Suspense+-+The+White+Lie

=    The White Lie of Friday   = = =  Last Friday, I had a Parent-Teacher conference. I had marked that terrifying day with a red pen on my calendar. The problem is that I haven’t been such a good student during my first school year. I came to this school just one year ago. But I became a ‘bad student’ in this school too, jusr like I was in my old school.

I looked at my report card. I had five tardies, just this month! Plus, I told my mom I got an A on my Math Test, but I actually failed it! I’m not smart like Jim. Jim is really smart, the smartest in this school and he always gets A’s in all the tests and quizzes. Jim is basically Einstein, but the problem is, Jim and I always get in trouble. Jim and I were eating together in the cafeteria, when suddenly we realized that the people in the cafeteria were all gone! We ran as fast as we could, but the tardy bell had already rung. The next class was Math, and it was terrible. We opened the door, and all our classmates looked at us. That first tardy was not a very good start for my first month of school. The teacher’s cold eyes looked at us, but she was silent. Jim started to walk in to the classroom, and I followed him. I’m not scared of getting tardies, but Jim looked brave. That was my first tardy, and the five more tardies I got in that month, were all from that very same Math class.

I get lots of tardies in Math class is because it is almost always after lunch or break. The problem is, I always forget the time when I have fun, and during lunch, I have a lot of fun. When I’m not enjoying something, I’m always looking at my watch and asking what time it is. When I’m in a classroom and not having fun, I want to get out of that classroom and go outside and play. The classroom feels like a prison to me. The only time I don’t get tardies, is when Jim reminds me to not be late. Like I said, Jim forgets the time like I do, but in a way he is less forgetful, because he doesn’t forget to set the alarm on his watch. When Jim forgets the time, he is most likely doing his homework for the next class. He forgets his homework, but then he finishes all the work during lunch, and that’s why he’s late.

I had to tell my parents that I had a conference, but I didn’t tell them for two weeks, and now the conference was just 5 days away! I had to find out what should I do before the conference. Since it was on a weekday, my dad had work, so he couldn't go. The good thing is my dad doesn’t really care about my grades and behavior at school. He said he hated to go to school and he doesn’t even want me to go to school. Of course my mom would want to come to the conference. She is really noisy when she talks about grades. She also talks a lot with teachers, as she was a teacher before. She won’t miss a single word my teacher says, and won’t want to miss one single detail of my school life. After the conferences, she tells me how to be a good student until it becomes so dark that nobody is walking outside. After that, she will torture me with Math problems.

I thought a lot about what I could do, and I finally came up with an idea. I went down to the living room, and saw that my mom wasn’t there. I searched around until I found the address book and looked for my aunt’s email address. I went back upstairs to my computer. I started to write a new email, asking my aunt if she would come to my conference, replacing my mom. My aunt uses her computer for everything and I know that she is always checking her email. She is my dad’s sister and she hated school, like my dad. She likes exciting things, so I thought she could come to the conference, instead of my mom. The good thing is that my mom and my aunt look alike. They have the same hair color, long hair, and brown eyes. I was very proud of my idea, and thought that my teacher wouldn’t even recognize it was my aunt. My teacher was new too, so he wouldn’t know what my mom looked like anyway. Suddenly, I received a new e mail from my aunt. It stated, “I can go.” Only that.

The next morning I talked about my aunt with Jim. Jim said it was a good idea, and told me that his parents were also not coming to the conference. Of course he doesn’t have to worry about the conference because the teachers have nothing bad to say about his grades. The whole day, I kept worrying about the conference, and if my aunt was really coming. I had a few second thoughts about whether I should tell my mom the truth. After all, tomorrow is the Parent-Teacher conference. I didn’t even ask my aunt if she is really coming to the conference. I took my phone and called my aunt, but there was no answer. I tried three more times, but again, there was no answer. I was afraid what would happen if my mom noticed what I was doing. I checked my e mail and there was one from my aunt. It only asked, “Where should we meet?” That made me feel more sure that she would come. She already knows my grades, my teacher’s name and how they act. I was quite sure everything would work out because she is smart and a quiet person, and she wouldn't talk so much.

Conference day came, and I met my aunt in the park near my school. She was sitting on the bench, looking somewhere with her eyes that looked excited. I gave her my mom’s ID card and a hand written map of the school; she didn't know where the classroom was. I thanked her. She smiled and started to walk to the school.

I waited for an hour in the park, sitting on the bench where my aunt was sitting. Many people were walking through the street and some of them walked in to the school. There were some children playing noisily in the sandbox and a man was jogging swiftly through the park. There was a phone call. It was from my aunt and she said she had finished her conference. I looked at the school and in a second, I saw her walking to the park. She told me what the teacher said, but she said the teacher didn’t say so many bad things about me. She said the only bad thing he said was about the tardies I got this month. I felt relieved about that but still I was worried about my mom. I said goodye to my aunt and we both went home.

When I was walking back to my house, I had mixed feelings. I was relieved and worried. I didn’t like this kind of feeling, so I took my phone and called Jim. He did answer, but he said he was in his piano lesson. I said I was sorry and that I wanted to tell him about the conference.

I finally came in front of my house. I imagined my mom screaming at me when she noticed what I did. I took a deep long breath, and opened the door with my trembling hands.