Black and White and Gray All Over (7 page)

My two new Dear Know-It-All letters weren't much juicier than the last three. I assumed the first one was from a guy because it was on notebook paper and had scratchy handwriting, but I realized it was sexist of me to assume that guys have bad stationery and bad handwriting while girls have good stationery and good handwriting. So I don't know who it was from! But here's what it said:

Dear Know-It-All,

Why do there have to be so many tests? Can't we have fewer?

From,

Always Studying

Yes, Always, I agree, there are lots of tests. But I don't want to waste this important column making a case against the one thing students have been complaining about since the dawn of time. Maybe on a slow news day, but not now, when so much is riding on this being a great column.
Tabloid Showdown Pits Journalists Against Each Other in Race to the Top!

The next letter was eerily applicable to my own life, but not that juicy either. It said:

Dear Know-It-All,

I miss my friend. We used to spend a lot of time together, but now we're both busy with other things and other people and I don't see her very often. I'm not sure what to say or do. Any advice?

Feeling Left Out and Lonely

It made me think of Michael
and
Hailey, as well as Jenna and Kate, of course. It was difficult to know what to say to a friend in this situation that didn't make you sound pouty and jealous or like a loser. An answer to this letter would involve comforting the writer and saying that I'm sure your friend feels the same way and you should plan a fun activity for you both to do, to catch up. But would I take that advice myself? In the case of Hailey, maybe, though I'd hate it if she asked if Jenna could be included. Then I'd be mad.

In the case of Michael, I think I'd be too nervous to actually suggest a plan. It would be like asking him on a date, even though we are only friends and I do miss him. Ugh.

I guess the answer is that it would depend on what kind of friends you are and what you're used to doing with that friend. Not exactly a juicy answer. Ho-hum.

Bored and stumped, I left my desk, hid the letters, and went to talk to my mom, who was working in the den.

“Hi, honey!” My mom is always happy to see
me, I must say. It's a good feeling.

“How's the project going?” She's working on a freelance audit of a local car wash that's being sold. Bor-ing, if you ask me, but she thinks it's fascinating.

“Great! I had no idea how much goes into running a car wash!” she said with a smile. “What's up with you?”

“I am just feeling like I have no friends.” I slumped on the love seat to the side of her desk and she swiveled to look at me, taking her reading glasses off and letting them hang from their chain. That's how I always know she's listening to me. I lay down, feeling like I was at a psychiatrist's office.

“Why?” she asked.

“Well, Hailey and Jenna are together all the time now because they're taking this ‘watercolor' class and they have to do their ‘homework.' ” I made little quotation marks in the air in disgust.

“That doesn't sound too awful,” she said.

I could tell my mom was smiling, and I didn't even have to look at her to confirm it; I could hear it in her voice.

“It's not funny.”

“I know. Sorry. It was the quotation marks. So you feel left out because they have this new thing together?”

“Yes.” I pouted.

“And would you want to take that class too?” she asked.

Actually, I hadn't thought of it. Maybe because no one had even asked! But to be honest, the answer was no. “No,” I said.

“So is there something you miss doing with Hailey?” she asked.

“Well . . . lately we'd mostly been doing homework together.”

“Hmm,” said my mom.

“What does ‘hmm' mean?” I asked, doing the quotation marks again.

“ ‘Hmm' means maybe Hailey was getting tired of being with someone who's always better than her at something.”

I thought about that for a minute; then I thought about what Hailey had said about being good at watercolors. “Well,” I said.

“And maybe she was tired of needing help from you.”

“She's the one who asks for it!” I sputtered.

“Maybe. But maybe you two have gotten into a bit of a rut,” said my mom. “What do you like to do with Hailey?”

“Have sleepovers. Go to the movies. Talk.”

“Okay,” said my mom.

“Okay what?”

“Call her up! Invite her for a sleepover! I'll take you to the movies!”

“Take us?” I was indignant.

“Fine! Drop you off at the movies!”

I was quiet for a minute as I considered it. Then I said, “Fine.” I knew I was being a little bratty, but it was also kind of funny. I liked that the solution might be that easy too.

We were quiet for another moment.

“And Michael?” my mother asked gently.

I sighed heavily. “I never see him. Or not that much. And it's like, are we only friends because Mr. Trigg assigns us to be? Or would we be friends otherwise?”

“What do you think?” asked my mom.

“I think we're friends. But it's weird, because if we don't have an article to work on, then we don't have an excuse to hang out. But if I ask him to hang out, because he's a boy, it's kind of like asking him on a date.”

“Hmm. Do you think he'd see it that way?” my mom asked.

“Yes, definitely!”

“And would that be bad?”

“Yes! Definitely!”

“Okay, so what's he busy with now that you two aren't working together?”

“I told you the other day. Writing the article with that British girl Kate!”

“Oh. Right. Well. Is she nice?”

“She's okay, but I think she wants my life. First she steals my job, then my crush, and now she wants my future, too.”

My mom laughed, and I turned to glare at her. “Sorry,” she said. “But what's your future?”

“Editor in chief. She said her mom wants her to go for it. And you know that's my dream.”

“Hmm. But did she say she wants it?” asked my mom.

“Noooo . . . but come on! Who wouldn't want editor in chief?”

“Lots of people,” said my mom. “It's a lot of work, and on top of your regular course load and any other extracurriculars you might do. Is she busy?”

I cringed a little, thinking of my eavesdropping. “Yes,” I said quietly.

“Well, then, she might not want it, despite the fact that you do. And why do you think she likes Michael? I mean as more than just a cowriter?”

I shrugged.

“Has she said anything about him being cute, or does she get giggly around him?” asked my mom.

“No,” I said quietly.

“Hmm,” said my mom again. And then, “You know, sometimes when there's something we really like or something we really want, we assume that the rest of the world must want it too. But that's not always the case. You'd be surprised. Maybe Kate likes skinny guys with glasses! Who knows?”

I laughed, and so did my mom.

“Does she have any other friends yet?” she asked.

“I don't know,” I said. “Actually, I don't think so.”

“Is she nice to you?” my mom asked.

I hated to admit it. “Yes,” I said quietly.

“Do you think she could be a friend one day, if you weren't competitors?”

I didn't say anything.

“Samantha?”

“Yes. Fine, yes.”

“Why?”

“I don't know. We both like the news and writing. She's funny and nice.” I hated to admit it.

“Do you think Kate could use a friend?”

“Whatever. Yes.”

My mom was quiet for a minute, and I turned to look at her. “What?”

“I think you need to make three different plans with three different people. I can help you think them up, if you like, and I can handle the funds and transportation.” My mom was grinning.

“Maybe for Kate and Hailey. But the Michael thing: no. Just not happening.”

“Whatever you say,” said my mom. “Maybe
there's another way to let him know you miss him, though.”

“Humph,” I said. I couldn't think of any.

The next day I went into high gear for my uniforms article. One thing about me is that I am never afraid to pick up the phone and make a call, especially if it's for an article. Face-to-face meetings are something else, but the phone is my friend. It calms me down.

So I called the principal's office and I booked an interview with Mr. Pfeiffer, the principal, later that afternoon. (I was terrified since I've always interviewed him with Michael at my side; I considered asking if it could be a phone interview, but that seemed weird, since we spend all day in the same building.)

Then I Googled a school uniform company and got the marketing director on the phone and was able to get some great quotes both for and against the wearing of uniforms in school. She also said she'd overnight me a bunch of materials, catalogues and stuff to look at, and an e-mail with
links to studies that have been done showing how great uniforms can be in a school setting.

I also called Father Powers, the head of the parochial school in our town, and talked to him on the phone about school uniforms, since they have them at his school. He was very for them, since he sees them as “lessening outside distractions in a school setting” and “equalizing the economic playing field,” but he pointed out that it was very time-consuming for faculty and administration to enforce the dress code. That was a pretty good point. You'd have to have a system in place to deal with infractions, and I'm not sure we needed more things we could get punished for in school.

Online, I found a really good quotation from former President Clinton about school uniforms, which would go in the “pro” side of the argument. To be honest, I was mostly having a hard time finding information against school uniforms. After all, if the great Allie Martone, fashion fiend of the century, is
for
school uniforms, who could be against them?