Forget Green Gables

A Balm for the Soul

 Danny finds me after the exam and holds my hand down the hallway. "What happened this morning? Usually, you beat me to school."

"Power surge out where Jamie and I live. We got woken up by one very antsy dog who had to pee. I called Jamie while Felix dealt with the dog and woke up our parents. No morning shower to help wake up. I feel gross." I stop at my locker and toss in all the stuff I do not need.

"At least you got here on time. Maestra wouldn't have let you in if you'd been late."

"She would have had to. My dad and Jamie's dad both called the school and explained what happened and why the three of us may potentially be late. They talked directly to the principal, who had the same issue at his house, so we were golden. Maestra can kiss my-" I cut off when I round the corner and find my math teacher walking toward me.

"Good morning Ms. Strait. Mr. Algrim," Mrs. Emens says cheerfully, continuing on her way. "I'll see you after lunch, Ms. Strait."

"Are you nervous about your math final?" Danny asks once we are seated in the cafeteria.
"Yes and no. I know the formulas cold. I just worry about making a stupid mistake."

Danny nods. Math is his strongest area, hands down, no matter how often he bemoans it. The teachers contemplated putting him into Integrated III, meaning he would take AP Calculus as a junior and then Calculus II at MSU our senior year, but Danny voted against it. He is content taking AP Calculus as a senior with our classmates.

"Hi," Jamie chirps. "Boy, Danny, you weren't kidding when you said that Integrated II final was a killer."

Danny nods. Jamie is a math whiz in the same advanced track as Danny but with a different teacher. Sometimes I hate that I decided not to try for the advanced math track because it meant I would end with Honors Pre-Calculus my senior year, but I hate math. I do great in science, but math is elusive. I can capture it for a few hours at a time and through hard work do alright with it, but I will never master it. My father gave up on me being a math genius like him when I was 11. He even told me it was okay to get a B in math if it meant I was working my hardest. A B?! I don't get Bs. U of M won't accept a B. I can't get a B and go to medical school!

"What do you have this afternoon?" Danny asks Jamie. "You can't possibly be as nervous for it as Cheyanne is for math."
"Physical science with Fowler."

"The physical science final is all just applied math. It's a freakin' breeze," I say, stabbing a forkful of salad and shoving it in my mouth. "Man, I want some Pringles." I always want salty chips when I eat bland salad.

"The a la carte line has some," Danny says, swinging his leg over the bench to get up. "Plain?"

"Yeah, but it's ok. Mom said something about having Chinese tomorrow night for dinner to celebrate finals being over, so I better not. Felix and I will eat three orders of egg rolls each." I catch his hand and pull him gently back to the bench.
"Right," Danny answers, lacing his fingers through mine. "How's cheerleading?"
"Good. Coach asked me to be the captain of the all-freshman stunt group." I take a drink with my free hand. "How's basketball, Jamie?"

Jamie grins. "I have the highest free-throw average on the team," she answers. "Coach didn't think I could play because I'm so much shorter than the rest of the girls, but all that happens is that I get fouled a lot because they forget where I'm at, and I get lots of extra trips to the line."

"How's Rebecca doing?"

"Good. She's a rebound queen."