Leggings Revolt

Monique Polak

Description

Eric and his buddies have left behind their all boys school to attend high school with girls. Eager to find his place in this exciting new world, Eric joins the student life committee, unaware that he is expected to enforce the school’s strict dress code. The dress code is particularly harsh on the girls he is keen to get to know. Eric finds this awkward, but it’s nothing compared to the position he finds himself in when the whole school revolts.

Sujets

• Juvenilee Fiction
• ELL
• Teaching English as a foreign language
• English as a foreign or second language
• School
• Education
• EAL
• Electronic Sports League
• Estonian Air

Informations

• Publié par: Orca Book Publishers
• Date de parution: 19 avril 2016
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781459811911
• Langue: English

Extrait

Leggings Revolt

Monique Polak
o rca currents
O R C A B O O K P U B L I S H E R S


Copyright 2016 Monique Polak
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmittedin any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recordingor by any information storage and retrieval system now known or to be invented, withoutpermission in writing from the publisher.
Library and Archives Canada Cataloguing in Publication
Polak, Monique, author Leggings revolt / Monique Polak. (Orca currents)
Issued in print and electronic formats. ISBN 978-1-4598-1189-8 (paperback).- ISBN 978-1-4598-1190-4 (pdf).- ISBN 978-1-4598-1191-1 (epub)
I. Title. II. Series: Orca currents PS 8631. O 43 L 44 2016 j C 813'.6 C 2015-904524- X C 2015-904525-8
First published in the United States, 2016 Library of Congress Control Number: 2015946397
Summary: In this high-interest novel for young readers, Eric and his friends learnabout gender equality when they attend a new high school with a strict dress code.
Orca Book Publishers gratefully acknowledges the support for its publishing programsprovided by the following agencies: the Government of Canada through the Canada BookFund and the Canada Council for the Arts, and the Province of British Columbia throughthe BC Arts Council and the Book Publishing Tax Credit.
Cover photography by Getty Images
ORCA BOOK PUBLISHERS www.orcabook.com
19 18 17 16 4 3 2 1


For Carolyn Pye, librarian extraordinaire.

Contents
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Acknowledgments

Chapter One
The first thing I notice when we walk into Lajoie High School is the smell. It sa mix of citrus and vanilla, with a hint of-what is that smell? Fresh laundry. It sdefinitely fresh laundry. If a guy could get drunk off smells, I d be out cold onthe floor.
Rory punches my arm. I think we re gonna like it here. A lot, he says. At firstI think Rory has noticed the smell too. But then I realize he is eyeing a tall girlwith wavy blond hair.
At the top of the stairs is an oil painting of a woman with a serious face and darkhair pulled back in a bun. Next to her is a poster with a floor map of the school.
Phil studies the map. The gym is that way, he says, pointing left.
From kindergarten through grade six, Rory, Phil and I went to O Donovan Academy,an all-boys school. The corridors there smelled of armpits and unwashed gym socks.
Good morning, gentlemen. It is Mr. Germinato, the principal. We met him at theopen house last year.
Good morning, sir, the three of us say at the same time.
Germinato smiles without showing his teeth. He is standing outside his office. Becausethe door is half-open, I notice a wall full of baseball caps.
I have heard of people who collect rare stamps and coins. But a baseball cap collection?That s a new one.
That s quite a collection of baseball caps you ve got in there, I say.
Germinato swallows his smile. I don t collect baseball caps, he says. I confiscatethem.
I, uh, I see, I tell him. Well, have a nice day sir.
The three of us make a sharp left, and I nearly crash into the most gorgeous girlI have ever seen. She has pale skin and shiny black hair, and she smells like grapefruit,only sweeter. She is walking with another girl, a redhead with freckles over hernose and cheeks. Their arms are looped together.
I mean to say, Excuse me , but what comes out is, Wow!
The two girls sail past us, giggling. Rory and I whip our heads around for anotherlook.
The two girls spin around. They must have known we were checking them out.
I feel my cheeks heat up.
Eric? You re Eric, aren t you? the gorgeous girl asks.
I look left, then right. She must be talking to some other Eric. One who is tallerand smoother with girls than I am. And yet, there is something familiar about hervoice. Something angelic.
Rory answers for me. Yeah, his name s Eric. Then he puffs out his chest. Rory startedweight lifting over the summer, and he is always looking for opportunities to showoff his pecs. I m Rory, and this is Phil. What are your na-
But the girls turn away before Rory can finish his sentence. They have joined upwith another pair of girls, and they are all hugging and making squealing sounds.
How do you know her? Rory asks me.
I, uh, I m not sure.
Rory sighs. How could you forget a girl who looks like that?
There s more to life than girls, Phil tells him.
Yeah, like what? Rory asks.
I can t think of anything else myself, but Phil can. There s education, he says. Friendship. Artistic endeavors.
Rory rolls his eyes. I ve got one friend who can t remember a gorgeous girl. Andanother one who uses words like artistic endeavors . I hate to break it to you losers,but I may need to widen my social circle.
When Rory says the word circle , it comes to me.
When I was in third grade, my mom was concerned I wasn t reading at the right level.So she signed me up for Reading Circle at the neighborhood library. At first I putup a fight, but then I got into it. Not only because of the books, which were cool,but because of the other kids in the circle. One was this girl named Daisy. She andher family had just moved to Montreal from China. Daisy loved to draw. And therewas something angelic about her voice.
That gorgeous girl with the pale skin and shiny black hair?
It s got to be Daisy.

Chapter Two
Seventh-graders at the front! a woman in track pants calls out as we file intothe gym.
The three of us find spots on the floor. The eighth-graders are behind us. One ofthem, a guy with pale, wispy dandelion hair, taps my shoulder and passes me a HandiWipe.
When I shrug, Dandelion-Hair whispers, For fighting off germs. I figured sinceyou guys are up front
I get it, I whisper back, trying not to laugh. Germinato.
Germinato walks into the gym, and everyone stops talking, even the teachers. Theonly sound in the room is the whir of the ceiling fans. Germinato tightens the knoton his tie and tests the microphone by tapping on it. Staticky noise fills the air.
Good morning, Germinato says, clearing his throat. I d like to begin by welcomingthose of you who are new to Lajoie High School. Is it my imagination, or does heeyeball the three of us? And to those of you who were here last year, welcome back.I m going to use this morning s assembly to review the school rules.
The rules are the usual blah-blah. No running except for in the gym. Report to theoffice if you are late for class. If you are late three times, you can expect a detention.Cell phones used during class will be confiscated. Swearing and rude remarks arestrictly prohibited.
I scan the gym for Daisy. She must be sitting somewhere up front too.
Someone at the back of the gym coughs. Then someone else sneezes. Gesundheit, avoice says.
After two more rounds of coughing and sneezing, I realize it s a joke. I lean closerto Phil. Germinato, I whisper. Get it?
If Germinato gets it, he does not let on. He talks right over the coughing and sneezing.
As you know, there are no uniforms at Lajoie High School. When Germinato mentionsuniforms, I scratch my neck. It s as if I can still feel the starched white collarof the shirt that was part of the uniform at O Donovan.
But we do have a dress code. And we adhere to it. Strictly. Germinato smiles ashe says the word strictly . This morning I noticed that many of you were dressedin ways that violate the Lajoie High School dress code. Since this is the first weekof school, the dress code will not be enforced. However, it will take effect as ofnext Monday.
Germinato rattles off the regulations. No baseball caps. No tops with spaghettistraps. No visible bra straps. No visible midriffs. No shorts or skirts shorter thanthe reach of your fingertips. Germinato steps away from the microphone to demonstrate.He extends his arms, tapping the spot on his thighs where his fingertips end. Basically,nothing that could distract -he emphasizes the word- your fellow students at LajoieHigh School. Because the focus at Lajoie is neither fashion nor fun. It is -he pauses- education.
A hand flies up into the air at the other side of the gym. Can I ask a question,sir? It s the redhead who was walking with Daisy. Daisy is sitting next to her.I think she s got a sketchpad on her lap.
Germinato shakes his head. Not right now. I ll leave time for questions at the endof my presentation. What I want to discuss next is our Student Life Committee. Weneed one representative from every grade. If you are interested in serving on thiscommittee, you will have to fill out a form and write an essay outlining your platform.My assistant, Miss Aubin, can provide more details.
A tall thin woman standing at the side of the gym waves one hand in the air. Thatmust be Miss Aubin.
Elections for the Student Life Committee will be held at the end of next week, Germinato says. You may now proceed to your homerooms.
What about the question period? the redhead calls out.
Germinato checks his watch. Unfortunately, we re nearly out of time. But I willtake one question.
The redhead s arm is raised, but Germinato looks around the gym to see if anyoneelse has a question.
Nobody do