I picked up my backpack and laptop and headed across the room Jacob grabbed my elbow Let’s stay here I wiggled free I don’t want to upset Mrs Nelson She’s helped me with a lot of projects He patted my back Okay you’re in charge Ha That was a joke Jacob never let anyone be in charge of anything When we sailed together he acted as if he were the captain When we played kickball at recess he changed the rules and picked the teams And last year when we had class elections he told everyone who to vote for And it wasn’t for me I got clobbered I swore I’d never speak to him again And I didn’t Until yesterday That’s when Mr Vincent our science teacher paired us up for a research project I can’t work with him I grumbled That’s why I’m partnering you up said Mr Vincent In the real world you’ll have to work with 8
all sorts of people It’s important to find ways to compromise and get along But this isn’t the real world I whined It’s sixth grade Jacob waved his hand in the air I don’t care who I get for a partner I can deal with a girl Deal with a girl I asked Like a girl is something to deal with Mr Vincent winced Maggie a percentage of your grade is based on cooperation You’re not off to a good start Understand I lowered my voice Understood It’s just that I have straight As and Mr Vincent frowned and crossed his arms over his chest Sorry I whispered So today I’m stuck working with a kid I don’t like I pushed Mr Vincent out of my head and decided to focus on keeping my grades up At least I wasn’t still taking sailing lessons with him 9
As I got my index cards and highlighters out of my backpack Jacob sat there doodling in his notebook If you think I’m going to do this entire project by myself you’re wrong I said Calm down Margaret Maggie I said It’s Maggie No one calls me Margaret He smirked and pulled a book out of his bag Mr Vincent said we can pick any scientist we want to research He opened the book up and ran his finger down a page How about Louis Pasteur or Jonas Salk He flipped the page Maybe Pavlov He’s the one who experimented with dogs Aren’t there any women in that book I asked What about Madame Curie Virginia Apgar Jacob lowered his eyes Yeah They’re listed in here I just didn’t pick them Why would I I put my hands on my hips Why wouldn’t you Well you know he said They’re girls Women I said And what’s wrong with that 10
He slapped his forehead and slowly shook his head Oh no You’re not one of those are you One of who I asked You know He snapped his fingers What are they called We learned about them when we studied the Nineteenth Amendment Suffragettes I asked Nah he said It starts with an F I think Feminists That’s it he yelled I had never thought about it A feminist is just a woman who believes that she should be treated the same as a man Equal rights Equal pay So yeah I guess I am one of those Don’t you think women should be treated as equals He sucked in his breath I guess so I mean if they do the same work But But what Put it this way I think a woman can do anything that a man can do But she wouldn’t be as good at it 11
