Chapter 26

Adele walks over to her seat; and before she sits, her and Nadine briefly squeeze hands and smile at one another. Mrs. Newman walks up and places a copy of "Little Women" on Adele's desk. Aware of her mental condition, but not wanting to insult or make Adele feel inferior to the rest of the class, Mrs. Newman tactfully suggests… "Adele, sugar; we're reading "Little Women". Because you're a little late starting class, you might want to go to the video store and rent a copy of it so you…" "I've already seen three movie versions of "Little Women", Mrs. Newman." Feeling a bit relieved, Mrs. Newman exclaims, "You have…that's wonderful. Then you shouldn't have too difficult a time catching up with the class." "No, mam." "Alrighty then…" Mrs. Newman begins to walk away, "So, class…" "Excuse me; Mrs. Newman, mam?" "Yes, Adele?" "I just…" Adele becomes silent and stares down at the book sitting on her desk. "What is it, sugar?" Adele, in a most sincere and appreciative manner, tells her, "I just wanted to thank you, Mrs. Newman…for letting me be in your class. Thank you very much." "Well; you're very welcome, Adele. It's going to be a pleasure having you here with us." "Thank you, Mrs. Newman." As Mrs. Newman begins to walk away again, Adele calls to her, "Oh…and Mrs. Newman, mam…about the movies." "Yes, Adele?" "They were good and all…but I think the book's much better." Mrs. Newman's pleasantly surprised from this revelation. "Adele, sugar; you read the book?" "Yes, mam…all three of them." A proud Nadine is also pleasantly surprised over learning this about her friend…and curious. "Three?" Adele explains, "Yeah. There's "Little Women"…that was the first one. Then there was "Little Men"…and then "Jo's Children"." Everyone looks at Adele with expressions of incredulous, utter amazement. They can't seem to fathom it. Adele Wilson…the ‘Retard'…actually read. And not just those simplistic, fundamental workbooks used in Reading Comprehension class; but actual works that are regarded as classic American literature. While Grandpa Joe instilled her appreciation for nature; Adele's love for reading was inspired by Grandma. She introduced Adele to this pastime as a means of exercising her ‘weakened' mind and find some solace and joy in it from spending most of the time alone; since no one else cared to associate with her. She would spend hours sitting under a tree or on a rock by the stream in the woods reading from her collection of books. And reading wasn't just inclusive to the woods at home; because Adele would also always read in the schoolyard during her lunch period and in study hall. Adele never tried to conceal her love for reading…it wasn't suppose to be some great secret not to be shared with anyone…it's just that no one had ever paid any particular attention to her at school; unless of course it was to make fun of her. They never once had focused on…or even attempted to see…the positive attributes in her character. But here today, in Mrs. Newman's third period English class, some of her fellow classmates are starting to take notice of the true Adele Wilson. Some of them are even already beginning to be quite impressed by her…especially Mrs. Newman. "So, Adele; I take it you're a fan of Ms. Alcott's?" "Yes, mam; she's my second favorite author." Mrs. Newman's steadily becoming more intrigued by this new student of hers. "Your second favorite? Who's your favorite?" "L.M. Montgomery." She impressively adds, "The L.M. stands for Lucy Maude by the way, Mrs. Newman." Both Mrs. Newman and Mr. Trudeaux briefly chuckle. Then, while smiling at Adele, Mrs. Newman inquires … "Yes…I know. Then I take it you've also read some of the "Anne of Green Gables" books?" "Yes, mam." "And how many of them have you read?" "All eight, Mrs. Newman. "Anne of the Island" was my favorite."