Happy V Day! (Blog 3)

If there are 10 copycats on a branch and one falls off, how many are left?

Freakazoid has to learn to get up earlier in the morning to get Miss Q with that one. Especially if she overheard Solomon trick him earlier.

Miss Q's awkward turtles (as she like to call them) are full of riddles and questions.
CP just wanted to know if Miss Q had told "all the boys and girls over there" about the Chinese lessons she had been giving. Miss Q nodded, even though she couldn't quite remember if shedid or not.

" Can my codename be Cheerio?" asked Fruitbat.
"Guess what I watched last night?" asked Freakazoid.
"Is that for me?" asked Nala, referring to my Spongebob Valentines.

It gets a little hard to keep up with.

Miss Q was tired, but together with Big L and his complex basketball  game Valentines, managed to get excited.

The awkward turtles were outside. Miz was overseeing a ball passing game with some of the rowdier boys, which included Beancurd and Freakazoid. Uniqua, and some other girls I met were watching.

After chatting for a bit, one side of Miz Boss' lip curled upward. Miss Q had long ago recognized that this was Miz Boss' way of saying something ought to change. Miz Boss' daughter, who sits behind her in Civics does the same thing. Only slightly curled this time, though.

"Want me to get 'em away?" Miss Q offered?
"Sure."

As Miss Q approached some of the girls in the classm they immidiately moved away. She manged to organize two races before it was time to go in for lunch.

At lunch, she was a bit overwhelmed by how loud some of them were. Afterward she would wonder if there was a better way to get them to quiet down.

When they're lining up, it seemed easier to get their attention and to ask "Where are my awkward turtles." Then they knew they were being Looked At, so they held up their respect signs or did their awkward turtles to show off their good behavior.

But at lunch, they liked to act silly. When they were laughing and having fun, it was hard for her to want to talk to them and want them to be quiet.

But today she just wanted them to be quiet.

As they lined up, just as Miss Q was about to ask for her Awkward Turtles, an angry teacher came up. She meant business:

"What kind of example are you setting for these younger kids in here? I've had some of you last year and I know your parents would be upset with you..."

It worked. Accept Memphis was hyper and he and Nala were kicking at each others feet. Miss Q was about to walk toward them when Lady Justice swooped in again.

She grabbed his shoulder and turned him aside, forcing him to face her.

"After I just spoke to your class? Really? How about we act our ages."

Memphis just stood there and hung his shoulders. The turtles were solemn after that. What's the word for it? Repentant? Compliant?

Afterward Miss Q wondered, what if she wasn't mean enough? Maybe she had to make her tone more direct to get their attention. She pictured herself, eyes and face hard, voice srict and commanding. She could do that, right? Easy.

But wait. Lady Finch almost never got angry and neither did Mr. German.
Now she really had a lot to think about.

Miss Q slipped the Valentines into little Froggie Bags that the Awkward turtles had made just for the occasion. They were really excited to get them.

She thought about each of them.

Some of her most consistent relationships were with Freakazoid, Fruitbat, Fate, CP, Nala, and Zefron. These are the ones that go out of her way to get her attention every day.

"Hey Freakazoid are you gonna sing Justin Beiber for me today?" Miz Boss' daughter informed her that he had sung to her. And if you squint your eye he kind of looks like him too.

"DNooo." He seemed embarrassed. But it was soo cute. He likes to tell Miss Q all the cringeworthy stuff he does over the weekend, with all the confidence of someone who knows you can't really do anything about it.

"I'll whisper it in your ear okay?"

He and the Gage watched the Excorcist.
Gah

That's Freakazoid, a roughhouser, a joker, a teaser, an all around boy.

Fruitbat is quiet, thoughtful, and loves all things quirky. Miss Q had to keep her from reading a Horror Encyclopedia during Math.

Miss Q didn't mention Solomon, but she loves to talk to him because he says some pretty deep things from time to time. She should probably record them more. He once found a typo in the dictionary, and Miss Q
wanted to send a letter to the publisher.

CP is extremely enthusiastic about school. She gives me language lessons and demands full attention. But she's also considered weird by a lot of the other class. They avoid her. She doesn't seem to mind, though. She clings to me, though

Nala is quiet and gets nervous about work. She's been held back a grade. Neither of her parents live at home with her, and her mother calls her to check her homework.

Zefron has been talking to Miss Q a lot lately. He's the ladies man. Not that he doesn't try to pretend that it's torture. His fan club includes Mariska, Nancy Drew, and Princesstard, a trio of ladylike intellectuals. They banter across the lunch table.

Boo is still quiet. Involved and open with Zefron, but an unlockable puzzle to Miss Q.

Q-Tip of the Day: What do you do do when you have a conflict?

Fate: "You go tell the teacher and tell you you're going to be the smart one and walk away!"

Q: How bout this? Go tell the teacher. Calm down and forgive them first. And then go confront them. That's for the future because when you get older, people don't do this a lot.

Fate is my stalker child. She rubs people the wrong way. She can be bossy. Snappish. But she's probably the one that Miss Q's the most invested in. There's a lot of promise in her smile.