Bridge to Terabithia 2: A Second Chance

3. S.C.U.B.A.

Eighth period came quickly on that stifling-hot Monday afternoon.

The nerves in the class were palpable and it was obvious that nobody, except for, maybe Madison, wanted to be the first to present. Ms. Steinberg had them start off class with a warm-up exercise that had everyone on edge even more because it felt like she was delaying the inevitable for some reason. And then came the dreaded question:

"Who would like to go first?"

The class remained silent, almost as if everyone was hoping that they were invisible enough to ensure Ms. Steinberg wouldn't pick on them first. Jess refused to be the first one to get up but silently promised that he would go second or maybe third. Or maybe fourth. Or even fifth. Just not first.

"C'mon, people! You're all going to have to go at some point! Don't make me choose!" Ms. Steinberg complained.

Alexandra's hand shot up just before Madison Baker's did, catching Ms. Steinberg's attention before the overachiever could and Jess felt a little relieved, for he'd endured being in the same class as Madison ever since second grade and couldn't stand her anymore. Their teacher went over to her laptop to pull up the powerpoint and then motioned for Alexandra to begin.

His neighbor smiled at the class -- Jess detected a bit of shyness in her grin and smiled at her just as they made eye contact, which seemed to calm her down and give her a boost of confidence -- as she said,

"Hi, everyone. I'm Alexandra and I decided to present a poem I found online. It's titled 'Self-Contained Underwater Breathing Apparatus' and it was written by a poet named Leslie Hannigan."

"Is this poet living or dead?" Ms. Steinberg asked from her seat on the stool next to the computer.

"She's alive," Alexandra answered, her blunt response sending a chill shooting down Jess' spine. "She's still posting poems. Actually, I think she's around my age."

"That's really interesting. Off the top of your head, can you tell us the title of one other poem that she's written?"

"She just posted a new one called 'Mama' a few days ago but I haven't read it yet."

"Well, if you get around to reading it, let me know what you think. I'd love to hear your thoughts."

"Will do," Alexandra promised and upon receiving a cue from Ms. Steinberg, she continued her presentation.

Jess' vision went blurry as he read over the poem typed out on the slide and he felt like he was having an out-of-body experience.

He could hear Leslie's voice reading the poem in the place of Alexandra's, almost like his dear friend was presenting the poem with his next door neighbor. It was too much to take in and resulted in Jess spending the rest of class feeling numb, even as Madison Baker got up after Alexandra followed by two more classmates who finished up five minutes before class ended, allowing them to be dismissed just as the bell rang.

"We'll continue presentations tomorrow! Those of you who haven't finished your projects better be ready to go!" Ms. Steinberg threatened as they packed up and filed out into the hallway to their lockers.

The building was always in a bustle after school, with some students going home while others were getting ready to head to after-school activities or sports practice. Jess himself had to meet up with the track team in a bit but figured he had just enough time to ask Alexandra a quick question.

"Hey, do you mind if we talk for a second?" Jess asked. He'd found Alexandra by her locker and he considered it a miracle, too, because he didn't think it could have waited until lunch tomorrow to talk about what had happened in class today.