I said, reading into the obvious perplexity in his expression. He glanced at me and then back to the transcript. “Steph?” he asked, still looking at the paper. I understood his confusion. The transcript didn’t say Steph. It said Abcdef, my legal name. And with a first name like that, wouldn’t you figure that my last name is Ghijk? Ah, yes… I answer to the first eleven letters of the English alphabet, and I have no one but my erratic, impulsive mother to thank. “Nice to have you aboard, Miss Ghi...?” “Ghijk.” “Gih-jik?” “Yes, sir.” “Come on in. I'm Mr. Rivera.” I nodded and decided to skip another awkward introduction. “This is first period English.” He turned to walk to the large desk in front of the classroom. “Let's find a place for you to sit, shall we?” He pulled a black binder from the top drawer and flipped through the pages. “Okay,” he said, looking at the spread of empty desks. “Looks like the second chair in row three is all yours.”
