First Lesson

More to the "story." You know I am just throwing up little excerpts/passages up here. If anyone (my friends) are interested in reading the complete story, just let me know - shoot me an e-mail.
All these thoughts/memories of my dad and family are inspiring, reminding me of my 'characterization' in my "story."
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"Have you showed your dad your grades?" Xandra asked Alondra, looking at her grade report on the flat computer monitor. Three A's and one C. She scrolled down and looked at the C. A C in English? No way, I must be dreaming! I'm an English major; I can't make a C in English. What happened? Is Professor Garcia smoking some bad stuff? I need to go to his office, right now! Anger crossed Xandra's round face. Her eyebrows rose in bewilderment. She became so involved in her own thoughts that she forgot she had asked Alondra a question.
"No. Of course not. He does not care. I hardly talk to my dad. He just deposits money in my checking account as long as I am in college." Alondra shrugged and picked at the fading purple nail polish on her oval fingernails. She brought her hand to her mouth and started to chew. Noticing the look of anger on Xandra's face, she slid her computer chair next to hers. She leaned forward and stared at the screen.
"What's wrong Xan?" She saw them then. Tears forming in Xandra's bright brown eyes. Her eyes changed from the usual glowing candle lights to glassy and shimmering with tears.
"I'm sorry. Ok, so you still hate your dad. Look at this! I don't believe this." Xandra changed subjects as fast she changed lanes while driving, quickly and without a pause. She pointed a creamy ivory fingernail at the monitor. Alondra leaned closer, adjusting her vision.
"Ok, I see A's. You did better than me. Ohhhh...is that a C?" Alondra's eyes stopped at the C and scrolled over to the right. Professor Garcia? But he LOVES Xandra. I even thought he was crushing on her because of the way he looks at her bust. Xandra sighed repeatedly.
"Ugh! I'm so angry!" She shouted loudly, her voice rising several decibels.
"Hey, calmate hita!" (calm down daughter) Alondra used Xandra's words in an attempt to make her laugh. Xandra rolled her eyes and wiped the tears off the side of her face and wondered why she was being so emotional. Must be time for my visitor this month, she thought to herself.
"Well, let's go talk to him. I made a C, too. But then I didn't even meet the page requirement on the essays. They were too 'vague and general.'" Alondra imitated Professor Garcia's monotone voice when he critiqued their essays. Xandra xed out the grade report window and stood up, grabbing her denim totebag and stomping away.
"Vamonos, hermana. Let's go talk to that a**hole!" She marched up the stairway with Alondra on her heels, as if on a mission.
"You said a bad word. Oh my god, you must really be angry!" Alondra teased her.
"I am! This is bullsh*t! I did better. I wrote long and thorough essays." Xandra continued to justify why she deserved a better grade. They entered the long corridor to Professor Garcia's office. He greeted them happily at the door with that thick wide smile of porcelain.
"Girls! I was just on my way out. Do you have a question? Ahh, you came to wish me a Merry Christmas. How sweet of you two. My Latinas from my eight o'clock." His face reflected so much cheer that Xandra felt her stomach tighten. I'm going to vomit; I'm going to scream. She threatened inside.
She let her heavy tote bag fall on the floor, books spilling in a domino effect.
"I want to know why I made a C. You said I had writing talent. You said you understood why I wanted to be a writer. You said I did well on the essays. You said I was doing well in my first college English course. You said I was doing BETTER than the other students." She refused to sit down. Her hand landed on her hip. Her shoulders were stiff with anger, her brown eyes crinkled till they nearly shut.
"Yeah, Professor. You even told me to get help from her." Alondra chimed in with her fifty cents worth.
"Girls, sit down. Sit down." He pointed to the black chairs in front of his cherrywood desk. He rolled over to his computer, pulling up the grade reports. Alondra flopped down on one of the chairs and tugged at Xandra's arm. She pointed to the other chair.
"Alright. Fine." Xandra flopped down similar to Alondra. She crossed her arms across her chest in disappointment.
"It was the Final. You made a C on the essay and a C on the comprehensive part." He clicked over to the calculator application and plugged in some numbers.
"That brought your average to a 78." He turned to meet her eyes. She looked over at the computer screen.
"May I see my paper? What did I do wrong? I need to know. Professor Garcia, as you well know I am an English major. I have never made below an A." She stated with confidence.
"Okay, the papers are in the files. You cannot see them because the dean has to look over them. Let me tell you something Alejandra. I asked for a comparitive essay. You gave me a personal memoir. You gave me a story. I enjoyed reading about your family and your memories but I did not ask for that. I asked you to compare two pieces of literature and to state your opinion. You are an excellent writer, very capable of being the next Sandra Cisneros. I can hear myself lecturing about you, now Rodriguez wrote this." He said with a wink. Xandra's interest poked up when he addressed her by the Spanish form of her name. To her, that always indicated sincerity. She softened inside a bit. She realized what she did wrong. It was an analytical essay, not a reflective essay! She realized. She could not stay away from stories. Stories were her life, what made her who she was. She was destinied to be a storyteller, a fiction writer, a writer of novels.
"The next Cisneros? Really?"
"Yes. You did quite well on the comprehensive except you said Faulkner wrote 'The Geraniums' and that Steinbeck wrote 'Young Goodman Brown." You also were a little lost with the events. You said "Calvinism was evident in Alice Walker's piece.' This is all I remember. Did you prepare for this?" Xandra felt her cheeks burn. She had made horrible mistakes, stupid mistakes, embarassing mistakes.
"What? You got the authors confused?" Alondra looked at Xandra in surprise. Man, she must not have studied, Alondra concluded.
"I studied. But, I was short on time so I could not study as much as I'd like to. You gotta understand. I had to work the night before and I had a history exam to prepare for. I made an A in history." She bragged. Professor Garcia chuckled and winked.
"I bet you knew that material real well. Look, you do have talent. You can write ANYTHING. This is college; you must adjust to our standards. You are capable of it. I know you are." He encouraged her. Xandra felt her anger slowly decrease with his kind words. She had a tiny bit of insecurity when it came to writing analytical essays. She had did fairly well in high school. She made a ten out of ten on the college entrance exam. She was confused, so used to writing creatively that writing in an analytical manner was an adjustment.
"Thank you, Professor Garcia. I do appreciate that." She said softly. She reached forward and picked up her books. He turned to Alondra. Alondra's body stiffened as he pulled up her grades.
"You can communicate very well, Alondra. But, you write like you talk which is okay in some situations, but not in an English course. A word of advice: next time, do not say "Young Goodman Brown had a fight with the devil, I would have kicked the devil's butt." Professor Garcia roared with laughter as Alondra's cheeks turned crismon.
"Laugh. You know you want to." He commanded. Xandra let a loud giggle escape from her mouth and elbowed Alondra. She's so defensive, this huerca!
"Well I would have! And, I'm going to kick YOUR butt if you give MY girl Xandra a C again!" Alondra said jokingly and started laughing.
"I can assure that I won't because Xandra and yourself will become much better writers and learn to analyze. See you next semester?" He questioned while assuring them.
"Unfortunately, you are the only instructor available at 8 o'clock." Xandra stated.
"Oh?" He asked.
"Yeah, but I like you. I like your lectures." Xandra admitted.
"Yeah, and you're Latino!" Alondra reached forward and gave him a high five.
The first of many lessons in college.