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tipped downward instead of upward. That’s all. And sometimes performance can be related to all sorts of things. Things like unusual stresses at home, like losing a job, or perhaps a death in the family. Sometimes even little disturbances can make a big difference.”
    Right away my dad leaned forward and said, “Are you pushing this problem back at me? Is that what you’re doing? We’re not talking about my job or our family life here. You people handed out almost a dozen Ds and you didn’t even know what each other was doing. No one stepped up to help a kid who clearly needed some. And now it’s somehow my fault?I don’t like the sound of that. Not at all.”
    Mrs. Hackney said, “I’m sure Dr. Trindler didn’t mean to make it sound like this was anyone’s fault, Mr. Rowley. We’re certainly not trying to assign any blame here. We just want to understand what happened so we can make the right adjustments.”
    My dad didn’t sit back, and Mrs. Hackney didn’t want to ask him if he had more to say because he probably did. So she kept talking and said, “Well, one person we haven’t heard from yet is Nora.” Then looking at me, Mrs. Hackney smiled and said, “Nora, is there anything you can tell us that would help us understand what happened at the end of the grading term?”
    This meeting wasn’t something I had planned for. But it was an interesting opportunity. I had all my teachers and my parents together in one place. I could make a big impression on everyone, all at once. So I tried to stay calm and I decided I needed to say something . . . remarkable. I needed to find something surprising, something that would make everybody . . . wonder.
    I said, “Umm . . . ,” because I was trying to think of something amazing.
    And then I said, “Well . . . ,” because I was still thinking.
    And then I found it—the perfect thing to say.
    I said, “Um . . . I guess I didn’t do very well in my classes and everything. But I’m not mad about my grades. I like Ds.”
    I felt my mom and dad stiffen.
    Mrs. Hackney paused a moment. Then slowly she said, “You like Ds? What do you mean, Nora?”
    â€œYou know—Ds,” I said. “Ds have a pretty shape.” And I kept this blank, happy little smile on my face.
    The room went dead silent.
    And I realized another fact: When I need to be, I’m a pretty good actor.
    Mrs. Hackney was the first person in the audience to come back to life. She said, “That’s very . . . interesting, Nora.” Mrs. Hackney glanced once around the table. She said, “Well. Perhaps we’ve all got enough to think about for right now. I know everyone here will be working tohelp Nora earn better grades in this new term, and I know all our staff will do their best to stay in touch with her parents.” She paused and then she said, “There is one other thing, something I talked about with Mr. and Mrs. Rowley this morning. I suggested that it might be helpful if we give Nora some additional evaluation, and they’ve agreed. That way we can know the best kind of help to offer. So this is a heads-up because Dr. Trindler might need to take Nora out of class now and then over the next few days.” Looking around the table with a smile, Mrs. Hackney said, “All right then. If no one has anything else, our little meeting is adjourned. Thank you all for coming.”
    I looked at the clock. The meeting had only lasted nine minutes. It had felt longer than that. It probably had felt a lot longer to my mom and dad.
    Out in the hall, my dad said, “Do you have all your things, Nora? I’m going to drop you two off at home.” I nodded, so we went out the door.
    When we got outside, I had to trot to keepup with my mom. When we were halfway to the car, she said, “What in the world were you