Some of you, however, have let your own opinions get in the way and have been marked down in that respect. If you are unhappy with your marks come and tell me. I"ll see if I can help you understand where you went wrong." Max knew he"d included some of his own opinions in his essay. He hoped that it wouldn't be too obvious. He remembered how Finch didn't like it when people did things differently. Surely he should get a reasonable mark. He put a lot of work into this essay. He needed better marks in Legal Studies so he had done his best to submit a very good paper. He only hoped Finch would recognize his effort and mark it accordingly. .
Finch walked around distributing the papers amongst the class. Max watched the expression of the students as they discovered what mark Finch had given them. Most showed some degree of disappointment. Finch handed Clare her paper. She immediately turned to Julie to tell her that she got an "A". Finch tossed Max's paper in front of him. "Yet another unsound piece of work from you Max. I wish you had a better attitude towards this subject." Max blushed. Again he felt a rush of prickles run up his back. Some of the students looked at him with smirks on their faces. Others had more sympathetic looks. Max read his mark. He felt nauseous when he learned Finch had given him a "D" for his paper. He swallowed hard, managing to contain his disappointment, dejection and anger. .
The bell rang for the end of class. There was no time to see Finch about his mark. He knew there was no point in seeing him anyway as it was unlikely the mark would be altered. Max hated Finch for all the humiliation and frustration he caused him. He hoped tomorrow would be better. .
The following day Mr. Finch was not there to take Legal Studies. The school Principal, Mr. Sampson, took the class instead. He addressed the class. "Mr. Finch is unable to come to school today," Sampson explained. "He was involved in a brutal hit and run accident last night when walking home from school.
