9th grade. September.

Tamarind:

I handed Miss Bliss a copy of my final schedule: English 9, Spanish 2 (which I tested into), California in the Contemporary World (the required History class for ninth graders), Geometry, Biology (I wasn’t allowed to take AP, which is fine, because science is not my favorite), Digital Storytelling (loving it!), and the required P.E. class called Fitness and Wellness. She pulled up my transcript from Hennessey Park Middle School and noticed my math classes. Since I do better in math than my other classes, Miss Bliss suggested I focus on those as my AP classes. But since I was in Geometry this year, I would need to take Algebra II in tenth grade, Precalculus in eleventh, and that would mean I could take AP Calculus AB my senior year. I couldn’t take AP Calculus BC. Miss Bliss suggested that if I wanted to get to Calculus BC that badly, I could take one or more of my high school math classes as a summer course at a community college. I wrote down in my notebook to look at the South Valley Community College website.

Miss Bliss said that my initial plan to take all APs for the rest of high school was a bit ambitious. I did not want to hear that, because I read online that girls are often discouraged from going after what they want because it’s not ladylike. She explained that if I took only AP classes for the next three years, I wouldn’t have time to build houses for homeless orphans, teach sign language to the elderly, or compete in the International Science Olympics. Whatever activities I chose, I would need time to master them outside of my regular school work. Also, she told me that no student at HP had ever taken all APs, boy or girl, and the ones that tried all burned out before senior year.

Then Miss Bliss asked me about my activities. After visiting each table at the Club Fair during the first week of school, I joined Yoga Club, Cinema Club, and the student division of the Denim & Red Booster Club. I told her I also tried to run for student council homeroom representative, but I lost, so I’ve been reading about politicians who lost their first elections and then went on to rule the world. I also volunteer with Food for the Spirit every other Saturday morning; it’s a service organization with my family’s church, The House of the Universal Spirit, where we collect and distribute canned food for those in need.

“I’m exhausted just listening to you,” Miss Bliss said. “When do you have time for all of this? When do you hang out with your friends?”

I told her that my friends Zinnia and Brimley went to the same church as me, so sometimes they volunteered too. I didn’t tell Miss Bliss this, but Cabot used to work there as well; she was repeatedly named Volunteer of the Year. Though, once she discovered how good she was at soccer, she stopped spending time with us. Ever since we started HP, Cabot has been hanging out with the jocks. HP’s biggest sport is soccer, and her brother Saxby, who’s in 12th grade, is the captain of the Varsity Boys’ team. With Cabot at HP, and she’s probably going to be the captain of the JV Girls’ team, and then later the Varsity Girls’ team (which brings home the most trophies of any organization at HP) the Mendozas will have a dynasty with Saxby as King and Cabot as Princess.

And with me as a Booster, I have the privilege of cheering them on. Go Raptors.

Lilo:

Does every ninth grader have this much work to do every night? I need to check with the Montagues to see if Brimley has the same amount of homework. Oh yeah, I could ask at the PTA meeting this week.

Grover:

I must have gotten every teacher Tamarind ever had at Hennessey Park Middle School, because they’re all like, “You’re Tamarind’s brother? You must be so good at blah blah blah. I’m going to keep my eye on you.”

No!

Take your eyes off me. I’m not my sister.