Alice Taylor slid out of her desk, grasped a small stack of papers, and sauntered to the podium at the front of the classroom. Her shoulder-length red hair had been carefully molded into ringlet curls that bounced as she walked. Her light blue blouse and azure eye shadow had obviously been chosen to accent the blue of her eyes. She had a silver butterfly pinned to her shirt; it seemed to hover there. Her khaki pants were wrinkle-free and her Doc Martens were spotless; the buckle had even been shined.
All eyes were on her solitary figure wondering what she would have to say. The assignment was to interview another classmate and then present that information to the class. Mrs. Ball described it as a �get to know you� project, despite the fact that it was the end of the year. Everyone�s final English grade hinged on �getting to know� the people they had seen every day for the last nine months.
Mrs. Ball assigned the pairs. At first the list seemed to be random, but after a careful look at the list her choices made more sense. No one person was paired with a friend. Matt, the football captain, was paired with Anna, the shy girl who sat in the corner. Niklas, the Russian foreign exchange student, was paired with Roy, the guy who always wore boots and a cowboy hat, and so on.
Her motive was obvious. She thought she was being sneaky. But in no time, everyone understood why she had called it a �get to know you� exercise.
The presentations began a week before the last day of classes.
Each of the presentations were given in pairs. The partners had worked together to create posters, some showed pictures--one group even made a video. Everyone watched as each pair shared their findings. Roy and Niklas learned that they both played racquetball and loved Japanese food. Matt and Anna found out his sister was dating her brother. All around, the diverse class was realizing they weren�t as different as they had once thought.
And then Alice stepped up.
�Maddie Hunter is absolutely interesting to me.� She paused and a faint smile glazed her glossy lips as she looked at Maddie, who was sitting in the center of the room. Maddie looked calm, her legs crossed at the ankles, her fingers clasped together.
�We have known each other since kindergarten when we were in Mrs. Short�s class. Through elementary school we attended all of each other�s birthday parties and our moms enrolled us in the same dance class. Somewhere during junior high though, we grew apart. While I joined the cheerleading squad, Maddie became an individual.� Alice stopped, took in a generous breath of air, and closed her eyes for a moment.
�Maddie seems to be as content by herself as she is with a group of people. I have watched her pass through the halls of this school without speaking to a soul; and I have seen her laugh and smile as she moved between the tables in the lunchroom talking to anyone and everyone. I see Maddie. Everyone is her friend, and yet, she is content without them too. It must be nice to be that secure.�
Alice stopped to peer down at her typed manuscript, which she had not done thus far. She brushed a red ringlet from her flushed cheek and scratched her round nose with her long, red manicured fingernail. She looked up once again and smiled at Maddie. Her eyes didn�t smile, though, only her lips.
�Maddie�s ability to be everyone�s friend is remarkable. She knows everything about everyone, everyone knows her, and teachers can�t get enough of her. I am in awe of her popularity. We are friends,� Alice paused once more and stared directly at Mrs. Ball. �Which is why I don�t understand why we are a pair for this assignment. We have known each other for years. Our families still have picnics together. No one else has a connection like we do. We were friends even before this project began. Everyone learned something new about each other. They got to know each other. Maddie and I already do, and for that, I am glad. She is a good person and someone I am proud to call a friend.�
She smiled boldly at Maddie, who still looked calm and at ease with what Alice had said about her. Alice then floated to Maddie�s chair, leaned over and lightly kissed her cheek. And then she was back in her own chair. A look of relief and personal satisfaction rested on her tanned face. Alice raised her chin and looked about the room. She crossed her legs and eased back in her chair. No one spoke to her.
Finally, being the last to present, Maddie stood up.
Maddie strode to the podium. She didn�t have a manuscript as Alice had, but she looked secure: her jaw was locked; her eyes were fixed. Her dark brown hair seemed to soar behind her, as she moved quickly and confidently to the front of the classroom. She was wearing a faded blue Weezer t-shirt, dark blue jeans and plain white leather tennis shoes. A dainty gold watch hung from her wrist. She reached the front of the room, did an about-face, and turned to address the class. Her eyes didn�t rest on any person in particular, not even Alice. With her chin lifted high in the air, she began her presentation.
�Alice Taylor is a confident person. She thinks she has the whole world figured out. She thinks she has me figured out. I had a whole speech planned out on what to say about her. I was going to tell a story about how she taught me to do a cartwheel in the second grade. I wanted to tell you that she was fun and friendly. But after hearing what she just said, I can�t do that. I won�t.
�I�m not going to lie to you; Alice did not take time out of her schedule to talk to me. It must be obvious to you by now, since all of you gave your presentations together as a group. She gave her entire presentation, by herself, on our past, and it wasn�t even that good. She said I �became an individual.� What does that even mean? She just made stuff up. I would have been content with a ten minute conversation, but she was too occupied, and as I saw it, too good to take a time-out for me. No matter what lengths I went to she never stopped to talk to me. I think Alice is stuck-up. I think she�s too confident for her own good. She has a perfect picture drawn up of who I am, when she hasn�t said more than hello to me in years.
�She said that she didn�t understand why we were paired together because we have known each other for years. It just shows you how na�ve she is. Mrs. Ball paired us together for that reason. Alice has no idea who I am. I don�t know nearly enough about her, but I know enough to tell you about her today. I am not going to stand before you and lie.�
Maddie stopped. Her strong, steady voice stopped. Her face was flushed, but she didn�t appear to be nervous. She was probably breathing, but she wasn�t moving. She glared in the direction of Alice and glanced at Mrs. Ball. Mrs. Ball had a smirk on her face. She wanted this to happen. She didn�t appear to be rooting for Maddie nor Alice--she was interested though. Mrs. Ball had set this whole presentation up and she knew that an outburst was going to take place. Mrs. Ball had been observing her students all year, she had prepared, and now she was resting. Her keen observations about her students now seemed to be amusing her.
Alice, on the other hand, had a look of shock on her face. The whites of her eyes seemed to be bursting. Her mouth must have been dry because it had been hanging open. She had moved from her relaxed position at the back of her chair, to the very tip of the seat. The rest of the room had done the same. Everyone was holding his or her breath, waiting for what Maddie would say about Alice.
�Alice said I �absolutely interested� her because I was everyone�s friend. I could talk to everyone or no one and be content. How many people do you see her talking to? How many friends does she have? I don�t see her talking to anyone, not even her fellow squad members. She doesn�t care about anyone but herself. She is not my friend.
�My friends are those of you who say hello to me, and understand why I am so �absolutely interesting.� My friends are the people who know that my belly button is pierced with a silver stud, and that my favorite color is yellow. My friends are those who ask about my dog Callie and have volunteered with me at the mission after school. My friends have laughed with me and cried with me. My friends take time out to talk to me. It doesn�t take much to be a friend of mine. But, I don�t like people making up lies about me or pretending to be my friend. Alice is a fake friend. Alice doesn�t even know my middle name.�
A tear formed at the fold of Maddie�s eye and slid down her cheek.
�I can�t be friends with someone if they aren�t a friend back. Alice is self-absorbed; she cares only about herself. She proved that when she wouldn�t return my phone calls to work on this project. She was too busy being herself. And yet, I she thinks she�s my friend. And that makes me sad, because she doesn�t even know what that means.�
Maddie then promptly returned to her seat, brushing past Alice on her way. Alice had slumped onto her desk, but as Maddie passed, she stood up abruptly.
�Your middle name is Alice. Madeline Alice Hunter. You think you know me? What�s mine? Do I have siblings? Pets? What car do I drive? You say I don�t know you, but do you know me? You think you�re everyone�s friend; prove it.�
The girls glared at each other for a moment, stunned that either would dare to cross the other. �Your middle name is Elaine. You have a younger sister named Rachel, and a cat named Gumby. You drive a red mustang that you picked out to match your hair. You work at the Gap. You like basketball season the best because you don�t have to wear tights or be outdoors. You are going to community college in the fall.� Maddie paused. �And the only reason you know my middle name is because we share it. I wish I could consider you my friend, but I can�t. And frankly, I don�t want you to be my friend. Not anymore. Not after today. You don�t know how.�
take me there shoulda coulda woulda you don't say snapshot
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