The Pencil She Keeps

Ages 12-15

Temimah folds the corner of her finished draft before putting it beside her pencil.

Across the table, a classmate turns over her own sheet. Both sides are covered with false starts.

"Can I use the back of yours?"

Temimah looks at her draft. Three clean lines cross its front. The reverse is blank.

The classmate reaches for it.

Temimah slides it beside her folder.

"I'm keeping this one."

At the end of the table, spare sheets sit beneath a paperweight. Temimah lifts the weight and pulls out one sheet.

"Here."

The classmate lays it flat.

Her first line runs farther than she wants. She stops and looks at the blank space below it.

Temimah keeps her own draft beside her pencil.

The classmate begins again on the next line. This time it fits.

Temimah opens her folder and puts the draft inside, folded corner facing up.

Beside the folder, the plain spare sheet has one crossed-out line and one complete one.