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.I feel like I’m in a zoo.“Shhh,” Hannah Wet/Dry says to everyone behind her as Mr.A.—the gym teacher, who has never worn anything but shorts in his life, as far as I can tell—tries to get everyone to quiet down.“Mr.A.is trying to start the assembly, and I can’t hear anything.” Hannah Wet/Dry puts her finger to her lips.Dizzy rolls her eyes and makes a face with her tongue sticking out of her mouth like a thirsty dog.Dizzy thinks Hannah Wet/Dry is the most annoying person on earth.Or one of them, anyway.Dizzy gets annoyed fairly easily.Mr.A.stands at the microphone in the middle of the gym.“Students,” he calls, “settle down!” After a few seconds, everyone gets tired of talking, and that’s when Mr.A.hands the microphone to Mrs.Temple, who has managed to find an entire suit—skirt, jacket, shell—made of sweater material for the occasion.I wonder if she’s been searching for sweater shoes.Those would really complete the ensemble.“People,” she begins, in the way she begins every speech to the school, “I have some serious news to present today, and I trust that you will all be able to handle it with grace and maturity.”Someone in the crowd makes fart noises.“You might be wondering why we have news crews with us today.” She stretches her palm toward the group of cameras in the corner, turning to offer a posed half-smile/half-grimace.Very principal-like.“I’d like to turn the floor over to someone who can tell you.” She hands the microphone to a man in a black suit wearing a brown tie decorated with brightly colored fish.“Who’s this clown?” Josh asks.“The superintendent,” Hannah Wet/Dry says, like she has school board trading cards and can identify any of them on command.She leans over and adjusts her pink socks, carefully comparing each foot—the folded-over tops may have been an eighth of a centimeter off.The superintendent takes the microphone and covers it with one hand while he whispers something in Mrs.Temple’s ear.She nods twice and then points at all of us.Then they nod together.“Christ,” Josh says, “can we get this show on the road already?”“What I have in my hands,” Fish Tie says, rattling a piece of paper, “is an extremely important document.I cannot emphasize enough the gravity of what I’m about to say.Your principal, Mrs.Temple, and I have discussed the matter, and we feel that you boys and girls are mature enough to handle the information I am about to share with all of you.” He goes on in this vein for a while longer until he can’t ignore our restlessness anymore.“Boys and girls, I have here a very significant list.As you are well aware, Quiet High has been the site of some very advanced and complex trials for a program called PROFILE.”“Oh, hell,” Josh says.“This is old news.Does he think we’re dumb? Who hasn’t heard about the whole PROFILE debacle?” He pronounces debacle like dee-BACK-el.“As you are all no doubt aware, one of our Quiet High students was a victim of a ruthless attack recently.” This is news to nobody.Fish Tie continues, “Many of you know that January Morrison suffered severe injuries as a result of a brutal physical attack.We have reason to believe that she knew her attacker, although she does not remember what happened.We also do not believe that this attack is in any way connected to her brother, recently deceased.Detectives are investigating the situation.I want to reassure you, boys and girls, that you are safe here in the halls of our school.”“Phew.” Josh breathes a fake sigh of relief.“I know this has been a trying time for all of us.I’d like to offer up a moment of silence for the members of the Morrison family, who have endured so much.”The gym falls silent.Someone sniffles.Josh tries to reach up Dizzy’s shirt, but she swats him away.“Be respectful, Josh,” she tells him.I think of little Hillary with her Harry Potter book.I wonder if she thinks about her future.Is it ruined, just like January’s and her brother’s?“Now,” Fish Tie says after a few seconds, “police believe that they have a suspect.” Dizzy and I look at each other.The sound of talking goes on instead of dissipating, as Fish Tie probably hoped it would.You can tell that he wants to deliver his big news and hear a collective gasp.The fact is, we all watch the news, we all have Internet access, for crying out loud.We know that he is going to talk about Jesse.Because I am prepared for it, I don’t cry when Fish Tie announces that the suspect is a Quiet High student.He doesn’t have to say Jesse’s name.And I don’t cry when he announces that PROFILE predicted the suspect for violent crime—a fact that could be used as evidence against Jesse in a trial.I simply zone out for a minute, thinking about what that means.It’s possible that Jesse will go to jail for a very long time.Hannah Wet/Dry gasps when Fish Tie says this.I give the side of her head a dirty look for no real reason.“We have decided that for the safety of all students, we will publicly release the scores of the predicted.” He waits for a response, but nobody gives him one.“With this information—the predicted list—we can better serve the needs of our at-risk students.We do not bring these names to your attention in order to promote any kind of cruel or discriminatory behavior against these particular individuals.We have made this decision because we believe that this is the right choice for our school, especially in light of the January Morrison situation.We do not need more young people to get hurt.Individuals predicted to commit violent crimes and to have antisocial and persistent problematic behavior will be immediately moved into separate classes, away from the other individuals.Those of you who are not predicted to be violent criminals can rest assured that you will be safe.”Josh begins applauding.Fish Tie, who has no sense of irony, nods in our direction, as if thanking Josh for the recognition.“These alternative educational arrangements will be made for our predicted students with the aid of our guidance counselor, Dr.Tufte, and the students’ parents or legal guardians.I must stress again that these students will be kept in Old QH classrooms; they will have a separate cafeteria, gymnasium, and facilities.All relevant classes housed in Old QH will be shifted to New QH.We ask that nonpredicted individuals refrain from visiting Old QH at any time.Our fine school security guards will enforce these rules stringently.” Fish Tie smiles at a fat guy in a uniform standing next to Temple.Everybody calls him Porkchop.I look around the crowded gym.Everyone else is doing the same thing [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
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.I feel like I’m in a zoo.“Shhh,” Hannah Wet/Dry says to everyone behind her as Mr.A.—the gym teacher, who has never worn anything but shorts in his life, as far as I can tell—tries to get everyone to quiet down.“Mr.A.is trying to start the assembly, and I can’t hear anything.” Hannah Wet/Dry puts her finger to her lips.Dizzy rolls her eyes and makes a face with her tongue sticking out of her mouth like a thirsty dog.Dizzy thinks Hannah Wet/Dry is the most annoying person on earth.Or one of them, anyway.Dizzy gets annoyed fairly easily.Mr.A.stands at the microphone in the middle of the gym.“Students,” he calls, “settle down!” After a few seconds, everyone gets tired of talking, and that’s when Mr.A.hands the microphone to Mrs.Temple, who has managed to find an entire suit—skirt, jacket, shell—made of sweater material for the occasion.I wonder if she’s been searching for sweater shoes.Those would really complete the ensemble.“People,” she begins, in the way she begins every speech to the school, “I have some serious news to present today, and I trust that you will all be able to handle it with grace and maturity.”Someone in the crowd makes fart noises.“You might be wondering why we have news crews with us today.” She stretches her palm toward the group of cameras in the corner, turning to offer a posed half-smile/half-grimace.Very principal-like.“I’d like to turn the floor over to someone who can tell you.” She hands the microphone to a man in a black suit wearing a brown tie decorated with brightly colored fish.“Who’s this clown?” Josh asks.“The superintendent,” Hannah Wet/Dry says, like she has school board trading cards and can identify any of them on command.She leans over and adjusts her pink socks, carefully comparing each foot—the folded-over tops may have been an eighth of a centimeter off.The superintendent takes the microphone and covers it with one hand while he whispers something in Mrs.Temple’s ear.She nods twice and then points at all of us.Then they nod together.“Christ,” Josh says, “can we get this show on the road already?”“What I have in my hands,” Fish Tie says, rattling a piece of paper, “is an extremely important document.I cannot emphasize enough the gravity of what I’m about to say.Your principal, Mrs.Temple, and I have discussed the matter, and we feel that you boys and girls are mature enough to handle the information I am about to share with all of you.” He goes on in this vein for a while longer until he can’t ignore our restlessness anymore.“Boys and girls, I have here a very significant list.As you are well aware, Quiet High has been the site of some very advanced and complex trials for a program called PROFILE.”“Oh, hell,” Josh says.“This is old news.Does he think we’re dumb? Who hasn’t heard about the whole PROFILE debacle?” He pronounces debacle like dee-BACK-el.“As you are all no doubt aware, one of our Quiet High students was a victim of a ruthless attack recently.” This is news to nobody.Fish Tie continues, “Many of you know that January Morrison suffered severe injuries as a result of a brutal physical attack.We have reason to believe that she knew her attacker, although she does not remember what happened.We also do not believe that this attack is in any way connected to her brother, recently deceased.Detectives are investigating the situation.I want to reassure you, boys and girls, that you are safe here in the halls of our school.”“Phew.” Josh breathes a fake sigh of relief.“I know this has been a trying time for all of us.I’d like to offer up a moment of silence for the members of the Morrison family, who have endured so much.”The gym falls silent.Someone sniffles.Josh tries to reach up Dizzy’s shirt, but she swats him away.“Be respectful, Josh,” she tells him.I think of little Hillary with her Harry Potter book.I wonder if she thinks about her future.Is it ruined, just like January’s and her brother’s?“Now,” Fish Tie says after a few seconds, “police believe that they have a suspect.” Dizzy and I look at each other.The sound of talking goes on instead of dissipating, as Fish Tie probably hoped it would.You can tell that he wants to deliver his big news and hear a collective gasp.The fact is, we all watch the news, we all have Internet access, for crying out loud.We know that he is going to talk about Jesse.Because I am prepared for it, I don’t cry when Fish Tie announces that the suspect is a Quiet High student.He doesn’t have to say Jesse’s name.And I don’t cry when he announces that PROFILE predicted the suspect for violent crime—a fact that could be used as evidence against Jesse in a trial.I simply zone out for a minute, thinking about what that means.It’s possible that Jesse will go to jail for a very long time.Hannah Wet/Dry gasps when Fish Tie says this.I give the side of her head a dirty look for no real reason.“We have decided that for the safety of all students, we will publicly release the scores of the predicted.” He waits for a response, but nobody gives him one.“With this information—the predicted list—we can better serve the needs of our at-risk students.We do not bring these names to your attention in order to promote any kind of cruel or discriminatory behavior against these particular individuals.We have made this decision because we believe that this is the right choice for our school, especially in light of the January Morrison situation.We do not need more young people to get hurt.Individuals predicted to commit violent crimes and to have antisocial and persistent problematic behavior will be immediately moved into separate classes, away from the other individuals.Those of you who are not predicted to be violent criminals can rest assured that you will be safe.”Josh begins applauding.Fish Tie, who has no sense of irony, nods in our direction, as if thanking Josh for the recognition.“These alternative educational arrangements will be made for our predicted students with the aid of our guidance counselor, Dr.Tufte, and the students’ parents or legal guardians.I must stress again that these students will be kept in Old QH classrooms; they will have a separate cafeteria, gymnasium, and facilities.All relevant classes housed in Old QH will be shifted to New QH.We ask that nonpredicted individuals refrain from visiting Old QH at any time.Our fine school security guards will enforce these rules stringently.” Fish Tie smiles at a fat guy in a uniform standing next to Temple.Everybody calls him Porkchop.I look around the crowded gym.Everyone else is doing the same thing [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]