#4 Truth and Nothing But Read Online Free Page A

attraction to me?
    Reese rubbed my shoulders and whispered, “Maybe you need a massage. Let me help you calm down a little bit.”
    The touch was for sure relaxing, but I didn’t know how to take it. Where was he coming from? What did he expect me to say to this gesture? I moved away from his grip.
    â€œI need to calm down too. I don’t mean to come across so rude,” he said, as he started walking with me instead of behind me. I didn’t even tell him that was okay. “This school’s got some issues. Like right now. We’re going to math class, it is November, and we still don’t have textbooks.”
    â€œYou are so right,” I said to him, irritated at the thought.
    â€œIt’s math! How do they expect us to learn without textbooks?” Reese said. “See, Sloan, I’m not a member of PTSA just because I want to beef up my resume so it looks impressive for colleges. There are plenty of clubs I could get in for that. I really do want to make a difference. I also think it’s ridiculous that in AP World History, Mr. Bonner is helping people cheat.”
    Smiling from ear to ear because he was right on, I said, “For real. I thought you were feeling that was wrong too.”
    â€œCool, we both are disgusted. But the question is what are we going to do about it? And why is it alright for students to want that help? We’ve got to demand our own education.”
    â€œAlright, well, let’s ask the teacher where our books are,” I said to him. He was a gentleman and let me step into math class first.
    He scoffed, “Good luck with that.”
    I headed right over to Ms. Peters and asked, “Ms. Peters, do we have our books yet?”
    â€œNope, they’re not in yet. So I need you guys to go ahead and copy down the new information from the board. Take about five minutes, and I’ll be erasing it to give you more instructions. Then you’ll have to copy the classwork problems off the board too, and we will go over the problems. Also, I’ve got a homework sheet you can pass around when you guys get in groups to copy it.”
    Hearing this ridiculous plan, Reese walked over to her desk and complained. “Ms. Peters, this just ain’t right. Some copy slower than others. What if we write down the steps wrong and then it’s erased? Who do we need to talk to about our books?”
    Throwing up her hands, she said, “The principal, the school board, the superintendent, anybody but me. It’s not like kids are rushing to carry that big heavy thing around anyway.”
    I interjected, “Yeah, but last class I copied down the instructions, and you erased it before I was even finished.”
    Reese said, “Right, a similar thing has happened to me. I think I copied a step down wrong because when I went to work on the problem at home, it didn’t make sense. I looked it up online, and there was a whole step missing.”
    Ms. Peters tried to reassure us. “I know these aren’t advantageous circumstances for you guys to learn under, but I’m here before school, after school…”
    â€œYeah, yeah, yeah, we get that you are here for extra help, but that still does not change the fact. We should have some textbooks to take home too. Now we got to break into groups and copy down homework problems. This is crazy,” Reese said.
    Frustrated, I uttered, “And it’s not right. Because what if he copies them slow or what if I copy a question wrong? You can’t even go back and look at it because it is not in a textbook. Like, we can’t get copies to put in our three-ring binders?”
    Ms. Peters said, “No, because the county’s got me short on supplies.”
    â€œThis is bull,” Reese said, getting more upset.
    â€œWatch your mouth!” Ms. Peters told him.
    I wanted to calm him down, but I was equally angry. Knowing there was nothing more we could do, we went to our