Summary

"Caught." In this dialogue poem of three-line stanzas, Ms. Hardwick catches Nick writing instead of listening, and asks him to bring what he has been working on to the front of the classroom.

"The walk to her desk." As the poem continues the title, in a series of four-line stanzas, Nick makes the slow, tortured walk to Ms. Hardwick’s desk.

"Then She Smiles." Nick describes being “flummoxed” (which he defines in a footnote as being taken off guard, or confused) as Ms. Hardwick first smiles, then asks him to read the word out to the class. When she asks him what it means, he lies and says he does not know. She then tells the class that their homework is to define the word “limerance” and use it in a sentence. As Nick walks back to his seat, he thinks that...