publish any of the dirty X-Ratings.”
Like the one by the girl who said her ex-boyfriend liked to do it in the car
, Mads thought, her heart sinking.
And only in the car, even though his parents were never home
. She knew enough not to put that on the blog. But could something have slipped through the cracks?
“Hello, girls,” Rod said as they sat down in his office. “I’ve been seeing a lot of you these days.”
“If you’re sick of us, we can leave,” Mads said.
Rod cracked a tense smile. “I wish it were that simple. Do you recall the warning I gave you the last time we met?”
The girls nodded. Nothing controversial on the Dating Game or he’d shut it down.
“Good,” Rod said. “Did you understand it? Was it somehow not clear?”
“We understood,” Mads said. “Though we might have a different definition of ‘controversial’ from yours.”
“I’m sure you must,” Rod said. “Otherwise, I assume an item like this would not have appeared on your blog.” He picked up
a printout. “I believe this is what you call an X-Rating,” he said. “A young man named Dashiell Piasecki wrote it about his
former girlfriend, Arabella Caslow. I happen to know Dashiell; he’s a behavior challenge. And a frequent visitor to this office.”
Mads tried to remember what Dash had written about Arabella. He was an obnoxious jerk, and Arabella had said so in
her
X-Rating of
him
. But his of her hadn’t seemed so bad; in fact, Mads had the impression he still liked her.
“I’ll skip the preliminaries and go straight to the highlights,” Rod said. He read from the printout. “‘Arabella is a bangin’
chick. And that booty! I like girls with a little meat on their bones.’”
Mads looked at Holly and Lina, shrugging. What was the big deal?
“Mr. Alvarado, all he’s saying is that Arabella is attractive,” Holly explained. “It’s a good thing.”
“That’s not the point,” Rod said. “Her parents happened to see this—I should warn you that since you’ve received so much publicity
recently, many parents have been reading our school site quite carefully. The Caslows were offended by the word ’bangin and
‘meat’ in reference to their daughter.”
“’Bangin’ just means she’s good-looking,” Mads said.
“But in a sexy way, correct?” Rod said.
“I guess,” Mads conceded.
“But when he says he likes meat on her bones,” Rod said. “Isn’t that like calling her a piece of meat?”
“My grandmother says that,” Mads said. “‘You could use a little meat on your bones,’ she says. And the witch in Hansel and
Gretel uses that expression. It doesn’t mean he’s calling her a piece of meat.”
“But the witch is fattening up Hansel to eat him,” Rod reminded her.
“Was Arabella upset?” Lina asked.
“I don’t know,” Rod said. “But her parents certainly were. They don’t like having their daughter’s attributes discussed online
this way, and I don’t blame them. It’s crude.”
“But Dash was just trying to say she’d make a good girlfriend,” Mads said. “Sure, he’s crude, but that’s the way he is. It’s
not our fault.”
“Some parents don’t want their children to see crudeness at school,” Rod said. “I believe that parents have a right to control
what their children are exposed to.’”
“But we’re only exposing ourselves to ourselves,” Mads said. “What’s wrong with that?”
“Listen, girls,” Rod said. “I refuse to get into an argument with you over this. You were warned, fair and square. Since then,
the complaints from parents have only become louder. I have no choice. I’m removing the Dating Game from the school site.
I’m sorry.”
“But, Mr. Alvarado, that’s not fair!” Mads’ blood was boiling. He was dumping their blog completely! For nothing! “What good
is the site if we can’t express ourselves naturally and say what we really think, in the words we normally use?
Like the one by the girl who said her ex-boyfriend liked to do it in the car
, Mads thought, her heart sinking.
And only in the car, even though his parents were never home
. She knew enough not to put that on the blog. But could something have slipped through the cracks?
“Hello, girls,” Rod said as they sat down in his office. “I’ve been seeing a lot of you these days.”
“If you’re sick of us, we can leave,” Mads said.
Rod cracked a tense smile. “I wish it were that simple. Do you recall the warning I gave you the last time we met?”
The girls nodded. Nothing controversial on the Dating Game or he’d shut it down.
“Good,” Rod said. “Did you understand it? Was it somehow not clear?”
“We understood,” Mads said. “Though we might have a different definition of ‘controversial’ from yours.”
“I’m sure you must,” Rod said. “Otherwise, I assume an item like this would not have appeared on your blog.” He picked up
a printout. “I believe this is what you call an X-Rating,” he said. “A young man named Dashiell Piasecki wrote it about his
former girlfriend, Arabella Caslow. I happen to know Dashiell; he’s a behavior challenge. And a frequent visitor to this office.”
Mads tried to remember what Dash had written about Arabella. He was an obnoxious jerk, and Arabella had said so in
her
X-Rating of
him
. But his of her hadn’t seemed so bad; in fact, Mads had the impression he still liked her.
“I’ll skip the preliminaries and go straight to the highlights,” Rod said. He read from the printout. “‘Arabella is a bangin’
chick. And that booty! I like girls with a little meat on their bones.’”
Mads looked at Holly and Lina, shrugging. What was the big deal?
“Mr. Alvarado, all he’s saying is that Arabella is attractive,” Holly explained. “It’s a good thing.”
“That’s not the point,” Rod said. “Her parents happened to see this—I should warn you that since you’ve received so much publicity
recently, many parents have been reading our school site quite carefully. The Caslows were offended by the word ’bangin and
‘meat’ in reference to their daughter.”
“’Bangin’ just means she’s good-looking,” Mads said.
“But in a sexy way, correct?” Rod said.
“I guess,” Mads conceded.
“But when he says he likes meat on her bones,” Rod said. “Isn’t that like calling her a piece of meat?”
“My grandmother says that,” Mads said. “‘You could use a little meat on your bones,’ she says. And the witch in Hansel and
Gretel uses that expression. It doesn’t mean he’s calling her a piece of meat.”
“But the witch is fattening up Hansel to eat him,” Rod reminded her.
“Was Arabella upset?” Lina asked.
“I don’t know,” Rod said. “But her parents certainly were. They don’t like having their daughter’s attributes discussed online
this way, and I don’t blame them. It’s crude.”
“But Dash was just trying to say she’d make a good girlfriend,” Mads said. “Sure, he’s crude, but that’s the way he is. It’s
not our fault.”
“Some parents don’t want their children to see crudeness at school,” Rod said. “I believe that parents have a right to control
what their children are exposed to.’”
“But we’re only exposing ourselves to ourselves,” Mads said. “What’s wrong with that?”
“Listen, girls,” Rod said. “I refuse to get into an argument with you over this. You were warned, fair and square. Since then,
the complaints from parents have only become louder. I have no choice. I’m removing the Dating Game from the school site.
I’m sorry.”
“But, Mr. Alvarado, that’s not fair!” Mads’ blood was boiling. He was dumping their blog completely! For nothing! “What good
is the site if we can’t express ourselves naturally and say what we really think, in the words we normally use?
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