Broken Strings

Chapter 9

   When we got back to the classroom, everyone was telling Ms. M about what a I just did.
    "So you were holding out on us" said Ms. M,
    "It's just I game" I replied normally.
    "Not the way you play it" said Jeffrey,
    "Yeah, next game we're gonna kick serious butt all the way to pizza hut" said Larry.
     "Hopefully you all will" I replied when I heard what they were thinking,
     "Us you mean you" said a kid with glasses.
      "Thanks for the offer but I can't play" I replied,
      "Why not" asked the twins.
      "Family stuff" I said to them, Ms.M knew where I was going with this.
  She knew I didn't want to talk about it so she said "Well, now, everyone take your seats".
         We did what we were told, but as we sat everyone starred at me. I know they're gonna plan something to get me to play.

     After school, I did the usual routine : pick up Mike and head home. But when we got outside, I saw my class waiting for me.
    I tried to avoid them, but then Larry yelled "Juan wait up!" And the whole class, including him, caught up to Mike and I.
    "What do y'all want" I asked,
    "We want to convince your mom to let you play" replied Kate.
     "Really, listen guys, I'm not sure if my mom can handle all the pressure and risks of me doing this. I mean she's already got enough to worry about, it's hard for her and I kind of wanted to get a job and help her out." I said to them.
      "Dude, this is a teamwork thing, we can't do this as a whole class without you" said a blonde boy.
      "And besides, that extra job, you could do it in the summer, we'll even help you out if you'd like." Said one of the twins, then the whole class agreed.
      I knew they weren't going to give up so I kept walking.
     "Are you guys coming or not" I asked
them, then they followed.
     "Before we get to your house, let's introduce ourselves. I'm a Larry Musgrove" said Larry,
     "I'm Evan Schiff" said the kid with glasses.
      "I'm Nick Anderson" said the blonde boy,
      "I'm Sophia Convertino" said one of the blonde girls.
      "We are Lou and Sue Gates" said the twins,
       "I'm Tak Yamato" said the Asian one,
       "I'm Newt Shaw" said a little one about Mike's age.
       "And I'm Kate Douglas" said Kate holding out her hand,
       "Hi, I'm Juan Morales" I replied shaking her hand and staring at her with an amazed expression. She stared back, then the whole class said "Hi, Juan".
     "And this is my little brother Mike" I replied,
    After all that was done, we began walking.
     "So how far is your house" asked Kate as we walked side by side.
     "It's not that far, only 5 minutes if you walk, 3 if you run." I replied.
    "... Hey about what happened before all this. I'm sorry about that, I was just mad" she said apologizing.
   "It's okay, I would've been mad, too" I replied smiling at her.
    "Actually, I would've been pretty pissed" I joked,
    She laughed, "Thanks for accepting my apology... so can I ask you something" she asked.
    "Sure" I replied,
    "Why do you need this job???" She asked,
    "Well my mom is pregnant and I need to help her out since I'm the man of the house now" I replied.
    "So you have no dad?",
    "No dad"
    "It's hard, huh having a parent gone, my mom actually left a few years ago after her and my dad got divorced"
    "Really, I'm sorry"
    "So what happened with you and your dad, or is it none of my business?"
    "No, it's ok. Actually my mother left him a few months back, he was an alcoholic, drug addict, abuser, basically not 'dad' material."
    "I'm sorry to hear that. My dad's an alcoholic, too"
    "That sucks doesn't it"
    "Yup"
     "Well if you ever want to leave, just think of it like this, me and you, we would've never met" I said flirting with her.
    "Really, what makes you meeting me so special? " she asked with a grin,
    "You and me-" before I could finished the kids started singing
   "Kate and Juan sitting in a tree-" before they could finish Kate yelled
    "Shut up!"
I just laughed.
    "Why are you laughing, you never answered my question" she said to me,
     "We can drop our acts with each other, we can relate to one another, we can talk to each other" I replied.
     "Oh really?" She said smiling,
     "Yeah, really" I replied, then we laughed.