13, by Mary-Lou Zeitoun

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When I get up to read the light is in my eyes and I can see only the shadowy soccer boys milling by the bar. I say `This is a book called 13 about a 13 yr. old girl in Catholic school in 1980 and it gets pretty rude sometimes so if you're a bit delicate you might want to leave.' The soccer boys laugh. I start to read. I get to the part about the school uniforms. I read.

`A lot of the girls wore their skirts unbelievably short, by rolling up their waistbands so they just bounced a couple of inches under their bums when they walked.'

The boys go nuts yelling and hooting until one of them shushes them and they're attentive again. Then I get to the part `the classes were a breeze, especially because they were filled mostly with those dumb Lebanese and Italian girls who had been taught to actually believe in Catholicism.'

The room gets dead silent then I read `Compared to them I was Einstein, even though I was Ottawa Valley Irish and actually the Irish girls when they were dumb, were the dumbest.'

It got even quieter.

    - Mary-Lou Zeitoun