Blessing in Disguise

Because I don't have the student body presidency to worry about (ironically that was the job I wanted since I got to Adams) I could devote my attention solely to the newspaper and yearbook. And with that in mind, I got some news that shocked me. I, Haley Elizabeth Hotchkiss, was named editor-in-chief of both newspaper and yearbook, succeeding Megan Ryder, who moved to Stamford, Connecticut, this year. Mrs. Baldwin even gave me a fancy title -- director of student publications. This means that anything that's printed in any student journal has to go through me. I kinda like this idea. I've got big shoes to fill but I think I'm prepared.

With this in mind, I started decorating my desk. At the right is the "Follow Your Dreams" book Wendy gave me in California, that I read sometimes and sometimes I use as a mousepad. There's a crocheted charm Marina gave me in New Hampshire and Kirsten and Mrs. Linda gave me a teddy bear. On top of the computer is the peace charm Alexi gave me in DC.

My first order of business as "director of student publications" was to meet with my staff. Isabelle Yarbrough was first. She's a new arrival, from Dallas, Texas, and she's the photographer. She has blond wavy hair (that she usually keeps in a braid), brown eyes, and darker freckles than mine. Lindsey says she's seldom without a camera around her neck.
"Hi," she said with her Texas twang, extending her hand out. "You must be Haley."
We talked about darkrooms and digital cameras for a bit and then we went to the yearbook. "We need to start getting club photos. Club photos, team photos, pictures of kids doing stuff."
Isabelle nodded.
I wanted to give them a glimpse of what I expect. I'm a perfectionist and I intend to run a pretty tight ship, now that my attentions aren't divided between student gov't and student printing.

Next I spoke with Lindsey and Kate. Kate's taking over sports for Alison McCann (who decided to focus on playing sports instead of writing about them) and is the assistant newspaper editor. Lindsey's in charge of graphics and artwork. Not necessarily drawing but making sure the paper 'looks' good. Kate taking over sports is actually a good fit -- she's crazy about baseball, especially her hometown Cincinnati Reds, and knows a whole lot of baseball trivia.

Last I met with Katarina Engel. Kat's actually really shy, doesn't say much, but boy, can she write. She's been the researcher because every time I see her her nose is buried in a book. I told her I wanted her to take a more active reporting role, and she made a suggestion I hadn't even considered. "Let's do a literary magazine," she said, "you know, for short stories and poetry and stuff." I would have to bring that to Mrs. Baldwin but I actually think it's a good idea.

More about Natalie

I went into the newspaper office today to check a few things and there was an email from Antoinette, saying she missed us here. And there was something else. She said she liked America so much that she was thinking about applying for Parkington next year. I'm not sure what to think of that one. As it is, she attends a ritzy private school in the French Riviera. Her family is fairly well-off.

While I was doing that, Natalie came into the office and spoke with Megan about the photographer position. Apparently Caelan, the boy who was the newspaper photographer, switched schools and now the position is empty. Megan asked to see Natalie's portfolio, and she said she'll bring it as soon as she can.

Speaking of Natalie, she has 4 classes (not homeroom) with me so I see her a lot. Today in science class I discovered something about her. She has a very noticeable bald spot in the back, and I know why she has it. I saw her pulling her hair. Not the usual habit that a lot of girls have where they run their hands through their hair, either. I mean actually pulling it. She yanked huge clunks of it out, and I saw them fall gently on her lap and on the desk. I'm in a delicate spot because I'm afraid if I say something, I'll lose what I think I'm starting to build with her.

Meanwhile, Meredith has already begun making her life a living hell, too. Just today in the lunch line she yanked on a piece of her hair and said, "How's that feel, eh?"

I told her to stop but Meredith just called me 'queen of the geeks' and told me to shut up.

All About Antoinette

The majority of comments from my last post were about Antoinette, the French exchange student who's at Adams for the semester, and with good reason. Naturally everybody's curious about her. So imagine my surprise when Megan approached me with an idea to do a profile article on her for the back-to-school issue due out this week. I asked her, "How am I going to interview her? Especially with Meredith in the way?"

So, today when I approached Antoinette, Meredith looked at me like I was crazy. "What are you gonna do with her?"

"It's for the paper, you doofus," I shot back. "You don't own her!" I've decided I'm not going to take another year of abuse from her. We're never gonna be friends, and I can live with that.

I'm still not sure about the format to use for the article, but back in February I did do a 15 things about me post on my blog, so I suppose I may use that.

This afternoon I managed to get Antoinette in the newspaper office, and here's what I know about her now that I didn't know this morning. One thing I know about her is that even with her glasses, she's very pretty, and another thing I know is that she's very thin. She's even thinner than I am.

• Her full name is Marie-Antoinette (one name) Anais Boucher, and she gets teased a lot back home because Marie Antoinette was a French queen who was beheaded.
• Instead of using her full name, she chooses to go by Antoinette.
• Her mother is Italian, her father is French.
• She speaks three languages (French, Italian, English) and is learning Spanish and German.
• She's in seventh grade, like me.
• I have two classes with her.
• She was born in a town called Versailles (she pronounces it vur-SY) and was raised in another town called Nice (pronounced like niece instead of nice). I'm sure Avery or Sophie may be much better at writing out the pronouncing of these names, though.
• Her birthday is May 2.
• She admires France's first lady, Carla Bruni-Sarkozy, a former model who has also launched a music career.
• Her family in France is fairly well-off.
• She is an only child.
• Her favorite artist is someone called Lady GaGa, and like me she doesn't get the obsession with Miley Cyrus/Hannah Montana. "It's not that I don't like Mi-lee or Anna," she says in her cutely accented English, "it's just that they are not my favorite."
• She wants to write for the paper. Knowing Megan, I'm sure that could be arranged.
• She loves Harry Potter, admits to having a crush on Daniel Radcliffe (the guy that played him in the movies), and fantasized about being a Hogwarts student.
• She loves fashion and is interested in the AG couture scene.

The cool thing about having her around now is we actually get to practice the French we're learning in class. I actually think she's okay. If I could rescue her from the clutches of the evil Meredith...

And the other cool thing about having access to the computers in the newspaper office is, they're connected to the internet... ;-)

Graduation, interview, etc...

I spent Thursday night at the eighth grade graduation. It wasn't my choice, the whole newspaper staff had to be there to cover it. Alison showed up in a deep blue velvet dress, it was cute on her. Alison in a dress was strange, but I had to get used to it. Megan's dress was black and gold, also very cute.

Before the graduation, though, I ran into Marisol Luna. Remember I told you she was an eighth grader? Well I found out that next term she's going to Parkington. So you know I piped her with all kinds of questions about the school.
She says Parkington is a magnet school for gifted and talented young ladies. Since she's a dancer, she's enrolling in its acclaimed dance academy. She told me something else too -- about something called a deferred enrollment, which is what she did. She attended Adams for a year before going to Parkington and said that if I was thinking about going that it would be an option to think about.
Another thing: Her younger sister, Maitte, will be at Adams next year.
The next day was our awards ceremony for this year. I hate these because the teachers take too long to give them out. They gave out awards for clubs and activities and perfect attendance. I haven't missed a day of school in three years, so when they announced "Haley Hotchkiss, three years perfect attendance," I heard Meredith and some of the others sitting on the top bleachers yelling boos.
Kristy got basketball team MVP, Alison got soccer team MVP, Megan received the special principal's award for "going beyond the call of duty." A boy named Caelan Staub got highest average awards for math and science, I got mine for social studies, Megan got it for English, Katarina got for reading, and Hilary got her awards for highest average in spelling, winning the school spelling bee, district spelling bee, 2nd in state spelling bee -- oh, and she's going to nationals in July.
I was a little nervous when Mrs. Baldwin went to announce the 6th grader with the highest grade point average. "Haley, you know you're gonna get that," Harriet said with a nudge.
"Caelan's smart too," I reminded her. I don't know Caelan that well, he's pretty quiet and keeps mostly to himself.
"The sixth grader with the highest grade point average for the year -- Haley Hotchkiss with a 3.975."
"Haley, don't act like you didn't know," Kristy said. Meredith and her friends rained down more boos as I walked to receive my awards.
Speaking of Parkington, my interview was okay... not great, not bad. Just okay. They asked me about what I was involved in and what I wanted to do with my life. When I got ready to leave, they shook my hand, and I left.

Open House

Open House at Adams Junior High was held last night, mostly in the school gym and auditorium. I looked around and suddenly I felt a bit overdressed. There were quite a few of the usual suspects, along with kids I'd never seen before. One girl with short blond hair said she wanted to join the newspaper staff when she got to Adams next fall -- and this other girl, Carissa Miller I think her name was, who was wearing the same dress I'd seen in the movie -- said she liked to paint, sew, and do pottery.

I was talking to the blond girl, I didn't quite catch her name, mostly about the newspaper and what kinds of stories they covered. She showed me some of the work she'd already done for her hometown paper in Ohio -- including an article she'd written about homeless kids -- and I told her I was sure our editor would love to have her join the staff when she entered next year. As sixth grade class president and a member of the newspaper staff, it was my job to try to 'sell' these activities to the incoming students.
Then I introduced her to Megan, the editor, and had them talk awhile, while I went ahead and spoke to Carissa about our art classes.
Carissa's father is Michael Miller, a local sculptor. Harriet says he's the one who sculpted the statue of former president John Adams outside our school's front entrance. I suppose that's where Carissa got her artistic side from.


Just then Meredith showed up. She was there as captain of the cheerleaders, recruiting new members. She was wearing an especially slinky pink dress. "Well, if the dork didn't decide to put on a dress. If you dress up a dork, guess what, it's still a dork."
"Shut up, Meredith," I said.
"What'd you just say?"
"I said shut up. Didn't you hear me?"
Meredith tossed her blond head in staged anger. "Are those -- heels -- you're wearing?" she asked, looking down at my feet.
"So, what if they are? They're my shoes and I can wear them anytime I want."
It felt good. They were things that needed to be said, and I'm glad I said them. By that time though I was holding my heels in my hand and walking with little slippers on. Meredith went off in a huff but I didn't care. Carissa asked me if she was always like that, and I nodded.
Lindsey from the basketball game was there, too. She has freckles and auburn hair. She mentioned she was Jewish and was getting ready for her brother's bar mitzvah (a sort of coming of age in the Jewish culture). She also said she was interested in the newspaper and the yearbook.
With the addition of at least two new staffers next year, the newspaper should be very interesting.

No News Is Good News

We met to produce another edition of the Adams Gazette, the school newspaper that's distributed to the faculty and students. Most of the time, our newspaper is about events that happen at school, but sometimes we talk about national events. In January we had a 3 page special on the inauguration of the president and how students felt about it. Our editor-in-chief is Megan Ryder, who's pretty much been writing since she was a tot. Her father is a reporter who travels all over the world, and ever since she was little, Megan has wanted to follow in his footsteps. She really likes the color yellow and pretty much wears that color all the time.

So, today Megan showed up to the meeting wearing her glasses. Sometimes she wears glasses and sometimes she wears contacts, but I know when she has her glasses she means business.

Only three of us showed up -- Alison, Katarina, and me. We're understaffed but we manage.
We had a couple decisions to make. One was who was going to cover the upcoming open house for incoming students. I wasn't going to be able to, because as class president I have to make my own presentation. I knew Alison, as sports reporter, and Katarina, as fact checker and researcher, might probably have to pick up the slack.

Just then Megan pulled me aside. I had to admit she looked quite 'editorly' in her glasses and starched yellow skirt set. "Haley -- is something wrong?" she asked me.

I shook my head. "No -- there's -- there's nothing wrong."

"I was wondering -- because you've seemed a bit distracted lately."

"Distracted?"

"Listen, Haley, I know you're class president and I realize that takes up a lot of your time. If you need to resign just let me know."

I shook my head again. "It's not a problem, really. I can handle it."

Who am I fooling? There are days I come home wondering what on earth I got myself into. Did I take on too much? My dad says I need to figure out how to be eleven again. Problem is, I never did.

I saw the Chrissa movie (some spoilers)

Welp, today was the day.

After fifth period our principal called everybody out of class and told us to sit in the gym. When I looked around the gym, I saw Meredith and her gang had pretty much taken the seats on the top row. They were flipping through magazines and chewing gum and polishing their fingernails.

Then the student council sponsor told me to come forth.
"Haley, since you're class president, I'd like you and Megan to do the presentation."
Megan, of course, is Megan Ryder, editor-in-chief of pretty much every school publication at Adams -- newspaper AND yearbook. She says she's wanted to be a journalist pretty much forever, since her dad travels all over as an international correspondent. We're acquaintances, we work with each other, but we're not friends. Megan has goalpost-straight red hair and green eyes.

"Would you like to say a few words?" the teacher asked. "About bullying, I mean." Of course, having been bullied myself, you'd think I might have leapt at the chance to spill the beans about my own life. But I chose not to.

So while everyone else gathered in the gym, Megan and I stood in front of this huge screen where they were getting the movie ready to show.

"Well, today the school has called this assembly, so that we can talk about bullying." I told them that bullying was a very serious problem all over the country, and that surveys showed that a lot of kids had been bullied while in school. I didn't tell them, though, that I'd been one of them. Maybe I should have.

"Sit down, Four Eyes!" Meredith shouted from the top seats, to laughter from some of the other kids. She didn't realize, I was intending to. I decided to go back and sit in the first seat I could find, so I could watch the movie.

While I'm watching the movie, Harriet gives me a nudge. "Haley, she kinda looks like you."

I'm like, "Well, yeah, she doesn't have freckles and wear glasses and hair she can never really manage."

Okay, about the movie.... there's this girl named Chrissa Maxwell who moves to Minnesota to stay with her grandma after her grandpa dies. When she starts school she's bullied by three girls -- Tara, Jaden, and Sonali. Sonali is Indian, which I found interesting. Tara is the queen bee and the worst of the bunch, kind of like Meredith -- the other two are just followers. And Chrissa isn't the only victim. These girls also pick on another girl, shy and quiet Gwen, who turns out to be a talented violinist. Well, Chrissa wants to try to make friends with Gwen but Gwen has a secret. Chrissa's bullies seem to stop at nothing to make her miserable. When Chrissa joins the swim team, Tara's cruelty seems to get worse.

Chrissa to me seemed a little desperate for making friends -- it was like, she had made that her only goal upon getting to that new school. It was a little annoying, cause she kept saying 'hi' to the girls and the girls wouldn't say 'hi' back -- but then I got to like Chrissa, because she's willing to stand up for herself and what she believes in. Gwen really reminds me a lot of Katarina, so quiet and doesn't say much at all, keeps to herself. Sonali, I'm not sure who she is. I think she wanted to be friends with Chrissa from the beginning, but she was afraid of losing Tara's friendship because of it.

After the assembly, Kristy wanted to watch the basketball team practice, so Harriet and I stayed in the gym awhile before we left. "What did you think about the movie?" I asked them.

"I wanted Chrissa to beat those girls silly," Kristy said. "Especially that Tara, she deserved it." Kristy then told me that back in fourth grade, she did just that to a girl who picked on her for being a tomboy. The girl has since moved away.

"I didn't get Sonali," Harriet said. "I mean, she's Indian, right, and she's following behind those girls like a lost puppy dog."

"That's only in the beginning," I reminded her. "But Sonali starts to come to her senses I think around the time she signs up to do the ceramics thing. I don't think they made a big deal over the fact that she's Indian."

I have to admit, Sophie was right, it does kind of remind me of what happened to me when I first came to Adams. For those new to my blog, I'll crosslink the post so you can read about it. http://aghaleysblog.blogspot.com/2008/09/my-first-day-of-school.html I heard Meredith and her gang talking and laughing pretty much throughout the whole movie, till finally the teacher told them to leave. They were only too glad to.

Brrr!

Wow, it's starting to feel like the weather back home in PA. Quite chilly. I thought Louisiana was warmer than this.
Equally chilly has been Meredith's attitude. And it's not just Meredith. It's her disciples. If Natasha Ivanova is Meredith's first lackey, then Madisyn Baker is her second. It isn't just that Madisyn is blond like Meredith, or that she copies everything Meredith wears, or that she follows her all around school. Meredith has a younger sister named Madison, as well. It's that Madisyn has also copied Meredith's attitude.

So, Madisyn is on the decorations committee for the Halloween dance (which BTW I still don't have any decorations for, or a costume!) and I went up to her and Meredith and asked her to try to pull her weight.
"I don't have to do anything for your stupid dance!" Madisyn shouted, within earshot of Meredith, who chuckled loudly in front of Natasha and Alyssa and everyone else. "It's a nerds' dance anyway," agreed Meredith. "Besides, I've got my own plans for that night. I'm having a big party at my place, with a live band, and half the school will be there. So I don't know how you're even going to get anyone to come to your stupid dance. I could see it now. You and your two or three little buddies, standing in front of the fake decorations in your homemade halloween costumes, all sad because nobody bothered to show up. Too bad, so sad, poor wittle Haley Hotchkiss!" Then Madisyn added, "Meredith's party will be tons more fun than your stupid little dance."
I can't cancel the dance. I promised my voters that. But after this, I don't know how I'm going to pull it off.
On top of that, Megan Ryder interviewed me for the student newspaper. She told me it was the usual practice, interviewing class presidents and publishing their stories in the paper. She asked me questions like what I intended to do as class president.
My first report card came in, too. I didn't get straight A's, though. I'm a perfectionist, I'm kind of ticked about that. I got B's in math and science. I expected A's in social studies and English and got them. I got extra credit from my social studies teacher for running my successful campaign for sixth grade class president.
"I wish I got your grades!" Harriet chuckled. "I've got mostly B's and C's and YOU're complaining?"
"Tell me about it," added Kristy. "I've got mostly I's on my report card 'cause I missed so much school."
And then Meredith is, like, "Did you get straight A's, smartie?"
"What's it to you?" I asked.
Madisyn Baker said, "Well, we just wanna know, geek."
"I didn't get straight A's."
"Big shock!" Meredith shouted. "Maybe we should copy off of you then."

Catching up

I apologize I've been so busy, but I've got a lot to talk about.
I heard the big news about the Samantha Parkington dolls being 'archived.' Not sure what AG means by 'archived' but it can't be good. I have to say, it sounds like the dolls are being put in this big old storage vault and preserved like they preserve mummies.
I have to confess, as far as the historical AG characters go, I'm a bigger fan of Felicity Merriman than Samantha, but she's still likable nonetheless. Samantha was this rich orphan who lived with her grandmother at the turn of the century.

I've taken up a new hobby... stargazing! Yeah, Vee picked up this telescope for me, and I like it. If you haven't noticed, I'm kind of a geek. I like learning all kinds of things.
Okay, now for the other big news -- the election. Yes, there was an election, and not for president of the US, although I am only paying minor attention to THAT, lol. I'm talking about the sixth grade election, the one I've written about endlessly in this space.
There were, as far as I was concerned, only two candidates -- Meredith and me. There could be only one winner. And I was hoping that winner would be me.
The election was last Tuesday, and I waited two days on pins and needles waiting for the results.

Thursday morning I was sitting in my English class when Megan Ryder (editor-in-chief of the newspaper) knocked on the door and whispered something to my teacher. The teacher then called me to go to the principal's office. When I got there, Meredith was there, too. I didn't want to sit next to her.
Then Megan came back out, with a vote tally. "Well, the two of you were tied, 22 votes apiece."
"TIED???" Meredith asked. "Whaddya mean, tied?"
"Both you and Haley Hotchkiss got the exact same number of votes."
"But -- that's not right. I took my own poll and I knew I would win!"
In that instant, I almost -- almost -- felt sorry for Meredith. So, I asked Megan who would break the tie, and she said they won't break the tie. Instead, both our names would be put in a hat and a name would be drawn by a teacher. That person would become sixth grade president, and the name left in the hat would become vice president.
The prospect of working with Meredith, either way, did not sound good at all. But then again, nobody gave me a fighting chance of winning this election. If I had known I'd be tied with Meredith Hopkins at the end of this election, I probably would have campaigned even more.
"Well, when is this tie going to be broken?"
"Tomorrow, in a school assembly."
Joy. Fun.

School Newspaper?

Today my English teacher, Mrs. Baldwin, asked to see me. "Haley, I've looked at your essays, and I was wondering -- have you considered writing for the school newspaper?"
I had to admit, I'd never thought about it.

"I just thought, you know, Haley, you're a good writer. You have talent. I just think it's time to put your talent to some good use."

Harriet was waiting for me outside the door when I came out. "Are you going to do it?" she asked.

"I don't know," I whispered.

Just then Meredith walked by in her cheerleaders uniform. I'd forgotten there was a pep rally this afternoon for the football team. And I was reminded once again of why she made me sick.

When I walked into the library where the newspaper staff was meeting, a girl with stick-straight red hair -- hair even straighter than mine, if that's possible -- and wearing a yellow dress approached me. "Hi, I'm Megan Ryder," she said in a cheery voice. "I'm the editor of the newspaper. You must be Haley. Mrs. Baldwin said you were coming."

She did? I wondered. I'd never told Mrs. Baldwin I would come.

Megan shook my hand hard. She then introduced me to some of the other staff members. "Keisha Vance is our music editor. Ask her anything and everything about music and she'll tell you. Alison McCann is our sports guru. She's memorized all kinds of cool stats and plays three sports herself. Katarina Engel speaks three different languages and was even born in Germany. Whatever you want her to research, she'll find."

Alison called me over to sit at the table with her, Keisha, and Katarina. She was a scruffy looking sort, with long messy blond hair that she kept running her hands through. It didn't look like she ever washed or combed it.

Just then Mrs. Baldwin came in. She introduced herself as the faculty adviser. She then said there needed to be a back-to-school edition of the paper.

"Well, what can we put in it?" I wondered.

"Anything you want, as long as it has to do with all of us coming back to start a new school year."


For the next few minutes, we talked about ideas for the issue. We finally settled on interviewing students on what they thought of the beginning of the year. Question was, who were we going to interview?