The Report Card (13 page)

I waited for more, but Stephen was done.

I didn't see, but I think it was my dad who started the clapping. And then everyone clapped a little, even Mrs. Tersom. It was pretty embarrassing.

But Mrs. Hackney held her hands up and it got quiet right away. She said, “I know we have all learned some important lessons today, and I know each of us will remember how important it is to always do our best work. And now I'd like the team teachers to take all the students to their homerooms until you are dismissed for lunch.”

And that was it. We were done. No more talk of being suspended, no threats, no shouting, no finger shaking. I followed Mrs. Hackney's orders and started moving toward my homeroom teacher. It seemed too good to be true.

It was. From about fifteen feet away the principal called, “Nora—please ask your mom and dad to join me back in my office for few minutes. And you, too.”

A minute later we were face-to-face with
Mrs. Hackney again. And then Dr. Trindler came in and sat down.

Mrs. Hackney said, “I'm glad the morning has ended as calmly as it has, but there's another matter to discuss. We need to resolve Nora's placement. Dr. Trindler and I feel that she needs to be in the gifted program.”

My mom nodded and said, “We agree completely. We're going to have some independent testing done, and Nora's going to take a placement test at Chelborn Academy next week. But the gifted program should be fine until we see where she really belongs.”

Dr. Trindler said, “Excellent. Most students currently in the program take two to six gifted periods each week, but in Nora's case we feel that except for homeroom, gym, art, and music, she should be in the special-classes pod all day.”

Someone so close to getting kicked out of school probably should have kept her mouth shut, but I couldn't. I didn't even raise my hand or ask if it was all right if I talked. I just blurted it out. “I don't want to be in the gifted program. I like my teachers, and I like my
friends, and I want to stay where I am.”

Dr. Trindler smiled and said, “We can all understand your reluctance, Nora. Change is always a little scary. But you can't help being who you are. You are extremely intelligent. You just are. You are so far above average that the normal classes move too slowly for you.”

I shook my head. “But if I finish my work or if I already understand what the teacher's talking about, then I can just think about something else. I've always had plenty to think about. I'll run math problems in my head. I'll think about the poems I've got memorized. Or I can get out a book and read. I want to stay in the normal classes because I like normal kids. I don't want special treatment, and I don't want teachers who are always trying to push me ahead.”

Mrs. Hackney wasn't trying to butt in and neither were my mom and dad. This was between me and Dr. Trindler.

He said, “But think of it this way, Nora. How will you reach your full potential if you don't accept new challenges?”

“I'm not trying to be a smart aleck, but
please, think about that,” I said. “Am I really trying to get away from new challenges? Do you think that trying to be normal after what's happened this last week won't be a new challenge for me? And that stuff about working up to my full potential—who gets to say what my full potential is? An IQ test? Shouldn't
I
have something to say about what I want to accomplish? What if what I really want is to be normal? What if being normal is my big goal in life? Is there anything wrong with that? To be happy and read books and hang out with my friends and play soccer and listen to music? To grow up and get a job and read the newspapers and vote in elections and maybe get married someday? Would that be so terrible? I know that I'm different, and I hope I'll always be smart. But I don't want to get pushed ahead so that I'm always trying to do what someone else thinks a person with my intelligence ought to be doing. I want to use
my
intelligence the way
I
want to use it. And right now I want to be a normal kid.”

While I was talking, it was like the words poured into my mind and out of my mouth
like milk from a pitcher. I had never given a speech like that before.

And when I stopped no one said anything.

So I said, “May I go to my homeroom now? It's almost lunchtime and I don't want to be late. It's pizza today.”

“Yes, Nora, you may go.”

And my favorite part is that it wasn't Mrs. Hackney who said that.

It was my mom.

•  •  •

Lunchtime was a little weird, and my afternoon classes were strange too. There was a lot of whispering and I felt kids looking at me almost every second. It must have been sort of like the way a movie star feels at the grocery store. But I just tried to mind my own business and have a regular day. I tried to be normal.

The rest of the day had two best parts.

The first was when I went to see Mrs. Byrne right before I got on the late bus. I had been playing soccer in the gym, so I was hot and sweaty and a little out of breath. I was cutting it close because I hoped the library would be empty. And it was. Mrs. Byrne was alone, sitting
at her screen at the front desk. I think she saw me coming, but she didn't look up until I was right in front of her.

She smiled and said, “Big day?”

I smiled back. “Huge. Did you hear anything?”

“Oh, yes. More headline news in the teachers' room:
STUDENT SAVES HER OWN SKIN, THEN WINS FOLLOW-UP DEBATE
. Very dramatic. I'm proud of you.”

I blushed. “It wasn't so special.”

Mrs. Byrne shook her head. “That's where you're wrong. It was. Everything you've done has been quite special and remarkable and wonderful.”

I started to talk, but she said, “And don't say that you couldn't have done it without my help. There's an old saying: Nothing can stop an idea whose time has come. And this time is your time, Nora. Now, hurry up—run and catch your bus.”

I said, “Well, thanks all the same, because you did help me—tons,” and I started to go. Then I turned back and said, “Mrs. Byrne, what college has the best courses in library science?”

She said, “There are a number of fine programs—why do you ask?”

“You know,” I said. “In case I want to reach my full potential.”

Mrs. Byrne laughed and shooed me out the door.

But really, I wasn't kidding.

The other best thing was after the bus ride. Ben got off at the corner too, but his house was in the other direction. So it was just me and Stephen walking along the road.

He didn't say anything until we got to my driveway. He kicked at the gravel with the toe of his sneaker. “What you said in the library about kids thinking they were dumb after the test last year? That was me, wasn't it?”

I nodded. “Yeah. It was you.”

He looked at my face and then at the ground. “So all this was kind of about me?”

“Yeah. Kind of . . . but it was about me, too.”

“Well, yeah,” he said. “You mean about you being smart and everything, right?”

“Yeah,” I said. “All that.”

He smiled and said, “Maybe it would've been kind of fun to be suspended a couple weeks, d'y'think?”

“I don't think so,” I said. “Too boring. A lot of stuff happens at school.”

“Yeah,” Stephen said. “A
lot
!”

I couldn't think of anything else to say. Neither could Stephen.

He said, “So I'll see you tomorrow, okay?”

“Yeah,” I said. “See you tomorrow.”

And then I went up my driveway and he walked toward his house.

That three minutes with Stephen wasn't so much if you only look at the events, like a scientist would. Because, really, what happened? Hardly anything. Stephen hadn't tried to do something like carry my book bag. He hadn't looked into my eyes and said, “Nora, you're my best friend in the whole world.” And we hadn't had a deep discussion about school or tests or grades.

We just spent a little time together at the end of the day. Stephen talked to me like a friend. Like I was a normal person. Just me, Nora.

At that moment nothing could have made me happier.

And that's a fact.

Meet the author,
watch videos, and get extras at

KIDS.SimonandSchuster.com

BOOKS BY ANDREW CLEMENTS

Middle Grade Fiction

Benjamin Pratt & the Keepers of the School: We the Children

Extra Credit

Frindle

The Jacket

The Janitor's Boy

The Landry News

The Last Holiday Concert

Lost and Found

Lunch Money

No Talking

The Report Card

Room One

The School Story

A Week in the Woods

Chapter Books

Jake Drake, Bully Buster

Jake Drake, Know-It-All

Jake Drake, Teacher's Pet

Jake Drake, Class Clown

Beginning Readers

Pets to the Rescue: Brave Norman

Pets to the Rescue: Dolores and the Big Fire

Pets to the Rescue: Ringo Saves the Day!

Pets to the Rescue: Tara and Tiree, Fearless Friends

Picture Books

Big Al

Big Al and Shrimpy

Dogku

This book is a work of fiction. Any references to
historical events, real people, or real locales are used fictitiously. Other names,
characters, places, and incidents are products of the author's imagination, and
any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely
coincidental.

ALADDIN PAPERBACKS
An imprint of Simon & Schuster
Children's Publishing Division
1230 Avenue of the Americas, New York, New
York 10020
www.SimonandSchuster.com
Copyright © 2004 by Andrew Clements
All rights reserved,
including the right of reproduction in whole or in part in any form.
ALADDIN PAPERBACKS and colophon are trademarks of Simon
& Schuster, Inc.
Also available in a Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers hardcover edition
Designed by
O'Lanso Gabbidon
The text for this book is set in Meridien.
First Aladdin Paperbacks edition
January 2006
The Library of Congress has cataloged the hardcover edition as
follows:
Clements, Andrew.
The report card / Andrew Clements.
p.
cm.
Summary: Fifth grader Nora Rowley has always hidden the fact that she is a
genius from everyone because all she wants is to be normal, but when she comes up with a
plan to prove that grades are not important, things begin to get out of
control.
[1. Grading and marking
(Students)—Fiction. 2. Achievement tests—Fiction.
3.
Schools—Fiction. 4. Genius—Fiction. 5. Friendship—Fiction.] I.
Title.
PZ7.C59118 Re 2004
[Fic]—dc21
2003007384
ISBN 978-0-689-84515-4 (hc.)
ISBN
978-0-689-84524-6 (Aladdin pbk.)
ISBN
978-1-4424-6220-5 (ebook)