by Jon Gerrard
* * *
Later that morning, Mrs. Barber was standing in front of her 9:20 Calculus 2 class staring in disbelief at the trio of boys sitting in the front row. All three of them were fast asleep. Manny had his head down on the desk-arm of his chair snoring quietly. Beside him, Tom’s head was precariously perched in one hand, his lips distorted into a sneer by the pressure of his palm against his cheek. And next to him Reed sat slumped way down in his seat, his legs splayed out in front of him with his head hanging back and his mouth wide open.
She had turned back from the whiteboard a moment earlier to find the boys in this state. Snickering could be heard from some of the other students as she stood there trying to decide what to do. After a moment she stepped up to Manny and tapped him lightly on the shoulder. Manny muttered something unintelligible and continued sleeping.
“I’ll wake them up for you if you like, Mrs. Barber,” one of the other students offered.
“That won’t be necessary, Victor” she said. Victor fancied himself the class clown. She could just imagine how he would wake them. “I think, just this once, we’ll let them sleep.”
“Aw, come on, Mrs. B.,” Victor complained. “You wouldn’t let me get away with that.”
Mrs. Barber looked at Victor and raised an eyebrow. “Start giving me grades like theirs and I’ll cut you a little slack, too.”
Victor sat back and frowned at the three sleeping figures.
Mrs. Barber gave the boys one last look. Prom was tonight and none of the students were especially focused today. She figured they must have been up late arranging something special for their dates. After a few moments she turned back to the board and went on with her lesson.