Pulse of Heroes

by A. Jacob Sweeny

  Well, at least the teacher didn't use a bright red pen. That was the only positive thing that Michelle could get out of looking at her score. The pop quiz in Italian really shook her up. She was just not making it. Luckily this one didn't count, but the reality was that she needed help. During lunch break, Michelle decided to head over to the cafeteria, because it was unusually cold and the thought of hanging out on the bleachers sent a chill up her spine. When she walked in through the double-glass doors, the difference between the frigid breezeway and the tepid room was immense. Especially since the latter was filled with warm steam rising from the two-week-old tater tots and suspiciously bright orange pumpkin pies, not to mention that there were way too many students crammed into the space. Michelle suspected it was probably some sort of health-code violation. After walking through the line and trying to choose the healthier meal between the various unnaturally colored foods, she decided to settle with the regular: Swiss Miss cocoa and a plain toasted bagel. Looking around the room, there was hardly anywhere to sit. But just as she was about to give up she spotted Rachael and Anna, her cheerleader friends, and headed in their direction. The girls were sitting while some of the star athletes of the school stood clustered around them, and when they saw Michelle approach they made space for her to sit. Michelle took off her jacket because now she was flushed with the heat. There was no place for her to set it, so she decided to lay it on her lap. But then Tim, standing just a few feet away, announced that he would hold it for her while she ate. Michelle looked up, surprised, and if she had felt flushed before, she was definitely blushing now. Anna and Rachael giggled, and it was obvious that Tim also felt a little embarrassed, because he hadn’t meant for his offer to come out sounding so loud. Even people from the next table looked over.

  “What? I’m just trying to help. Be a gentleman. Haven’t any of you ever heard of that before?” Tim said.

  Rachael teased back. “Don't you think a ‘gentle’ wrestler is kind of an oxymoron?”

  “Well, I do play basketball too, you know,” Tim joked.

  “Well, you can be the gentle basketball player instead,” Anna announced and everyone laughed.

  Michelle was still embarrassed, but with a sly smile she handed Tim her jacket anyway. She felt proud while doing so.

  Everyone in Meadow High had known one another since they were practically babies. But Tim had moved to Willow’s Creek about five years ago. Back then, Michelle, like every other girl in school, had a huge crush on the new guy and he became an instant star. With his sandy blond hair, tan skin and piercing blue-green eyes, he was the poster child for a California surfer boy. He did in fact surf, but since Willow’s Creek was several hours east from any good beaches, instead he channeled all his surfing energy into becoming the top wrestler in school. Michelle sipped her cocoa and was already daydreaming: she and Tim, dressed to the max, stepping out of a limo… but just then another group of guys walked up and steered Tim away from the girls. Michelle, who hadn't taken one breath, was finally able to exhale. Then she realized that Tim had actually walked off carrying her jacket. Well, she thought to herself, this can't be too bad of a situation to be in. Maybe he did it on purpose. Maybe he’s just a big dork. Michelle suddenly felt someone staring at her and turned around to see Tim’s ex-girlfriend giving her such a dirty look that she could have used a couple of showers to rinse it off. Bethany and Michelle used to be friends, once, but then again so did everyone at the school at one point or another.

  As everyone was finishing lunch Sam walked up to them, her hands covered with black and orange paint. “So much for all the help I was supposed to get,” she complained. Now it was Anna’s turn to feel bad.

  “Oh my God! Samantha, I am so sorry. I completely forgot about the posters for the dance,” she pleaded. Samantha wasn’t buying it.

  “How could you forget about it when you left me a message just last night?”

  All eyes were on Anna. But she was a master at this type of behavior. She got up and wrapped her arms around Sam giving her a huge bear hug.

  “Please forgive me. I’m sorry, really. Please?” She was damn good, because if Samantha didn’t accept such a heartfelt apology she would be the ‘meany’. Sam rolled her eyes. Anna jumped up and down and squealed as if she was cheering for a game, “Yeah Sam! I am your man! Wee!” Everybody was staring at her; Anna had achieved her not-so-secret goal.

  It was late when Samantha's old VW bug pulled up in front of Michelle's house. Samantha lived only four houses down on the same street. Michelle's mother was looking through the kitchen window, her face agitated.

  “Michelle, didn't you wear a jacket to school today?” she asked as Michelle walked through the front door. Michelle had to think quickly. Was it proper to tell her mom a white lie rather than the truth?

  “Oh, I left it in my locker at school. I know, I'm just really overwhelmed right now Mom. I forgot.”

  That night during dinner, the conversation seemed usual, the niceties of how was your day, how is school, and will Toby be bringing his new girlfriend for Thanksgiving. After dinner, Michelle helped her mom clear the table, and then helped herself to two pieces of the sweet potato pie. Her parents watched her gobble both of them down with shock on their faces. “What? I'm hungry. I didn't have much to eat for lunch.”

  Michelle’s mother laughed out loud. “Don't worry about it. Really, at your age I used to eat half a pie. It's a growth spurt.”

  Her father chuckled. “Well, if Toby was here there wouldn’t any pie left for any of us anyway, so enjoy.” They all laughed, but then it got quiet and her parents took on a serious tone. Michelle was really hoping that it had nothing to do with her. Luckily it didn't.

  A few weeks ago, Michelle's father had found out behind closed doors that a private school for young adults with behavioral problems was looking to move into the Napa Valley region. Originally, the school’s owners had been interested in relocating to St. Alodia, which was the next town over from Willow’s Creek, but it seemed that those plans were never going to come to fruition…

  The atmosphere of the area had really changed since the California Wine Renaissance of the last 15 years. Although people have been drinking wine around the world for thousands of years, now suddenly everybody was a wine expert, and the phenomenon known as the ‘wine snob’ had been born. And nowhere was this more evident than in the town of St. Alodia. It was all the new people who had moved into the area. To them the entire county was seen as uncharted territory, virgin land. But instead of blending in with the original residents, they started changing everything about the place to fit their own needs. It was those citizens that had voiced their strong opposition to idea of the school from the start. ‘NIMBY’, Not In My Back Yard. Of course, it didn't hurt that the county supervisor lived in St. Alodia himself. It was he that suggested that if the school had its heart set on moving to Napa County, Willow’s Creek would make a far better choice since the land was still a little more affordable and the place was much quieter. It wasn't too hard for the school owners to read between the lines that if they wanted to open a school in St. Alodia it was going to be a long and expensive uphill battle. Willow’s Creek’s Mayor Janice Riesely could see the unfairness of what St. Alodia was doing, but the town had too much financial clout, even though their population was much smaller. After numerous meetings, Willow’s Creek had finally agreed to host the school, but only after they were assured over and over again that the young adults to be housed there were not a threat, and none of them had any violent or criminal activity in their background.

  That night, Michelle was lying in bed staring at the ceiling and trying to figure out how she felt about this latest development. It wasn't going to be just a regular school. It was a boarding school, meaning that these students would now be her neighbors. She still couldn't understand if this meant that they were locked in there like some sort of juvenile prison, or whether it was a regular boarding school with kids that just needed a little bit of extra hel
p. After all, there were times in her life where somebody might have argued that she had exhibited behavioral problems. Her father assured the family that the kids in the school did not pose a threat. But in all honesty, he didn’t seem too convinced himself. Michelle’s feelings about the situation remained a mystery, because her mind wandered to other important essentials such as the upcoming Halloween dance and how relieved she was that it wasn’t a formal dance where she would need a date to attend. Michelle also thought about Tim, who was now in possession of her jacket. The guy gave her butterflies in the stomach; should she approach him tomorrow or maybe the next day? Should she wait for him to approach her? Was Bethany going to be a problem even though they haven’t been close friends for years? Eventually, Michelle started counting the glow-in-the-dark stars that had been glued to her ceiling for who knows how long. She always counted them at night, even without meaning to, and just like that she was asleep.

  To Michelle's disappointment, Tim was sick for the rest of the week with some horrible new flu. She came to school every day hoping to see him, but he never materialized, and neither did her jacket. It was cold out, and she was forced to wear one of Toby's old coats that he had left at home since he hardly needed any of his winter clothes anymore. Michelle finally told her mom the truth about the jacket, and her mom didn't understand why she hadn't just said so from the beginning, but she figured that was just the way teenage girls were.

  Unfortunately for Michelle, Tim never did give the jacket back to her. Instead, it was inadvertently taken to the dry cleaners. And when Tim's sister discovered the strange jacket in her closet, she asked her mom to return it to the cleaners because they had obviously given her somebody else's stuff. Eventually, Tim had been forced to explain to his mom who the jacket belonged to, and she ended up giving it back to Michelle’s mother one day when they met for a late lunch. That was the very uneventful story of how the jacket made a round trip back to Michelle’s closet.

  “Keep the School Away!” “Willow’s Creek Sold Us Out!” “Impeach Supervisor Ziegst!” The cat was out of the bag. A group of protestors stood outside City Hall, chanting and waving their signs at everyone who passed by. Michelle and Samantha were on their way back from school when they saw the commotion. It was everywhere; the local newspaper was overflowing with editorials and opinions by everyone and their grandmother with regards to the new school. The argument even spilled into the local high schools. Michelle's speech class did a debate where the class was divided into two sides: those who were for the new school and those who were against it. Michelle wanted to be on the 'for' side, because she thought it would be more interesting to try and justify the school’s right to move into the town, and because everybody else kept using the same excuses as to why it shouldn't. It just got boring after a while, and on top of everything else, Michelle thought that the behavior of the vocal opponents was bad form, and showed poorly on the entire town. That was not the way a new school should be welcomed.

  “You should have just seen them in class. I know it was just an exercise, but everything was about passing a judgment without having all the facts,” Michelle complained.

  Samantha was thinking hard. It's not that she didn't have her own opinion, but the way that she was brought up was to keep it to herself. It was no wonder she avoided the speech debate class altogether.

  “Well, my mom said that the real reason St. Alodia didn’t want the school is because the students have shady backgrounds. They just can’t release that information because they’re all underage.”

  Michelle immediately counter-argued, asking how would Samantha's mom know anything, when she’s not even on the Town Council like Michelle’s dad.

  Samantha felt a little hurt. “Well, it's just what she figured out. I mean why else wouldn’t they want them there? And on top of that, just because my mom's not on the Town Council doesn’t mean that she doesn’t know other people that know stuff.” Samantha was right; Michelle was being rude.

  “I'm sorry, Sam, you're right. I'm just really edgy, especially after all the students were accusing those people of doing horrible things. It started sounding like those witch trials we studied in history class.”

  “I guess we’ll just have to wait and see.” That was Samantha’s way of making peace and ending the conversation. And besides, they had more important things to talk about. Like what time she would be picking Michelle up for the Halloween Dance.

  Chapter 2

  The first days of November started to disappear as fast as the dark bruise on Michelle’s forehead. But the damage wasn’t clearing up fast enough for her. Every time she looked into the mirror it reminded her of Halloween night and the car accident. As long as it was there she was worried that her parents might bring up the subject and she would get her facts wrong, changing some detail or the chronology of the events, and eventually her parents would figure out that she wasn’t telling them the entire truth. Michelle, Samantha and Rachael made a pact not to tell anybody else about the incident, and to not discuss it even amongst themselves. They all agreed that since the outcome was fine, bringing up any negative memories was not going to do anyone any favor. But no matter how hard Michelle tried to forget about it, she couldn't escape the episode completely.

  Beginning just after Halloween, trucks with large trailers and heavy machinery started occupying the street passing in front of Michelle’s home. The rumbling sounds of flatbed trucks carrying tractors, backhoes, and building materials would wake her up in the morning and greet her when she came home from school. One afternoon, instead of going straight home, Samantha and Michelle decided to follow a cement truck to see where all this activity would lead them. They drove past both of their houses and continued on, hoping nobody actually saw them. The road circled around for almost four miles, eventually ending up at an abandoned property almost directly on the opposite side of a small wooded area that was behind both of their backyards.

  Back in its days of glory, the property had been an olive oil processing facility. It was a medium-sized operation that had been owned by a Portuguese family, but after World War II the family had packed their belongings and just left. Interestingly, the prime real estate had never been repurchased. It just sat there, and where pathways and gardens used to be evident, nature eventually blurred the outlined edges and took the land back. One part of the land had been dedicated to growing pine trees, because besides processing olive oil and walnut oil from the vast walnut orchards to the south, they also collected and sold freshly roasted pine nuts. Michelle knew the place pretty well, because during mushroom time of the year everyone would go picking the golden yellow fungi that would sprout out at the bases of the tree trunks after the first rains of the season.

  Michelle and Samantha sat in the car looking at a large sign that said “Danger! Private Property Under Construction! Do Not Enter!” But as they saw all the activity that was taking place beyond the chain-link fence, the girls’ curiosity got the best of them and they decided to step out of the car to get a closer look. There were green tarps stretched along the fence, but Michelle found a hole large enough to peek through. Inside, she saw large slabs of foundation with rebar and large steel framings. Even to somebody like her who had no experience in the construction industry, it was quite obvious that whatever structure was being built there, it was going to be beyond huge.

  Later on that evening during dinnertime, Michelle asked her father if he knew something about the new construction site. Although she had her own theories of what was going on there, she was curious to see if she was right. In a serious tone her dad revealed that her thoughts were correct. “Yes, that is where the new school is being built.”

  Michelle's mother didn't take the news too favorably. She tried to suppress her emotion, but it was obvious that it was hard for her to swallow the food that was in her mouth before commenting flatly, “I'm really surprised that nobody told us about the construction before it began.”

  “Well honey,” said her father,
“they didn't let us know until about a week ago. Didn't I tell you?”

  “Well, I guess I forgot about such a non-event…”

  Michelle could sense that this line of conversation wasn’t going to end anytime soon, so she excused herself and went upstairs to her room. She called Samantha immediately. “Samantha! I was right! That’s where the new school is being built!” Samantha had to think about that for a while before she let Michelle know that she wasn't sure how she felt about the school being so close to their homes. After all, all somebody would have to do would be to cross the narrow woods and climb right into their backyards. Michelle knew that Samantha was reacting in that way because that's how her mother would react, and when it came to her fears, she was just projecting. Samantha's mother was someone that wore the title of 'Nervous Nelly’ to perfection. But once she hung up the phone, Michelle started to wonder what the ramifications would be if she were wrong and those new kids were more disturbed than anyone in town had been led to believe. Her mind started churning with all kinds of bad scenarios, and eventually she got mad at herself because a whole hour had passed and she was supposed to be doing homework and studying for another test in Italian.

  Every time Michelle thought about that class she got sick in her stomach. She had never had such a feeling about anything before, even if she wasn't doing too well at school. This year, she put a lot of pressure on herself to do well, and being so far behind in Italian was spiraling out of control. This foreboding started affecting Michelle at school very negatively. On the days that she had her Italian class she felt agitated and depressed. And right before the class, she would get sweaty palms and her heart rate would go up to the point where she felt dizzy. There was one mean kid in her class that obviously sensed her weak energy and started picking on her. First it was just a mean look. But later, he even threw crumpled pieces of paper at her, and when she turned around to face him, he didn't even pretend like he didn't do it. He would stare right at her, challenging her. She was too embarrassed to tell anybody about it; after all, she was sixteen not six. Now she had two problems to deal with: the fact that she wasn't doing well in class, and the fact that a bully was tormenting her. She started wishing that she had never switched into that class, and that she had just stayed in German instead.