School Activities

Given Chance

Alma followed Ennis to his locker when the final bell rang. "Are we really gonna hang out with Jack Twist?" she asked, her voice low. She stood near him so she wouldn't get jostled by the other passing students.

Ennis opened his locker and looked at her. "He won't show."

Alma looked up at him. "You sound really sure about that."

"I am."

Alma nodded her head, a bit hopeful. "After all, neither of you are the type of person the other would gladly hang out with," she said. "He's a jerk."

"And has probably screwed around with every girl in the school."

"Ennis!"

"Ain't it the truth?"

Alma shrugged one shoulder. "All I've heard is stories," she said. "But there's a lot of rumors that go around in the women's bathroom." She shook her head in disgust at the way those teens spoke about Jack. It was ridiculous. Jack Twist wasn't that impressive.

Ennis closed his locker then took her hand. "Come on," he said then headed for the exit.

They walked the entire way to the park. Just like every other day, the park was empty. He and Alma sat in their usual spot under the big oak tree. He pulled out his notebook as she took out her book of poems. She would read out loud as he sat there, his mind wandering and searching for the best inspiration for his own poem.

"Howdy!"

They both turned when they heard Jack's voice. Ennis heard Alma groan beside him and close her book. Ennis looked down at his notebook and just studied the blank page before him. None of them moved for what seemed like forever.

"Guess I should've realized how unwelcome the invitation was."

Ennis looked up at Jack, slightly squinting against the sunlight. He sat up a bit straighter and looked at Alma when she gathered her things, mumbling that she was going home and would call him later. She kissed him on the cheek then walked off. He picked up the book that she had left behind then looked at Jack as he sat down on the other side of him, leaning back against the tree.

"What do y'all do out here?"

Ennis closed his notebook then shifted slightly further from Jack. Before he could say anything, Jack snatched the book from his hands. "Hey!" he protested, reaching for it but Jack leaned over far enough out of his reach.

"Poems?" Jack asked, studying the book cover before looking over at Ennis. He gave a slight smirk. "How closeted are you?"

Ennis shoved his notebook into his backpack, grabbed it, and got to his feet, dusting himself off. "Can I get the book back?" he asked, holding his hand out. "Alma'll want it back."

"In a minute," Jack said, sitting up and leaning against the tree. He opened the book and flipped through a few pages. " 'Oh, how beautiful the ocean lies,' " he read out loud. " 'Deep and blue as your radiant eyes.' " He shook his head. "What the fuck..?" He jumped when Ennis grabbed the book out of his hand. "You really read that shit?"

"What you read, I wrote," Ennis said, sticking the book in his backpack and zipping it up. He slung the strap over his shoulder then started away from the tree.

Jack scrambled to his feet, hurrying after Ennis. "Hey, I'm sorry," he said, stopping as Ennis came to a slow stop, his feet crunching amid the fallen leaves. "I guess I don't think before I speak."

"What do you want?" Ennis asked, turning to him. He gripped the strap of the backpack with one hand. He gestured to himself with the other. "Get enough proof to parade me around the school as the Class Fag?"

"I didn't mean anything..." Jack trailed off, not knowing what to say. He wasn't used to this type of feeling. Guilty. Sure, he wouldn't change anything he had ever done, but he was almost to the point where he WANTED to apologize to Ennis. It wouldn't make anything better. Jack was falling deeper into the ditch with every word that came out of his mouth because he couldn't learn to actually be NICE to someone that he usually wanted nothing to do with.

Ennis stood there for a moment then looked away, studying the few trees around them before looking back at Jack. "If you tell me the reason why you wanna hang out with me," he said, kicking at the leaves. "I might let you."

Jack quickly thought up a reason. "You're the new guy," he said. "When I pulled that prank the other day, I didn't know that. I usually make all the new guys feel welcome and just have fun for a week." He knew Adam would definitely take this into consideration for future students.

Ennis didn't look like he believed him at first. "You're serious?" he asked. "Because all I've seen and heard about you--"

"Why believe rumors?" Jack cut in. He gestured to Ennis. "They ain't true about you."

Ennis had no answer to that.

"How 'bout you meet me at school during recess?" Jack asked. "We can shoot some hoops or somethin'." He was definitely not coming back to the park and in order to get Ennis to enjoy himself, Jack wouldn't take his and Alma's time here away ever again. They could have the park.

"I've got other school activities during recess," Ennis said a bit hesitantly. "I, uh...I'm bein' tutored."

"Oh," Jack said. "Then I'll just meet you at lunch tomorrow? We can set somethin' up. Better yet, call or text me." He gave Ennis his phone number. "Believe me--"

"Whether I regret it or not," Ennis said. "I'll decide later." He turned and left the park.

Jack watched him go, something about that tutoring nagging at him but he wasn't about to say anything. He looked around then headed home.

--------------------------------------------------

Ennis called Alma as soon as he got back home. He let her know that he had her book and he would bring it over in the morning when they walked to school. She asked about Jack and he told her what had happened.

"I don't trust him," Alma said. "There's gotta be something to this. No guy like him would actually willingly pay attention to someone like you. Especially not long after he made fun--"

"I believe there's something more to him."

Alma gave a slight sigh. "Ennis, you're too--"

"I'm givin' him a chance."

Alma was silent for a moment. "And what if it blows up in your face?"

"It won't."

"Yes, it will," Alma said. "Do you really want me to be the one to say 'I told you so?' "

"He sounded sincere to me," Ennis said. "He says he does it to all the new students."

"I've never heard that before."

"Do you personally know every single student when they were new there?"

"Well, of course not--"

"So you don't know," Ennis said. "I'll show you that he can be trusted."

"I trust you," Alma said. "And I only hope you know what you're doin'."