Time to Make a Difference

Chapter 8: Monday Twist: Keefe's POV

Mondays suck.

Keefe's body ached all over and it didn't help that the school's cheap plastic chairs were incredibly uncomfortable.

Last night he had barely slept and getting ready for school was the absolute worst. Keefe had forgotten to get his hair products and his hair was a mess. Thank goodness he had a clean hoodie to hide his hair that resembled a bird's nest.

Keefe was currently in second period and he was trying his hardest to pay attention to class, but honestly who needs to know how algebra works?

Finally the bell rang and Keefe grabbed his backpack and speed-walked to his English Language Arts class. He made it just as the teacher, Ms. Smith was about to close the door.

"Ah, hello Mr. Sencen. Glad you decided to show up," she said with a smile, even though she was glaring at him with her evil eyes.

Keefe quickly said "hi" and then made his way to his desk. He sat right next to a girl with blond hair and brown eyes, her name was Sophie Foster.

"Well, good morning class. Today we'll be working on our book projects. You may begin," Ms. Smith announced.

Keefe asked himself how this was considered an accelerated ELA class if all they were doing was writing about some book of their choice. Ms. Smith had assigned this project a week ago and she also assigned them a partner to work with.

Usually Keefe hated working with another person. That meant he had to agree on what to do and communicate. But this time he actually was okay with who he got assigned to work with. Sophie Foster, the girl that sits at his right. She was shy and quiet and when Keefe suggested something she usually agreed. Working together was pretty easy. Technically, Foster was in 10th grade while he was in 11th grade, but she was apparently so smart that she was moved to the 11th grade accelerated ELA class.

"Hey Foster," Keefe said as he brought their poster over to her desk.

Foster turned and mumbled a quiet "hey". She looked exhausted and she had purple bags under her eyes.

"Are you okay? You look pretty tired," Keefe asked with genuine concern.

"Uh, yeah. Just didn't sleep well," she answered quickly.

Keefe didn't buy it. There was something else going on, but he could tell she didn't want to talk about it.

"Ok, so the only thing left for us to finish this poster is the drawings which I'm a pro at," Keefe said while sharpening his pencil.

"Huh. Are you really that good at drawing?" Sophie asked skeptically.

"Well, of course!" Keefe said feigning being offended. "You'll see soon enough. I guess I could draw a mockingbird or something."

The book they had decided to do was "The Hunger Games" because first of all, he had only read like a total of 20 books in his entire life and didn't know any good books that would pass Ms. Smith's expectations. And second, Foster said it was a good book and he trusted her judgement. Thirdly, if Foster had already read the book it meant he didn't have to which meant less work for him.

He had attempted to read it just to be a good teammate, but in the end he only made it through the first few chapters. He had too many other things to worry about: his job at McDonalds, school, homework, taking care of his precious hair, annoying his parents and sneaking out to fight crime.