it.
On a normal day ,I might have found all the attention annoying, but I was grateful for the distraction. Thanks to my siblings, I hardly had time to think between Jaseʼs assertions that he only watched the showfor the hot chicks (and his long diatribes on the latest plot twists), and Angelʼs nearly three hundred questions that ranged from “Why is your favorite color white instead of pink?” to “What are you going to be when you grow up?”.
That night I once again had a vivid, in living Technicolor dream of Alex and the lake. He kept calling to me, but I still couldnʼt hear him. It didnʼt take long for me to grow bored with that routine, so I yelled, “Just tell me at school tomorrow,” and walked off into yet another dream, which may or may not have had something to do with dancing hippos.
Despite my five hour nap and early bedtime, I still managed to oversleep the next day. Jase threatened to make me walk as I stood in front of my mirror, trying to pick an outfit.
I fidgeted the entire way through English class. What was I going to say to Alex when I saw him? Would he really talk to me about the werewolf stuff? And what was going on between the two of us? As impossible as it seemed, it looked like Alex might actually like me too. I didnʼt know quite how to handle that.
At first, I was relieved that he wasnʼt waiting for me in Mr. Beckʼs class, but relief quickly turned to concern when he failed to make an appearance by the end of class.
“Where do you think Alex is today?” I asked Talley when we were supposed to be working on our written reviews of the Taming of the Shrew performance that seemed like a million years ago.
“I guess heʼs still sick,” she said, working diligently on her assignment as if there was something to say other than, “It sucked.”
“Heʼs sick?”
Talley looked at me as though I was missing something obvious. “Remember the whole having a fever and his brother coming to pick him up in Nashville thing?” Oops.
“Oh yeah. I meant that I canʼt believe that heʼs still sick. He thought it was only like a twenty-four hour bug or whatever.”
“I guess he was wrong,” Talley said, returning her very focused attention back to the criticism and away from me.
I leaned back and thought about all the reasons Alex could have for not being at school. I guess it was possible that he was actually sick. Of course, it seemed more reasonable that he was trying to avoid me because either (A) he didnʼt want to discuss the whole werewolf issue or (B) he deeply regretted the hand holding and almost kissing stuff.
I found myself rooting for the “he actually got sick” option, which was so not cool of me.
***
“Scout, I need to talk to you about the immigration article,” Mrs. Sole said as I slumped into a chair beside Nicole later that day.
“Weʼre not quite done with that yet,” I said. Of course, by not quite done I meant havenʼt even started . “Alex got sick before we could get much accomplished, but weʼll work on it tonight and have it ready by tomorrow.”
“I was afraid of that,” Mrs. Sole said. “Do you think you could write a thousand word op-ed piece to fill the spot?”
“Sure, but I really think Alex will feel up to working on it this afternoon.” Especially since he was never actually sick in the first place, unless being a werewolf is considered an illness.
Maybe itʼs a virus.
“Iʼm afraid that isnʼt going to happen. I got an email from the office this morning informing me that Alex was transferring schools.”
“He what?” There was an edge of hysteria to my voice. “Are you sure?” Maybe she misread the email. Maybe it was a different Alex. Maybe Mrs. Sole was developing Alzheimer's. Maybe...
“His brother signed the papers yesterday afternoon. They are moving back to Montana to live with a relative.”
Mrs. Sole may have said more, but I didnʼt hear it. My brain totally checked out for the rest of class.
After school, I
On a normal day ,I might have found all the attention annoying, but I was grateful for the distraction. Thanks to my siblings, I hardly had time to think between Jaseʼs assertions that he only watched the showfor the hot chicks (and his long diatribes on the latest plot twists), and Angelʼs nearly three hundred questions that ranged from “Why is your favorite color white instead of pink?” to “What are you going to be when you grow up?”.
That night I once again had a vivid, in living Technicolor dream of Alex and the lake. He kept calling to me, but I still couldnʼt hear him. It didnʼt take long for me to grow bored with that routine, so I yelled, “Just tell me at school tomorrow,” and walked off into yet another dream, which may or may not have had something to do with dancing hippos.
Despite my five hour nap and early bedtime, I still managed to oversleep the next day. Jase threatened to make me walk as I stood in front of my mirror, trying to pick an outfit.
I fidgeted the entire way through English class. What was I going to say to Alex when I saw him? Would he really talk to me about the werewolf stuff? And what was going on between the two of us? As impossible as it seemed, it looked like Alex might actually like me too. I didnʼt know quite how to handle that.
At first, I was relieved that he wasnʼt waiting for me in Mr. Beckʼs class, but relief quickly turned to concern when he failed to make an appearance by the end of class.
“Where do you think Alex is today?” I asked Talley when we were supposed to be working on our written reviews of the Taming of the Shrew performance that seemed like a million years ago.
“I guess heʼs still sick,” she said, working diligently on her assignment as if there was something to say other than, “It sucked.”
“Heʼs sick?”
Talley looked at me as though I was missing something obvious. “Remember the whole having a fever and his brother coming to pick him up in Nashville thing?” Oops.
“Oh yeah. I meant that I canʼt believe that heʼs still sick. He thought it was only like a twenty-four hour bug or whatever.”
“I guess he was wrong,” Talley said, returning her very focused attention back to the criticism and away from me.
I leaned back and thought about all the reasons Alex could have for not being at school. I guess it was possible that he was actually sick. Of course, it seemed more reasonable that he was trying to avoid me because either (A) he didnʼt want to discuss the whole werewolf issue or (B) he deeply regretted the hand holding and almost kissing stuff.
I found myself rooting for the “he actually got sick” option, which was so not cool of me.
***
“Scout, I need to talk to you about the immigration article,” Mrs. Sole said as I slumped into a chair beside Nicole later that day.
“Weʼre not quite done with that yet,” I said. Of course, by not quite done I meant havenʼt even started . “Alex got sick before we could get much accomplished, but weʼll work on it tonight and have it ready by tomorrow.”
“I was afraid of that,” Mrs. Sole said. “Do you think you could write a thousand word op-ed piece to fill the spot?”
“Sure, but I really think Alex will feel up to working on it this afternoon.” Especially since he was never actually sick in the first place, unless being a werewolf is considered an illness.
Maybe itʼs a virus.
“Iʼm afraid that isnʼt going to happen. I got an email from the office this morning informing me that Alex was transferring schools.”
“He what?” There was an edge of hysteria to my voice. “Are you sure?” Maybe she misread the email. Maybe it was a different Alex. Maybe Mrs. Sole was developing Alzheimer's. Maybe...
“His brother signed the papers yesterday afternoon. They are moving back to Montana to live with a relative.”
Mrs. Sole may have said more, but I didnʼt hear it. My brain totally checked out for the rest of class.
After school, I
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