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notice Jake staring at you the whole meeting? That’s why I thought you were getting all red and sweaty. Even Jake wants you for class president and not Cassie.”
    “Jake was really looking at me?” Chewing on my lip, I reluctantly said, “All right, I guess I’ll run, but you have to promise me you won’t get obsessed with this campaign. I’ll hang a few posters and then give a gracious speech when I lose. Do you swear not to make too big a deal out of this, Lisa?”

    I trudged up to my house and put my day in perspective—your typical combination of mortification, degradation, and humiliation. I couldn’t wait to see what the next day would bring.
    My mom opened the door and greeted me. “How are you feeling, honey?”
    I glared at her.
    “Don’t ‘honey’ me. How could you possibly tell that Petey and the Potty story in front of my whole class? Don’t you care about me at all?”
    “I tell that story every year. It’s so cute, and it playfully inspires students to read.”
    “Every year? Didn’t you ever consider how much that story embarrasses me? You’re always saying how you’ll do anything for one of your students. Well, now that I’m forced into having you for a teacher, maybe you can care about me for a change!” I ran up the stairs to my room, slammed the door, and fell facedown on my bed.
    A few minutes later, I heard a knock at the door.
    “Mia, let me in.”
    I wiped away the tears that had been on the verge of falling all day and yelled, “The door’s unlocked. You won’t let me get a lock for it. Remember?”
    My mom opened the door and sat down next to me on my bed.
    “I’m sorry—this is new for me, too. From now on, I’ll try not to tell any more of your secrets to the class. It’s just that I know you have so much to offer others and you always hide your talents. Just once, I wish you would let others see how wonderful, smart, and loving you are.” She ran her fingers through my tangled hair, which still had remnants of Jell-O in it. “I know I’m your mother, so of course I think you’re brilliant, but as a teacher, I’ve met hundreds of kids, and I know a special kid when I see one. Now, let others see it as well, Mia.”
    I didn’t have the heart to look at her, because even though she made me feel better, I didn’t want to encourage her. She might decide to have meaningful talks with me every day. Instead, I picked at my cuticles.
    “You sound just like a bad talk show host, ‘Let your inner beauty shine, next on The Maureen Fullerton Show. ’”
    She stopped untangling my hair and put her hands in her lap.
    “You don’t have to be so mean to me all the time. It’s getting a little old.”
    Part of me wanted to tell her I was sorry for being so nasty, so she would hold me in her arms and rock me like she used to. But the other part of me wanted to hurt her more so she would immediately leave my bedroom and not come back until I was twenty-one.
    I decided to compromise.
    “Before you hear about it in the teacher’s lounge, I guess I’d better let you know I’m running for ninth grade class president—Lisa nominated me. I know I won’t win because I’m running against Cassie Foster, so just let me get through the next week and lose the election graciously. And please, don’t make a big deal about this, all right?”
    “Oh, honey, that’s wonderful!” She hugged me tightly. “I’m so glad you’re finally taking a chance in life instead of sitting on the sidelines, waiting for your turn.”
    I silenced her with my death stare.
    “You know my favorite slogan,” she continued. “Jump and the net will appear. It looks like it’s your turn to jump.”
    “With my luck,” I said, “the net will have a huge hole in it.”
    “You’ll never know unless you jump.”

    My dad beamed at me across the dinner table. “So, my little princess is running for class president!”
    “Mom, I told you not to make a big deal about this!”
    “I had to tell