Midterm Assessment Review HLA 8

Excerpt from Beastly By Alex Flinn

A real friend would want me to win big. That's another thing my dad always said: "Don't be a sucker, Kyle, and do things out of friendship or love. Because what you always end up finding out is the only one who really loves you is you." I was seven or eight when he first said that, and I asked, "What about you, Dad?"

"What?"

"You love . . ." Me. "Us. Your family."

He gave me a long look before saying, "That's different, Kyle." I never asked him again if he loved me. I knew he'd told the truth the first time. I folded my ballot over, to keep Trey from seeing I'd voted for myself for homecoming prince.

Excerpt from Stargirl By Jerry Spinelli

As I went about my day, I felt her going about hers. I sensed her movement, her presence in distant parts of the building. Walking the halls between classes, I didn't have to see her, I knew she was there: unseen in the mob heading my way, about to turn a corner five classroom doors down. I homed in on the beacon of her smile. As we approached each other, the noise and the students around us melted away and we were utterly alone, passing, smiling, holding each other's eyes, floors and walls gone, two people in a universe of space and stars.

And then one day I began to discover that we were more alone than I had dreamed.

It was a Thursday. Normally on that day, after third period, Stargirl and I would pass each other on the second floor around the teachers' lounge. We would smile and say hi and continue on our way to our separate classes.