Free The Report Card by Andrew Clements

“achieve” all the time was not some psychological problem I was having. It was an intelligent choice. And if I had been “working up to my potential,” could I have ever been best friends with a regular kid like Stephen? Fat chance.
    I changed the subject. “Are you going to give me another test?”
    He said, “No. I don’t think so.” Dr. Trindler paused and then he said, “You know that I’m going to share my findings with Mrs. Hackney, don’t you?”
    I nodded.
    He said, “And you understand why I need to tell her about your scores?”
    I said, “Sure. My mom and dad asked for the testing, and the school has to give them my scores, and it’s Mrs. Hackney’s job to tell them.”
    Dr. Trindler nodded. “That’s correct.”
    He paused again, waiting for me to keep talking. But I didn’t.
    So he said, “Is there anything you’d like to talk about, Nora?”
    I shook my head. “No thanks.”
    â€œWell,” he said, “if something does come up, and if you think I might be a help, you can always find me, okay?”
    I nodded and said, “Okay.” And I smiled a little because I could tell Dr. Trindler just wanted to help.
    A minute later I was walking through the empty hallways, headed for Mrs. Zhang’s room and the second half of science class. It was still the same day, and it was the same school with the same teachers and the same kids.
    But something was different.
    Me.

fifteen
PARTNERSHIP
    M rs. Hackney had called my mom at work right after school, so by dinnertime on Wednesday my whole family knew everything that Dr. Trindler had discovered.
    Our evening meal was a smorgasbord of emotions.
    Mom and Dad didn’t know whether to be mad at me for keeping a secret from them, or to be thrilled that I was a genius and not some idiot who thought Ds had a pretty shape. My mom said, “Isn’t this exciting ? If we can get an admissions interview, and if Nora does well on the entrance tests, I bet she could get into Chelborn Academy—maybe even get a scholarship. And from there, who knows? Our little Nora could end up at Princeton—or even Yale or Harvard!”
    I could tell Ann didn’t like that idea one bit. She had been the star student all her life. But she pretended she wasn’t interested and shesaid, “I knew that Nora was smart all along.”
    And when Todd heard the news, he rolled his eyes and said, “Just what I need around here—another smart sister.”
    I let everyone else do the talking during dinner. And I didn’t volunteer any more information about my report card. When my mom said, “I guess I understand a little better about those bad grades now,” I just smiled and nodded.
    Because that wasn’t part of the deal. Yes, now they knew I wasn’t an average kid, and they figured out that for years I had been getting average grades on purpose. But my reasons for getting those Ds—they didn’t need to know about that.
    I faced the fact that my plan was ruined. Everyone would be watching me now. All my teachers would know I was smart. And it probably wouldn’t be long before the whole fifth grade would know about me too. School is no place to try to keep a secret.
    After dinner I went to my room to read, and about eight o’clock Todd yelled upstairs, “Hey Nora—it’s your boyfriend on the phone.”
    I picked up the portable phone in the hall and took it into my room.
    â€œHello?”
    â€œHi, Nora.” Stephen didn’t have to say his name because he was the only boy who ever called me.
    From downstairs Todd made a big, wet, kissing sound into the phone, and in a high voice that was supposed to sound like me, he said, “Oh Stephen, I’m so glad you called—I’ve been missing you all night.”
    â€œTodd!” I said. “You are such a jerk!” Then I yelled, “Mom!