On Friday afternoon, classes were canceled for a school-wide pep rally in the gym. It was the game of the season. The school had its biggest rival in every sport coming into tonight's game undefeated.
As Jane walked to the pep rally with Emily, she gathered data for another entry in Unfair Life:
Friday, January 29th. On the way to the pep rally, three different people asked Jane Waleski, "Are you really Caroline Waleski's sister?"
When the team came running out into the gym, the people in the bleachers went wild. Everyone was chanting Caroline's name. Emily joined the crowd until her throat was hoarse from yelling. Jane had cheered as loudly as she could for all the others, but she tried to cheer even more for her sister. She felt terrible for th
Jane made up her mind to stick to her rules. After making a list of her dream goals, she made it her life mission to cross each one of them.But the hard part was crossing them.She felt a sense of optimism, almost excitement flooding through her. She was also slightly overwhelmed by the things she had to commit to. Things that were mostly her least favorite things, like studying instead of watching her TV shows or hanging out with Emily.But she believed that every great man and woman had to sacrifice a lot to reach their goals, so no more whining. She would have to do the same or die trying. That was how serious she was.Jane had been shooting baskets from five until seven. She only made 30 baskets out of 100. Compared to her usual
The bell rang. Jane was stuffingATale of Two Citiesinto her backpack when she heard Lucy's voice beside her."You're readingDickens?"Jane nodded warily."Oh, IloveDickens. Have you readDavid Copperfield? OrOliver Twist?Olive Twistis my favorite. I've read it twice. I cried both times. I can't believe someone else in our class is reading Dickens."To her dismay, Jane found herself walking down the hall to English with Lucy by her side, still talking, talking, talking."I didn't know you were such a big reader, Jane," Lucy said, smiling at her. "I guess because yo
Jane wondered exactly how the others had found out that Lucy liked her. Mary had probably told them. She was the kind of girl who loved to know a secret about somebody that she could sell to somebody else for free. Now Mary had Jane's secret. She only hoped that no one would buy it.Jane remembered how Mary had snatched back the poem she had shown her the other week, most likely so she could have the pleasure of showing it around. Not that Lucy ever tried to hide any of her poems. She scribbled in her Moleskine notebook in full view of the whole world. More than once, Jane had seen Mary standing right behind Lucy, reading over her shoulder.One thing was clear, though. If Lucy's crush had been a secret before, it was a secret no longer. It seemed everywhere she turned, people looked at Jane weirdly. And when Jane walked into science cla
Charlie and Jonas had agreed to make the flyers for the poetry contest on Mary's computer. Jane looked for them as she walked to school on a Tuesday morning. Sure enough, they were there, prominently displayed on the big bulletin board by the main office and on the Book News Bulletin board outside the library.There was a school rule against posting any unauthorized notices on bulletin boards, but these flyers looked amazingly professional. No one could have guessed that they were made by a bunch of high-school pranksters.Would Lucy see them? Did anyone ever actually look at a school bulletin board? Until this morning, Jane never had. It was a flaw in the plan that none of them had considered. Jane looked around and when she saw no one there, she ripped the flyer off the board and threw it into the bin. She decided she'd better mention
Jane had collected ten different balls to test, and she had found a library book on balls in the children's section at the public library. It was actually a book for little kids, full of pictures, but it had lots of information on balls.AfterA Tale of Two Cities, it was a relief to be reading a book with only 64 pages and a lot of pictures. She was still reading her daily quota of Dickens. She would be finished easily by the time she had to give her book report on Monday, though she still had to come up with something to say in front of the class. Jane didn't feel comfortable to stand up there and speak, but Ms. Reeds would expect more than just reading books, she wanted people totalkabout them, and she would not accept just, "I read this whole book. It has 422 pages."Somewhere in her report, Jane w
Monday, February 10.The bulletin board outside the gym had two enormous pictures of Caroline Waleski on it from Friday's basketball game. In gym class, Coach Jim picked six girls to go to a special weekend basketball camp. Jane was not one of them.Monday, February 10.Whoever invented alphabetical order? Every single time every single teacher starts with the last names and ends with Z ones. Is it just a coincidence that the vice president and president of Loser Club both have last names from the end of the alphabet?Jane was sitting in Ms. Reeds' English class, waiting for the stragglers to come in from study hall and scribbling a couple of quick entries in theUnfair Life. Jane had been so busy lately bouncing and reading Dickens that she had gotten behind in her record keepin
Friday would be Valentine's Day. Jane spent the rest of the week dreading its arrival. In elementary school, Valentine's Day had been no big deal. Everybody gave valentines to everybody else because all the mothers made sure they did. There was a party at school, with pink-frosted cupcakes and red punch. Jane threw away her valentines as soon as she got home, first taking off any candy that was glued to them. Then she ate the candy. End of Valentine's Day.Jane didn't know what to expect from Valentine's Day now. There wouldn't be a party this year. She knew that much. But this year there would be Lucy. Jane had never before had someone in love with her on Valentine's Day. The day was bound to call forth from her some loveress-like impulses.And this year there was Grace. Jane had never before been in love on Valentine's Day, either. Sh
Jane met Emily outside in the hall."Well?" Emily said. Jane didn't know if Emily had heard the conversation or not. Ms. Anderson's voice was always so soft and low."She just wanted to ask me about one answer I put down on yesterday's homework," Jane decided to lie instead. It was better than telling the truth:she was just praising me for being a hero.But Jane knew she had deserved only the first part of Ms. Anderson's praise, not the second. Shewasn'tbeing particularly kind to Lucy. She was as deeply involved in the contest scam as anyone. Even more deeply. She was the one who had told her about it in the first place.Right then, halfway to art class, Jane made a solemn vow. She would tell Lucy t
The school bell rang. Jane was weaving down the hall. She was late to her club meeting."Hey Jane!" Naomi, who was one of her classmates called out to her. "Are you free this Friday for a math tutoring session?""Yes! I'll be there at three!""Hey Jane! Lucy is waiting for you at Room B!" Chris said as she ran passed him."Okay, thanks!"Jane had turned the corner and then she opened her locker and checked herself in the mirror one more time.At the meeting room, Lucy was sitting the table with a book on her lap, reading a passage from a book.When she saw Jane, her whole face brig
In English class the next Monday, Ms. Reeds assigned another book report. Jane was sitting anxiously at her desk for some reason she hadn't known.Then the teacher said, with her usual big smile, "Boys and girls, I want to share some exciting news with you. Lucy told me after class yesterday that one of her poems, 'Snow Bird', has won the first prize in the national writing contest!"Ms. Reeds led the class in applause. Jane sat frozen like a block of ice. If she could take back only one minute in her life, it would be the minute when she had agreed to go along with the evil scheme. Or maybe the minute when she had told Lucy about it.Jane glanced fearfully at Lucy. She wasn't crying, but there was something in her face that was more terrible than tears.
Mr. Monroe read the names of all the science fair winners during morning announcements. Caroline's name was first. Jane didn't know any of the tenth-grade winners; she felt foolish for ever having dreamed she could be one of them.On top of that, the report cards would be handed out at the end of the day. Great.Lucy didn't speak a word to Jane during science class. In fact, she didn't even look at Jane at all. But at least she lit the Bunsen burner for the day's experiment, as calmly as if she had been lighting Bunsen burner all her life. Nobody called her stupid. But Jane's triumph over the Bunsen burner was empty now.She wanted to talk to Ms. Anderson after class, to try to explain to her why Lucy had been crying, but the teacher was deep in conversation with Mr. O'Hara. And beside
Jane lay in bed, staring at the ceiling. Her mind was still humming from the day's activities. Though she did not win the science fair this year, something different clicked within her. It might sound cliché, but for the first time, Jane realized that she could do something and do it well. She wasn't the loser she thought she was. As long as she put her heart into it, she could do it. She didn't know that all it took was someone to come along and wake her up.Someone like Grace Anderson.Someone like Lucy Adams.Staying there, Jane reminisced over what happened in the past few months. She couldn't help feeling indebted to Lucy. And she was restless again thinking about the horrible prank she was involved in.Jane sat up and wen
The science fair was over. The judges had gone, but Jane still hovered by Lucy's display. People had already filed out from the gym. Jane had waited until Lucy went to the bathroom. Jane looked around herself to check if anyone was looking, but there were just a few groups of students and teachers talking among themselves.Jane quickly took a look at Lucy's poem 'Snow Bird'. Of course, it had nothing about romance. It was about a bird rejoicing over the winter, because no cage with bars keeps her from walking on the snow, imprinting it with her tiny feet.Jane was actually impressed by the imagery expression and creativity. Lucy Adams was indeed a talented poet. If only she had won a real contest and not that dumb one from Jonas and Mary. Jane felt the guilt kicking in again, and without thinking, she reached out and plucked the poem fr
All afternoon classes were canceled for the science fair. Hundreds of students and dozens of teachers filled the gym, plus any parents who didn't have to work that day – and the judges.Jane's display attracted more attention than any of the other displays nearby. Over and over again she bounced her demonstration balls and explained her results. Hers was definitely the most popular display with the students. And several of her teachers lingered, too. Even Mr. Putnam took a turn bouncing the basketball. He looked a bit like a basketball himself, with a black-and-white bow tie painted on one side."By the way, Jane," he said in a low voice as he handed the ball back, "I'm in the process of grading last week's math tests, and I must say you did very well."Jane was surprised, but no
On the morning of the science fair, Jane's father loaded both girls' project displays into the back of his van, and Jane hunted frantically on the floor of her closet for a blazer. She definitely owned at least one. She hated having to ask her mom to find it, but her dad was already in the van, honking his horn."Mom! Have you seen my blazer anywhere?"Jane's mother didn't show any expression on her face as she took the blazer off the hanger at the rear of her closet and handed it to her. But once she had put it on, her mom gave her a hug."I can't help it," she said. "You and Caroline both look so gorgeous today. I'm so proud of both of you."The blazer idea had been Caroline's idea. "That's another thing," she had told Jane the nigh
On Monday morning Jane awoke with a vague sense of uneasiness. But she couldn't think of anything to be uneasy about. She had survived Valentine's Day. She had collected all the data for her science project. Emily had come over on Sunday, and they had watched a really funny movie. It had almost seemed like old times.So why should Jane feel weighed down with worry?She was obviously forgetting something important – and terrible. But what?She was halfway to school before she remembered.The Valentine poem.She had taken care not to sign her name, but she had forgotten to disguise her handwriting. Jane had very distinctive handwriting – square and blocky, almost like print
"How was school, girls?" Jane's mother asked at dinner."Fine," Caroline said."Fine," Jane said, but today the lie was too much for her. "Except that, it was Valentine's Day," she added.Her father looked over at her sympathetically. Jane had never seen her father give her mother a valentine. But it was clear that they loved each other. They showed it in other ways – like looking proud when the other one was dressed up or holding hands when they took a walk."Did you both get some valentines from any boy...or girl?" her mother asked, hopefully.Caroline nodded but didn't volunteer any more information. Jane knew that a couple of guys at school liked Caroline because they calle