what happened in the chapters "hard labor, foul, coloring outside the lines, poster child, dead frogs, model citizen, and death by algebra"?

In the novel, Speak, this section speaks about winter break happening and Melinda's mom leaving a note for her to put up the tree. Melinda feels that something has been lost in regard to Christmas and she longs for that magical feeling that she used to have toward the holiday when she was a younger child.

When Christmas Day arrives, Melinda and her parents exchange gifts. She receies charcoal pencils and a sketch pad. This overwhelms Melinda as she didn't realize that they'd even been paying attention to her art. Her heart is full but she can't bring herself to say anything to them.

Over the holiday Melinda's parents decide that she needs to work with them at their respective businesses. It is while she's working with her mother that Melinda begins to see the types of stress that she has to deal with everyday. Later, when she assists her father at the insurance office, she feels resentful that her mother has to work so much harder and in a more stressful environment than her father.

Melinda returns to school where she manages to do very well at basketball. Because her grades are so low, though, she is not allowed to play on the team. This doesn't really matter to Melinda and she's happy that she's succeeded at something.

In art class the reader views Mr. Freeman's continued dissatisfaction with the school board. It is while she is in art class (and struggling with her assignment) that she thinks that maybe she might want to be an artist someday. Heather, meanwhile, is having problems with 'the Marthas'. They are threatening to turn her out of the group if she doesn't produce some posters for the canned food drive. She asks Melinda if she will help.

In biology class Melinda and the other students are dissecting frogs. She is overcome with memories of a past trauma and she passes out, hitting her head.

Later, in her special closet, she works on Heather's posters. Heather has asked Melinda to also hang them for her. Melinda doesn't mind as it makes her feel good that they need her and think that she is good at something. While she's hanging posters IT sneaks up behind her and whispers "fresh meat". Melinda drops everything and runs.

Back at home Melinda has to suffer through her parents' irritation at her low grades from school. They outline her punishment. Afterward, Melinda goes into her room and starts cutting herself with a paperclip. In the morning, her parents see what she's done and they tell her that they don't have time for her drama.

At school, Heather and Melinda are sitting together in the lunch room with the Marthas. The Marthas are berating Heather for not bringing in enough canned goods for the food drive and they ridicule the posers. While this is going on a boy named, Andy, comes by. Melinda freezes. This is the boy that she's been calling IT. He comes over to the table and stands behind Melinda, twirling her ponytail. She runs from the table and gets sick in the bathroom.

Back in the art room, Mr. Freeman is despondant. The school board has reprimanded him for giving out too many A's and they've cut his art budget. He quits working on his canvas. When Melinda accidentally cuts her finger, he bandages it up, then takes the exacto knife that she's been using and slices his own canvas to shreds.