by B D Grant
“Is that true?” The teacher on Mr. Grad’s left asks them. “Was he acting on his own?” Silence falls on the room again.
I take a step forward. “I couldn’t find a good place so when I heard the other team getting close, I made a run for it,” I tell them.
“I’m talking to your team,” the teacher says, looking around me to my team. “Does anyone have anything to add?”
Silence.
“No?” The teacher on the left looks at Mr. Grad. The teacher on the right does the same.
Mr. Grad stands up, stretching. “If no one has anything to add then you are all free to go.”
They begin leaving but I don’t, expecting to get it from Mr. Grad. I’ll babysit if I have too or what ever else they come up with, happily. I think if any of the guys in my group had the choice of dealing with Jessica and Doyle’s constant fighting while also watching screaming kids, any of them would prefer to do it alone. Mr. Grad and the teacher on the right start working on something on Mr. Grad’s computer. The teacher on the left notices me still in the room, “Was there something else?”
“I …thought I was going to get in trouble…or something.”
“You’re off the hook for now. You can go,” Mr. Grad says from behind the computer.
Leaving the study center, Jessica is waiting for me outside. I keep walking, acting like I don’t see her. “Hold up,” she says, catching up to me.
She’s unusually quiet, no negative comments or demands. It’s only a matter of time before it bubbles up inside her. I’m proven right when we get to the courtyard and she breaks the silence, “You’re mad aren’t you?”
“Why would I be mad? You were trying to help us, to help me.”
She looks back to the ground slowing down a little. I’m tempted to speed up. If I didn’t know that being a jerk to her would mean having to deal with her attitude later, I would.
“I came up with that plan because of you, not for you. I hate having ability advancement with underclassmen. I wasn’t going to be on the team that comes out last too. My parents would disown me.”
I’m not surprised by what she’s telling me. From what I’ve seen, she’s not the type to go out of her way for others. I also know the silent humiliation of being with a younger group for ability advancement. We’re the only stage threes on a team of stage twos.
“I should have admitted my part though,” she continues, “I was standing in there, thinking about how mad my parents are going to be, but I think they would be even more upset for me letting you take all the blame.”
“It’s really not that big of a deal. Mr. Grad will make me play with the non-Dynas or something on the field. I’ll be fine. Your parents aren’t going to do anything to you. You’re at school in the middle of nowhere. They won’t even know about this.”
“My parents are here. They work at the school,” she says.
“Oh. I didn’t know your parents were teachers.”
“They work for the school but they don’t teach.”
I haven’t seen much faculty around here other than teachers. Most of the physical labor is done by students that are in trouble, under the supervision of teachers. Maybe Jessica’s parents are cafeteria workers. It would explain why she acts like she has something to prove. “What do they do?” I ask.
“All kinds of stuff. They stay busy. I don’t see them unless I’m in trouble.” “They won’t know. This’ll blow over. You’ll see,” I say with faked confidence.
Later that day, I’m in the cafeteria eating dinner with Mick and Boston when Jessica joins us unexpectedly. “Sure, you can sit at our table,” I tell her sarcastically as she makes herself at home, setting her tray down across from me.
“I just came back from Mr. Grad’s office,” she says with a smile. “I told him everything.”
I’ve already told Boston and Mick the basics of what happened today; my team had the best time for the Dynamar competition. Boston was real happy about it until I told him we didn’t exactly win. I didn’t fill them in on the specifics, other than that I’d probably have to serve detention or something for what I did. I had only just managed to change the subject to Boston’s new fling when Jessica flew in.
“Why?” I ask her.
“Did you really tell them everything?” Boston asks, acting like he knows all about it. Jessica starts eating with a smile that runs across her face like she’s having the best day.
“What are your parents going to say?” I ask.
“They were there,” She says between bites of her roll. “It was strange, I was thinking about it all day and then I ran into my mom. She’s working around the campus on some tactical stuff. Anyways, when she asked me how the competition went I couldn’t lie to her. I told her everything, then we went straight to Mr. Grad. My dad met us there.”
“You didn’t have to do that. You would have been fine leaving the blame on me.”
“No, I really couldn’t lie to her. She may be a Dynamar but she can read me like a Veritatis.”
Boston pushes his tray away from him, “Parents are good for that.” Jessica rolls her eyes at him. He offers us the last of his three dinner rolls. None of us got more than one roll on each. Mick grabs it first. Boston’s cafeteria hook-up must be working tonight.
“So, did he tell you what our punishment is going to be?” I ask her.
“I’m not going to get in any trouble,” she says merrily. “You might not either. My mom came to your defense after Mr. Grad told me this is what he’s been hoping to see in me. I stepped up to the plate and did the best for my team. You made the ultimate sacrifice, my mom pointed out. If it was real life you would have saved your team’s lives. That’s what all this training is for, right?”
“Good going bro!” Boston says enthusiastically. Mick smiles at me.
“It wasn’t that serious,” I tell them.
“I didn’t think so either,” Jessica agrees. “We get to keep our time though. So, we’re the winning Dynamar team!” She squeaks a little at the end.
Mick loudly, pushes his chair back, grabs his tray, and leaves without a word. Jessica’s smile disappears as he leaves. She focuses on her tray, picking at her food. “What was that about?” I ask.
Jessica drops her fork and gets up saying, “I got to go.”
Boston gets up from the table, “You ready?”
“Did I say something wrong?” I ask Boston on the way out the cafeteria.
“Mick and Jessica dated,” he tells me. “It didn’t end well.”
“That’s nice to know, now.”
“It’s not your fault he doesn’t like being around her.”
We walk past a group of stage two Veritatis in the courtyard. A girl stops talking to her friends when we walk up looking at Boston, “Sorry to hear about your competition today.” She says to Boston.
He shrugs, “No biggie.” He keeps on walking like he doesn’t have a care in the world. The girl and her friends immediately start chatting in a frenzy once we’ve passed.
“Care to explain?” I ask, wondering what I missed.
“As you know, it was competition day for everyone and I, yet again, did not do as well as some people expected.” He keeps a grin on his face, not acting upset at all.
“Sorry. I’m sure you’ll do better next time.”
He laughs, “I had a great time, truth be told. Howard managed to piss off not only the Seraphim they were using for our competition, but also the instructors monitoring it.” Boston stops to tie his shoe.
Across the lawn, it looks like Nikki is trying to engage Mick in conversation. She has really bad timing. He’s still visibly mad. She’s left staring after him as he blows her off and joins some of our classmates as they walk in our building.
“That means he did good, right? Why don’t you step up and out-shine him?” I ask Boston when he stands back up.
“I’m too smart to shine as bright as he is. He better chill out or he’ll get advanced right on out of here,” Boston says
stretching his back, then we continue walking.
“Isn’t that the idea? Do good and graduate ahead of schedule?”
“My dad warned me that graduating early for early placement isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. He told me to pace myself.” He looks around at the people closest to us. “Don’t repeat that, okay?”
“Sure.”
“Anyways, I don’t like to spread gossip, but today Howard got this one teacher to all but confess to an affair with another married faculty member. Can you believe it? The nerve it takes to do something like that. It’s pretty great.”
“Sure, if he wasn’t so hard to be around, I’d say we should hang with him.”
“Ha. What a power couple you two would be,” Boston jokes. “Think of it, Mase doesn’t like you but he can’t stand Howard. The top Veritatis and the soon-to-be top Dynamar as friends. He wouldn’t know if he should be scared or if he should team up with the two of you.”
“Now that would never happen,” I assure him.
“Never say never,” he says nodding for me to look at what’s ahead of us.
At the bench under the trees before the stage three building are a couple of Mase’s Dyna friends, including the big guy that’s always with him. Mase isn’t around or I would have known their presence long before now. The big guy steps away from his friend to talk to us.
“Hey!” He says walking up, “Kelly, right?”
“Yeah.”
“I don’t think we’ve been introduced. I’m Glensy.” He doesn’t offer a hand which is what everyone else seems to do around here. He just smiles. Up close, he’s about the same height as me, but his shoulders are broader and his square jaw makes him look like someone you want on your side during a fight.
“Nice to meet you, Glensy.”
He’s momentarily distracted when Lena and Abby walk by us. They don’t acknowledge any of us but that doesn’t stop Glensy from checking them out. Boston does the same, adding a sweet, “Evening ladies” to no avail. Abby tosses her hair over her shoulder but neither respond. Glensy all but completely turns around to watch them.
“Have I done something to make your buddy, Mase mad?” I ask, getting his attention.
“Nah man. I just wanted to say congrats. Doing that good on your first go around won’t go unnoticed.”
“Uhh.. Thanks, man.” I barely get it out before he leaves, jogging back to his friends that now include Abby and Lena who seem to suddenly be able to see him now that he isn’t with us.
Back in my room, we find Mick studying. He has a book open on his desk and he has a notebook beside it. On closer examination, he’s been doodling more than studying. I can make out a badly drawn Jessica being attacked by a wolf in one scene, him saving the day in the next by killing the wolf, but it’s too late for Jessica because she has x’s for eyes in the last scene. “Does that make you feel better?” I ask him, looking over the cartoon.
“She should be so lucky,” he mumbles.
“I’m not a big fan of her either but that’s a little harsh.”
Mick has a small collage of pictures on the wall by his bed. Boston is kneeling on Mick’s bed, pulling a picture from the collage off the wall. He hands me the picture of Mick with another stage three girl. The left side of Mick is cut off in it then I feel the folded piece on the back. I unfold it to see that on the other side of Mick is Jessica kissing his cheek.
“Maybe you should ask this other girl out,” I hold the picture up for Mick to see. “She looks into you.”
He looks at the picture, throws his pencil down, and walks to the bathroom slamming the door. Boston takes the picture out of my hand and sticks it back to the wall. “Way to be sensitive,” he says as he flips the folded side out so Jessica’s face is visible to the room.
The next day I get more congratulations from people around school. One of the teachers from the meeting in Mr. Grad’s office informs me that I’m not going to face a punishment for my part in competition day but it is not to happen again.
At lunch Evan joins our table. “Have you heard?” He asks me, sitting down.
“Yeah, they’re letting us keep our time from the competition.”
“No, the party.”
Boston snaps to attention, “Whose party?”
“Ours,” Evans answers nearly bouncing in his chair with excitement.
It feels good to know that Boston is just as much in the dark about something as I am.
“They allow parties here?”
A party sounds great but most of the ones I’m used to going to adults don’t normally know about. I’m pretty sure Mr. Grad won’t let me get away with sneaking off to a secret party.
“They used to have parties for the winning teams after every competition,” Boston answers.
“Sweet.”
Evan gives Boston a bit of a glare, “They USED too, before you kept getting caught making out at the parties.”
“I was only caught one time,” Boston says holding up his pointer finger to give us a visual count. “It was the other guys that were caught more than once that shut the pool parties down so don’t put that all on me.”
I was so sure he was exaggerating about being a ladies man. Now that I know he wasn’t, I wonder if he’s considered a womanizer, and if it hurts my chances with the ladies being his friend.
“They’re allowing this one because two teams set school records. And since it’s only two teams they are letting us each invite a friend,” Evan informs us.
A pool party with my friends sounds great. “What other team is going?” I ask, watching Mase sit down at his table full of friends. “Glensy’s team,” Boston says looking over his shoulder at Mase’s table too.
“Is Mase on his team?” I ask.
Boston shakes his head, “No, but he’ll probably be there.”
It may not be that fun then. I wonder what Abby would do if I invited her as my guest.
Evan beats me to it. “You think Abby Heincliff would come if I invited her?” He says out loud. I look at him perplexed that we were thinking the exact same thing. I still don’t want her to know I’m into her so me inviting her is out of the question.
“It can’t hurt to ask,” Boston tells him.
Evan looks at him like he’s thinking it through. “Except for complete and utter humiliation,” he says getting that nervous look that I would have if it was me thinking of confronting the hottest girl in school. It would be a win for me if she goes because it would give me some time around her.
“Man-up and ask her,” I encourage. If Boston gets an invite from the chick he likes on Glensy’s team, and Abby goes with Evan, then I can invite Mick and it might actually be worth dealing with Mase as long as he doesn’t start anything.
On our way out of the cafeteria Boston gets his invite from his new fling, Zoey. So Mick will get my invite.
I don’t see him until later that night in our room. “Good news!” I tell him. “I am inviting you to the pool party in honor of me. You’re welcome.”
He holds up a paper over his shoulder, not turning from his desk. “I already got it.”
I grab the paper from him examining it. It’s an invitation to the pool party written in neat handwriting.
“This isn’t from me,” I toss the paper down beside him, on the desk. “Now who am I going to get to come with me?”
“Stop messing around. No one else would have invited me.”
I start undressing and check the bathroom to make sure my towel is still hanging on the towel rack. “Dude, I really didn’t send that to you,” I tell him, closing the door to the bathroom so I can shower. Before my incident at my old school this would have been a huge problem to pick only one person to invite because I had so many friends. My two closest friends here are already going. Anne is the only other person I can think of.
I do as little homework as I have to in order to avoid getting in trouble tomorrow before hitting the sack. “Did you really not send the invitation?” Mick asks me as I’m
dosing off. The unexpected noise makes me jump a little, bringing back the consciousness I was happily leaving.
“No,” I groan. “It’s a pool party not a prostate exam. Stop worrying about it.” I roll over, giving him my back in hopes of ending the talking.
“You don’t think someone is playing a joke on me, do you?”
“Act like a girl much?” I mumble, annoyed. I don’t care. Neither should he.
The first chance I have, I invite Anne to the party. She startles me by squealing, “Really?!” as she jumps up and down. It looks like a weird spasm. People stop what they’re doing to look at us. “You can invite one person and you picked me. That is so sweet!”
“The other guys are all going already.”
Her little jumping spasms slow to a stop. “So, you’re telling me I’m your last resort?”
I hadn’t thought of it like that. I don’t say anything out of fear that she’ll go off on me. I don’t want more people staring. She smiles at me finally after thinking about it, “I think I’m okay with that.”
That’s a relief. “So you want to go?”
“Well duh! All the cool people are going to be there. Thanks Kelly!” She hugs me causing teachers to notice us. I pat her back fast and awkwardly, pushing her out of the hug.
“The party is in two days.”
“Oh I know. Everyone’s talking about it. I’ll meet you in front of your building before the party so you can walk me.”
“This isn’t a date or anything,” I say nervously.
She puts her hand up stopping me from talking any more. “Eww. Just eww,” she says dramatically before she walks away. I leave happily knowing this won’t be weird having her go with me and that I won’t be the loser without a friend in tow.
“How long can it take to pick out a bathing suit when there is only one kind you’re allowed to wear?” Mick asks as we wait for Anne and Zoey, Boston’s official girlfriend.