Free This Place Has No Atmosphere by Paula Danziger

kids at Shepard. It’s not that they’re all barfburgers. It’s just that they are different and wouldn’t fit in with us. (And I don’t really fit in with them. It’s so hard. Sometimes I want to tell them that in my old school I was someone . . . so that they know . . . so that I don’t feel so all alone. But I don’t think that would be a good move.)
      8. There’s definitely no one here like Matthew.
      9. Mr. Wilcox, the teacher, is also the principal, chief guidance counselor,and media specialist. He’s cuter than any teacher at Shepard . . . also nicer. He’s got a sense of humor and he actually likes to teach. With his smile and gorgeous blue eyes, Mr. Wilcox could probably have been a video star. To answer the question that I know you’ll ask—yes, he’s married . . . . To answer the question that I know Cosmosa will ask—no, he doesn’t fool around.
    10. There is no truant officer at the school because there is no place to go when you cut. (It’s kind of hard to think about a senior cut day, with only the one senior, Karlena.)
    11. Every student has to do a school service project. Mine is to work with the Eaglettes. They are very short and sticky. Eventually I will have to do a community service project as well.
    12. Each new kid is assigned a guide. Mine is this guy named Hal Brenner,but I’ve never asked him to guide me. He’s a real brain, a junior. Tall and skinny, he’s funny (funny ha ha, not funny weird). All of the kids here really seem to like and respect him. He’s okay, I guess, but I have a feeling that he’d never fit in on earth . . . at least not with our group.
    13. Starr’s guide is Hal’s younger brother, Tucker. I think she has a crush on him.
    14. I miss having a best friend.
    15. I want to go back to Alan Shepard High School.
    ABOUT TOWN
      1. Luna City is nothing like our hometown.
      2. There’s no weather here because there’s no atmosphere.
      3. There’s no atmosphere here (and I’m not talking weather).
      4. The general store is definitely notthe Monolith Mall. In fact, if it were located there it would go out of business. It’s one large room and it specializes in out-of-date merchandise.
      5. A lot of time is spent looking at mail order catalog disks. It’s not the same thing as being able to try on stuff, and anyway what difference does it make because of the stupid uniforms.
      6. There are no pets in town, no cats, no dogs, not even a gerbil. The good news is that you never have to look down at the sidewalk. The bad news is that there’s nothing to pat on the head, nothing to lick you and roll over to be tickled (except maybe one of the Eaglettes).
      7. There are no launderettes or dry cleaners on the moon. You take your dirty clothes into an ultrasonic room and the dirt gets vibrated off. The same procedure is used to clean human beings.
      8.I miss being able to escape into a bathroom and relax in a tub for a couple of hours. (We’re allowed only six minutes in the shower, two times a week.) Ultrasonic cleaning is not warm and comfy.
      9. There are no birds here, which makes Tranquillity Base Park a very clean place. Boring, but very clean.
    10. I want to go home.

CHAPTER 18
    “A urora Borealis Williams, you whine too much,” my father says as I get into the dentist chair.
    I stare. “What do you expect? You’re going to be drilling my tooth.”
    “What do I expect? What do I expect?” He flings one of his arms up in the air and puts his other hand on his forehead. “I’m a painless dentist who uses the best, newest techniques. What do
you
expect?”
    I think that some of my flair for the dramatic may come from him.
    He hands me a metal rod which is attached to a box with dials. “Here. Hold this. If it starts hurting, remember to turn the power up. With TENS, you will feel no pain.”
    TENS—that’s Transcutaneous Electrical Nerve Stimulation—current goes through the skin and stops the