Hate List

Given that Jessica now eats with her, Valerie is exempted from detention, so her mother allows her to attend Bea’s art class the following Saturday. Immediately, Bea’s relaxing energy puts Valerie’s tense mother at ease as she “whispered for a long time in [her] ear,” an act that replaces Mrs. Leftman’s fear with curiosity (271). When her mother tries to pay for the class, Bea says, “[the class] costs patience and creativity, mostly. Also time and practice. And self-acceptance. But you won’t find any of those things in your purse” (272). Mrs. Leftman finds this strange, but she leaves without paying. Valerie finds the experience of her first art class thrilling and cathartic. 

The next week, in school, Meghan, one of Valerie’s former antagonists, pulls Valerie aside. Meghan wants to know why her name was on the hate list. Struggling to explain, Valerie remembers an incident where Chris Summers put chewed gum into Nick’s mashed potatoes at lunch. When Chris went to sit at his lunch table, the kids fawned all over Chris, and one of those students was Meghan. Although Valerie understands how unsatisfactory that answer is, Meghan seems to move on, which Valerie figures is the best she can hope for.