to be known as the sixteen-year-old girl who can't read.

"So, no other students will find out about this?" I question him carefully, wanting to be clear that his list of people "needing to know" does not include any of my peers.