Claudia sat down on her desk. She had just come back from lunch. Her favorite subject was about to start, math. She opened her math book to the page she had done for homework. She got out her supplies. She liked to be prepared. Summer school or not. Since she had arrived at the classroom early, she decided to start checking her answers for the homework the night before. Usually she would get out her book and start reading, as soon as she could. But this time, she decided to check her answers for the independent homework. They usually didn't have independent homework, mostly they worked with their partner.
She also started checking her answers because she didn't want to look up at Mrs. Kincaid. She knew her eyes would pierce a hole right through her. She had seen this look a few times before. This started happening when she stopped reading. She couldn't take the chance of looking up at her. Every time she did it it became harder and harder to not tell anyone about the case and how she had failed on it. What would her father think? No she couldn't think about that now, she tried to give all her focus to checking her answers. Ok, so I carry the 1 and… wait, isn't this supposed to be a 7…. yes it is. She found two other errors.
"Ok everyone," Mrs. Kincaid told her class, "time to start homework time. Please sit down next to your homework buddy. Today's math class took a little more time than I expected so you might get less time with your homework buddy."
Claudia's homework buddy was Valentina. Homework buddy time was the worst time of day for Claudia because seeing Valentina every day only reminded her of her failure on the case. It didn't help at all that her desk was right next to Valentina. When Claudia heard that they might not be able to finish homework together, she suddenly felt happy. Then she suddenly remembered something. Something she didn't want to remember, her detective notebook. I know I gave up on it, but maybe if I can try to get clues. What do I have to lose? She realized if they didn't finish their homework, she might get a chance to go to Valentina's house. There she could look for clues. Maybe she would get a lead! She tried to do her homework as slow as she could. At first, she had thought that she would ask a lot of questions. Then she looked at her homework and realized that she would have to ask the silliest questions and sound like the dumbest person ever for this to work. She waited for Mrs. Kincaid's explanation of today's homework. It came, like it usually did.
"Okay class, for math today you will have to do your math review sheets for Chapter 5. Make sure you double check all your answers. For the science project make sure you study the first planet in your section, which is Saturn. Next we will study the second planet. For writing today, you have to write 2 poems. They can be about anything you'd like. Make sure to use your creativity. For reading today, you will make a quick summary about your book. You can choose whatever book you'd like, as long as you have finished it. Make sure to keep your thesis in mind! Please do this with your homework buddy." Claudia and Valentina had finished their writing. when Mrs. Kincaid said, "Class, it is time to pack up your bags. If you didn't finish your homework please work out a time to do it at one of your houses. Since it is the weekend I expect you to finish your homework. Start packing up your bags. Summer school is going to end in 5 minutes."
Claudia didn't move her desk back. They had to decide where they would finish their homework. Claudia was trying to figure out to ask Valentina to do it at her house. She couldn't seem overly excited. How would I word it? Maybe something like "How about we go to..."
"Should we go to your house," Valentina asks like it was no big deal.
Well, of course it's no big deal to her. Claudia wasn't sure if she should make up a white lie. Who could it hurt? But Claudia wasn't a liar and if they worked at her house this time, they would have to work at her house next time, right? So she said, "Sure! Let's do it at my house." She did her best not to sound disappointed, or suspicious. "How about Saturday at 3?" She asked. When she said it, she realized that she had a class at 3:45. A smile slowly crept to her face. She immediately thought that if they didn't get to finish their homework at her house they would have to go to Valentina's house to finish. She moved her desk back in place and started to pack her bag.
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Claudia looked at the dining table to see if anything needed to be adjusted. She had put a bowl of fruits on the table and already had her school work in a neat pile. She had cleaned up the place for the study session she had set up with Valentina. Last night she was debating whether to purposely go slow or just go at her normal pace and slow down if everything was going too fast. She decided that she should go at her normal pace and if everything was going fast, she would slow down. She wouldn't have to slow down much, she reasoned, because they had to draft an essay and that would take a good amount of their time and they would still need to finish it. When the doorbell rang she rushed to get the door but opened it slowly. At class yesterday she wasn't excited at all but by the time it was noon she was jumping up and down. At the moment it didn't occur to her why she was so happy.
Claudia thought that their entire friendship rested on this homework session. When Claudia opened the door she saw Valentina standing there with a big grin on her face, she had her backpack slung over her shoulder. Claudia thought that Valentina was so happy because she could finally get out of the heat, she never even considered the possibility that Valentina was as excited as she was.
The first thing Valentina noticed as she saw Claudia's house was the color. It was a light soft brown, it was very inviting. The flowers in the front were colorful and beautiful and the grass was cut perfectly, no uneven patches anywhere. As she stepped into the house the light brown walls caught her eye. She walked inside and saw a marble counter with white cabinets. She walked into the next room and saw a gray table with Claudia's school things laid out. It was a big table, though not as big as the dining table at her house but big enough for both of them to lay their school stuff on and have a little extra room. They immediately started their writing homework.
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A little while before 3:40 Claudia got up and started to pack her things. She had finished her project for science. The project had taken a while but Claudia kept at it and after a while she knew all about Saturn. Suddenly something came to her mind but when she looked at the clock and saw that her plan worked, it slid away from her mind. "Sorry, I totally forgot on Friday but I have a class in 10 minutes. I need to start getting ready," Claudia said, putting her stuff in one neat pile.
"It's ok, I have to go now anyway. How about tomorrow at 2 at my house? I will write down my address. We can finish our math and language arts tomorrow. See you!," Valentina exclaimed while writing her address on a post-it note. She walked out the door once she was done. Claudia admired how nice Valentina could be about things. She was sad to see Valentina walk out the door.
A little after her time with Valentina, she had sat down on her bed to think about why she was so happy that Valentina came over. At last she admitted to herself that she didn't have a good friend around her age. And even though Valentina reminded her of her failure, she was a really nice person. Whenever they did homework together Claudia and Valentina would talk and have fun.
The wind blew in Claudia's face. Claudia could hear her own heart and worried everyone else could too, and she knew exactly why. SHe had brought along her detective notebook. She wasn't planning to bring it, but she had kept her notebook in her backpack and a few minutes ago, while she was 3 minutes away from Valentina's house she remembered that her notebook was in her backpack. Her heart was thumping so fast because she was going to the house where someone was kidnapped. When the case came onto the television, she thought that it would be fun to be at the place where someone was kidnapped. She would look for clues and walk around finding all the exits. She would examine each rug for secret rooms, polish each counter for fingerprints, and question all the suspects. But now, she has stopped thinking about the case. For a while, she thought about it every day. Now, however, she thought of everything but her failure on her first big case.
Claudia arrived at Valentina's house. She took one look and thought "Am I at the right house?"