Free A Year in the Life of a Complete and Total Genius by Stacey Matson Page B

You’re only answering with one-word answers.
    Robbie: Yep.
    Arthur: Fine.
    Robbie: Fine.
    Arthur: I’m going to fail this assignment and it will be your fault.
    Robbie: Impossible. You never fail anything. You’ve always been good at school.
    Arthur: Because I do my homework. Do you even do your homework?
    Robbie: There’s no point. I’m probably going to suck at it anyway.
    Arthur: Can’t your mom help you?
    Robbie: [doesn’t say anything]
    Arthur: Well?
    Robbie: No. I’m out of here.
    Then Robbie left. I don’t think you can fail me for this, Ms. Whitehead.
    Arthur,
    I know you’re having trouble with this assignment, but I really feel that you can succeed. Mr. Everett tells me that you’re one of his best newspaper journalists, so I’m sure you can come up with great interview questions. I’ve spoken to Robbie as well, and I’d like you to try one more time to connect with Robbie in your interview. It’s so important for famous writers to be able to create very diverse characters in their stories, and it’s clear you and Robbie are very different! You can take some time during class today to complete the assignment.
    Ms. Whitehead
    â€¢ • •
    Robbie Zack Interview: Take Three
    Arthur: I was told that I have to interview you again with better questions.
    Robbie: I was told that I have to give you better answers, so let’s get it over with.
    Arthur: Good idea. First question: What kinds of stuff do you do for fun?
    Robbie: Normal stuff. I don’t know. Video games are my favorite, but I’m not allowed to play the good ones. I like Minecraft best. I like watching action movies. I play basketball sometimes. And soccer. I suck, but I still like it.
    Arthur: You like movies. Is that why drama is your favorite subject?
    Robbie: I don’t know. I guess so. It’s good I guess because…I don’t know…I guess there are fun people in the class. And it’s not hard… It’s good because you get to do whatever and, like, fool around, like when I was a kid, but for a grade, and then Mr. Tan says that it’s creative. It’s like we’re just pretending stuff that’s not true, but it feels like more than that sometimes. Which is way better than doing real stuff, you know?
    Arthur: But your “real stuff” isn’t hard. You just got back from Hawaii. Going to Hawaii for Christmas isn’t hard. What’s hard about your life?
    Robbie: Lots of stuff. Just because I went to Hawaii doesn’t mean that life isn’t hard, you know. You think you’re the only one with hard stuff and that makes you think you’re better than other people.
    Arthur: I don’t think that I’m special. You don’t understand. Your mom isn’t dead.
    Robbie: No, but she might as well be. She’s moving away to North Carolina without us. My dad is moving my brother and me into some ugly townhouse and we have to share a bedroom. Life sucks.
    Arthur: Oh.
    Robbie: Yeah.
    Arthur: Um, my next question is, what kind of books do you like to read?
    Robbie: I told you that I don’t like to read. Well, I like comics. Do comics count?
    Arthur: I guess so? I don’t know. Maybe not.
    Robbie: They should.
    Arthur: I don’t think so. They’re just pictures.
    Robbie: No way, man. The drawings add way more to the story because the artists are really good. Like this one about zombies? It’s awesome. And it’s not like all zombies are bad or nothing. They have personalities that have to be drawn in and all of them look different and you can spend hours looking at all the details on one page. You should read one. I bet you that you like it.
    Arthur: I doubt that.
    Robbie: I bet you will. I’m going to bring you one and then you have to read it.
    Arthur: Fine. I’ll read it, but I don’t think I’ll like it.
    Robbie: Fine.
    Arthur: Last question. Um, do you like knitting?
    Robbie: