“We shouldn’t be having to review this. The bell doesn’t dismiss you, I do.”
Hearing Mrs. Baker say that for the sixth time, in the few minutes she forced us to stay after the bell had already chimed, wasn’t endearing her to anyone. Already some of the braver students were grumbling and complaining to their friends, unafraid of her unofficial record for racking up the most detentions given within a year. The runner-up hadn’t been close either, giving an astounding forty less than her. They must have been banking on the fact that she wouldn’t catch their snide comments since her hearing ‘simply wasn’t what it used to be.’
I swung my backpack over my shoulders and skirted around the people who were waiting at the door. Not many others were in the hall by now since the passing period was ending in another minute. There was still a chance I could beat Miss Halsey to class, considering her propensity to stroll from her honor’s class to our more unhonorable one. Although, I guess it wouldn’t matter much either way. I could just explain to her how I had been kept late.
Yep, that would be just fine if I had the ability to articulate a single thought in front of her terrifying presence more than five percent of the time.
Picking up the pace, I slipped into the classroom to the muted dings of the second bell. After repeating itself three more times, a brief buzz rumbled over the loudspeakers, then fell silent. That was when I noticed the atmosphere of the classroom was different. Usually, they were like sharks in the water, waiting for the tiniest drop of blood to be spilled. Today, though, everyone was more or less keeping to themselves. Even dressed in her most revealing attire to date–how she hadn’t been dress-coded was beyond me–Aubrey drew no notice. Instead, a small group had gathered around the desks of Nicole and her friends. It was impossible to see anything past the semi-circle of human bodies, but there was a distinct sound of paper tearing.
“What do you think they’re up to?” Jack asked, scratching at his cheek.
I shrugged, not thinking much of it nor wanting to engage him inside of the classroom. It wasn’t that I hated the guy or anything. I just didn’t want him blabbing about anime, merch, or anything else that was going to get those pricks on my case. Besides, they probably were ripping up their homework or something, acting like that little act of rebellion made them badasses; however, the off-white ball of paper that landed at his feet was anything but.
I leaned forward while Jack unfurled the page of the novel I had been reading. A strong odor lingered on it, careening from the perfume stain that drenched the paper, distorted the words, and swirled them into a pool of tar. The backside of it had a blurred image of the blushing princess struggling to escape the prince, who was carrying her bridal style back to her castle. That left no doubt that they were destroying the book I had lent her.
There was no immediate rush of anger or disappointment, just an empty feeling and the strands of a broken promise. Why was that? Because she did me a solid and didn’t snitch that I shoved her? I was grateful, but it wasn’t like I had believed her when she said she’d return the book. I’d only given it to her to make up for that. And look where that had gotten me.
Multiple crumpled pages of my novel lined the floor, others joining them the more time went on. The tall guy in front shuffled a little to the left, giving me a glimpse of their operation. Nicole’s two cronies did the work, their colored nails dancing across the edge of the spine to rip the pages outward. They did their work monotonously, snarking about a passage here and there, but otherwise gleaning no outward joy from the act. Nicole was much the same, hardly reacting to it at all, and keeping her eyes trained downward on her desk. I couldn’t understand why they were bothering at all, then. It didn’t even appear targeted, as none of them knew it was mine.
What was the point?
“Everyone, take a seat.”
There was some shuffling as everyone went to their desks. Miss Halsey strode with purpose to the front of the classrooms, heels like rapid-fire pinpricks on the floor. Looking over the class, her gaze fell upon the three girls who were opposite me. She slapped both hands against the podium, the resulting metallic screech making us all wince.
“I trust you girls know you’ll be staying after to clean this mess up.” She shook her head, a dark scowl on her face. “This is like something kindergarteners would do. I’m dumbfounded that I even have to stand here and keep repeatedly saying half of this stuff. Honestly, it’s past time to grow up a little.”
“It was just some lame book that Nicole found outside.”
“Oh, ok. Well, excuse me. Obviously, if it doesn’t belong to anybody in this room, then it’s ok to destroy a book. Why stop there, though? Why not take a run through the library while you’re at it and destroy some of the books there? I’m pretty sure those don’t belong to anyone in particular.”
“I’m just saying–”
She held up a hand to cut her off, rubbing at her temple with the other. “I don’t care. Anything you say is just going to irritate me more, and it’s not like I can force any of you to care anyway.”
The room fell to a complete hush, mimicking the nervousness from the first day of school. Enough people obviously sensed her frustration and chose to respect it, while the others were at least smart enough to mimic them. Nobody wanted to be the one to piss the cool teacher off.
“Open your textbooks to page two-hundred and thirteen. We have a lot to cover today, and we’ve wasted enough time as it is.”
I opened my textbook to the correct page as the class that usually flew by dragged on for what felt like an eternity.
“Hey, Dad. I’m home.”
Some loud bangs and a few wrenches tumbling from his workbench filled the garage, followed by a few muffled curses. He slid out from underneath the Porsche 959 he had lifted on a jack stand, and limped over to me, swiping at an oil stain with his blackened hand. It spread the dark line across his face like war paint, which contradicted the tight-lipped stare he gave me. “I thought you had your club today?”
“The advisor let me have the day off.”
It technically wasn’t a lie since she said I didn’t need to make a decision about the club until Monday. No need to subject myself to being alone with that bitch, especially considering I wasn’t sure how to act around her right now. I knew I was going to have to face her again, whether that was in the classroom or the clubroom, but I wasn’t in the mood. Searching for another club was always an option too. However insistent Miss Halsey had been about the formation of this dysfunctional club, I figured she would support me wanting to put some space between myself and Nicole after the incident in the classroom today.
Yeah, maybe I’d browse the school website for something that piqued my interest. It shouldn’t be difficult since anything would be better than the current arrangement.
“Lucky you. Got any plans for tomorrow?”
“I’ll probably just hit up the bookstore. What about you?”
He jerked a thumb over his back. “This hunk of junk isn’t going to fix itself.”
I wasn’t mechanically inclined like him, so I couldn’t tell what the issues were anymore. Whenever he showed off his progress to me, the motor purred and any visible dents in the crimson paint had been buffed out. The car looked every bit an icon from the eighties, with the door sloping inward at the back edge, the four grilles-like cat whiskers in the front, and the oval headlights rounding it out.
“It’s looking good.”
“Thanks.” My dad swiped at his cheek again, right above his scruffy beard. It was a nervous habit he hadn’t broken in some forty-odd years. “Make sure that homework gets done.”
“Right, well I’m kind of tired, so I’m going to grab something to eat and call it a night,” I said, lingering in place to see if he needed me for something else. My intuition being spot-on, he wandered over to his workbench and scooted some tools to the side before producing a plain envelope. He walked back over and handed it to me, leaving me to admire the crinkled edges and my name sprawled across the front in messy letters.
“Your mom sent this over earlier, and I know it’s a lot recently, but she’s working on–”
“I’ll look at it later.”
He looked torn on wanting to say more but settled on ruffling my hair. “You’re a good kid.”
I walked through the garage, passed the kitchen, into the living room, and up the stairs to my bedroom. The final stair creaked as the heel of my foot pressed down on the weak spot of the old board. Slipping into my room, I tossed the envelope into a pile under my desk with all the other unread ones. He thought I hated her because she left; that was the only thing about her I loved.
I plopped onto my bed and shut my eyes, trying not to let my thoughts wander as sleep slowly claimed me.