Opposite Force

Flashback: History

Peyton Warner | October, Junior Year

Mrs. Payne glares at the class through her weird pink glasses. "I'm disappointed in the test results," she snaps, hands on her hips.

I guarantee I'm part of the reason why. I'm a terrible test-taker. I qualify for extra time because of my disability, but being absent every test day is embarrassing. I tried when I was a freshman. My friends wouldn't let me hear the end of it, and a bunch of the smart kids got pissed because they thought I was getting special treatment for being on the football team. For all their brains, they can be real idiots sometimes. Everyone else on the team stays in class for tests, but that didn't stop Jamie Lennox from bitching me out the next day at lunch.

"I'm going to read an example of a good response," she continues. "As usual, Miss Martin wrote more than was required, but I'll share an excerpt that would have been a perfect answer on its own."

Jake groans. I jab my elbow into his side. Mikaela's bright red. Clearly, she doesn't want the attention. It's not like she asked Mrs. Payne to taunt us with her perfect answer.

"The decision to drop the atomic bombs during World War II is hotly contested. Hypothetical human costs must be considered. There is no way to be certain how many lives would have been lost if the U.S. and its allies had invaded Japan, but historians agree that an invasion would have led to a higher death toll. However, the effects of radiation were damaging to people for decades, causing deaths from radiation poisoning and leading to cancer."

Mrs. Payne goes on for another minute, sharing Mikaela's thoughts about why a better option would have been to use non-atomic bombs and to give Japan a chance to surrender before dropping any bombs.

Her answer is exactly what was in my head during the test. I couldn't get it onto paper with only five minutes left, so I scribbled a couple sentences that didn't really take a side. I thought it sounded nuanced at the time, but now that Mrs. Payne is handing the tests back, mine marked with a red C-, I can see that I did a terrible job. I just wrote out a stream of consciousness.

Sarah Singh squeezes Mikaela's hand under the desk. She looks close to tears. Mrs. Payne sucks. Couldn't she have kept the author anonymous?

I linger behind at the end of class, hoping Sarah will leave before Mikaela and give me the opportunity to talk to her. I finally have a decent excuse. I love history, and I guess she does too. I feel like Mikaela wouldn't mind if I struck up a conversation about World War II out of nowhere. She's crazy smart.

The second Mrs. Payne leaves the classroom, Mikaela turns to Sarah, a tinge of anger etched on her cheeks. "Can't she just let me live my nerdy life in peace?" she grumbles.

Sarah giggles. I've always liked her. She's fun and level-headed. I can see why she and Mikaela are friends. "She means it as a compliment, but I know what you mean," she says.

"Like, clearly I just sit there. I obviously don't want to be the center of attention. But let's read Mikaela's answer to the class after insulting everyone else, who probably did fine and didn't write a novel like me." She lets out a loud sigh. "Whatever. Ready for lunch? I need to eat my feelings."

She's funny and witty as hell. I doubt she wants anything to do with my C- ass, but it might be worth a shot.