[ 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 ]	“Elena, can I talk to you for a second.” Mrs. Malarkey called after class. She watched Elena’s eyes roll as she dragged the bottoms of her pants walking to the front of the class. Mrs. Malarkey waited until the rest of the students had shuffled out to talk to her. “I heard about your father. Is there anything you would like to talk about?” “No, not really.” Any teacher would say that impacting students’ lives is the most fulfilling feeling in the world, and Mrs. Malarkey was no exception. She wanted to help this brilliant mind before it was lost to drugs and sex, like many of the others. Before Elena was stripped of her innocence. “How’s your mom doing?” “Alright I guess,” Elena shrugged, “Hitting the bottle a lot.” Mrs. Malarkey nodded. “You’re close with your mom, aren’t you?” Elena looked up, as if asking permission to reply honestly. “This conversation is between you and me.” Mrs. Malarkey assured her. “Well, we’ve always been like a team, you know? It’s just the two of us. But we’ve done okay. But now, she’s all upset and I don’t understand why.” Mrs. Malarkey nodded politely before reaching into her briefcase. “Do you like to read?” “Yeah.” She replied, sounding embarrassed, like reading was something to be ashamed of.” “Here.” Mrs. Malarkey pulled out Bastard Out of Carolina and handed it to Elena. “You might enjoy this book. It’s about a girl who never knew her father, but her mother married another man, and well,” she paused, not sure how much she wanted to divulge, “just read it.”