Chapter 7

"Ha indeed, Mr. Cooper…" Mr. Trudeaux turns to Eddie, "but perhaps you shouldn't be so quick with your ‘ha's'…for you aren't going to be her partner either." Frankie snaps, "Ha!" Mr. Trudeaux turns back to the chalkboard. "No…I will be selecting the partners for this project…and I have decided that Ms. Martin will be partnered with Ms. Wilson." Adele quickly turns from looking out the window to the front of the classroom. Are her ears deceiving her…can it be true? Did Mr. Trudeaux just announce that she was going to be partners with Nadine Martin? Were they really going to be friends for a whole year? He looks to Nadine. "I take it you don't have a problem with that, Ms. Martin?" Nadine looks back to Adele and smiles. Adele shyly smiles back. Nadine, still smiling, turns back to him and says… "No…no problem at all, Mr. Trudeaux." "Fine…I gathered that you wouldn't." He resumes writing. "And besides; it wouldn't matter…as I said; I will be assigning partners. I've chosen to partner each of you with someone whom you might not normally associate with on…" Frankie, being the smart-aleck that he is, cruelly blurts out, "Shoot; in that case, we should all be partners with the Retard." Every student except Nadine, Janice and Eddie laughs. With his back remaining to the class, Mr. Trudeaux angrily chastises Frankie… "Mr. Kowalski…if you feel compelled that you must speak out of turn in my class; I implore you that you at least have something productive or worthwhile to say…and not to do so just to demonstrate your ignorance and spout your Neanderthal blathering." He turns around to face Adele. "I apologize, Ms. Wilson, for your classmate's rudeness." Another first. Adele now feels as if she should pinch herself to see if she's awake; and to make sure this wasn't just some fantastic dream of hers. Mr. Trudeaux apologized to her. No one outside of her tiny family circle had ever apologized to her before; it was always her place to do the apologizing, whether it was her fault or not…which, in most cases, it wasn't. And even though the real culprit wasn't the one to apologize to her, she still had received an apology. This has to be a dream. Realizing that there's lingering tension permeating the room, Janice hesitantly raises her hand and gingerly asks, "Excuse me…Mr. Trudeaux?" "Yes, Ms. Damas?" "What's the purpose of this project? I mean…I'm sorry, Mr. Trudeaux; but I don't see the point to it." Having had his composure return, Mr. Trudeaux goes on to explain… "The point…my little Sociological disciples…is that you are now High School Juniors; and next year, most of you…it may take some of you a little longer…" he looks at Frankie, "others perhaps requiring Divine Intervention…" He returns to looking about the class and continues… "But a good majority of you will graduate; and enter what is commonly referred to as ‘the real world'. And be rest assured, you will often be required to interact with someone of a differing background at one time or another. So why not take the opportunity now… in the safety of your own little pond…to learn how to get along with others from different backgrounds. I want you to take this time to experience spending time with someone unlike yourselves…to make an honest effort to understand them…to learn something about them. And perhaps…when this project is over…" he smiles at Nadine, "maybe even learn a little something about yourselves." Adele's ambling about keeping to herself when she hears a familiar voice call out… "Adele." She turns around, and with a look of surprise in her eyes, utters aloud to herself, "Nadine?" Adele stares at the ground as Nadine and Trish approach. "Hey…we're going to the movies later. Wanna come?" Thrown into a minor confounded state, Adele's momentarily speechless. She wonders if this day can be anymore fantastical. After having experiencing all those amazing moments earlier this morning, Nadine Martin is now asking her to go to the movies with her. When able to speak, all she manages to do is bring herself to ask… "The movies?"