Wishing Upon A Miracle

Ch 7: Final Summary

Today is the day Hayden Huxley will not be my partner in English any longer.

Hallelujah!

I only have to deal with him for four more months in our other class. We turned in our summaries two days ago. Yesterday we turned in our conclusions to both our summaries. Today she will hand us back our papers with our final grade on them. My first summary is sitting in front of me.

My study today is Hayden Liam Huxley. He was born on May 12th 1986 in Gransbury, Michigan. He moved to Florence Township, South Carolina when he was five-years-old. All of elementary school, he was a happy child. When middle school came, his parents divorced and he became a landslide. He quit football, he quit trying in school, he quit being his normal self. They Hayden we have today is a Hayden that prefers to party and skip school. Does his parents divorce have anything to do with his downward spiral? We won't know until I study him more. Will he open up and let me see the real him under all the tough, bad boy persona? We won't know for a few months. I believe his psychology mindset is fixed because as soon as you mention anything he's not interested in; he doesn't want to do it. He already considers himself to fail so why try. I think over time if he lets anyone other than his 'group' in; he'll become have growth mindset. But I wouldn't know until two months time.'

She hands us our second summaries that has our over all perspective with it back out.

'Hayden Liam Huxley is my final study. My first study on him differs from how I see him now. Hayden can't change nor will he change. He sees the world as his playground. He picks who he wants to associate with and if you aren't in the group; you're a no body. He doesn't acknowledge your existence. You're nothing to him. At first I was seeing glimpses of his old self. After the first few weeks, the glimpses of his old self went right back into his soul. His darken soul. My analysis on his psychology, his mind, is his psychology mindset is a mixture of fixed and growth. The weeks that I caught the glimpse of his old self I saw growth. He doesn't know who he truly is. Which is a shame. Because he is a bright person only if he could see the impact he has on people. Negative and the positive.'

I see the teachers comment at the bottom of my paper.

'You started out with an opened mind but as time went on you closed it off. At the beginning you weren't really judging your study now you're showing more judgment than you should. Your opinion will always be your opinion but I believe your study just needs a positive influence. Don't give up because he pushes back in a different way than your expecting. People react differently than others. There's a miracle there, you just lost track of it.

A-.'

I reread Ms. Harper's words over and over. Did I really cast judgement onto him? The same thing I criticized Hayden in the beginning? Doesn't that make me a hypocrite?! I slam my head on my table and groan.

What is wrong with me?

The day goes by without any incidents. No taunting, no bullying, no mean remarks. Nothing. As I get to my car, I see a few pieces of paper on my windshield. The papers are placed under my wipers. I grab the papers and place them in my car with my bag. Not even looking to see what they are. I get home and place the papers in my bag. I get out of the car with my bag on my shoulders. I hurry off to my room to begin my homework. I pull out my notebook and textbook. Along with it falls the papers that was on my car. They scatter across my floor which means I have to pick them up. As I lift the second paper, I see the name at the top corner.

Hayden Huxley.

The top line says English 4 summary number 2. I flip the second paper and see it's his first summary two months ago.

Why were his papers on my car?

Did he place them there?

I begin to read his first study summary.

'My study is Katie Morgan Alder. Her father is the township's preacher. Her mother died when she was just a baby. She's too religious and doesn't explore outside of church and school. She is in the constellations club and helps tutor other children, middle schoolers to be exact. She's the school's 'freak' but no one knows the Katie I used to know. She's closed off more than in elementary school. To me she's fixed minded. There's no hope for her. She sees the good in everything she's definitely a growth mindset person.'

Ouch! Okay?

I begin to read his summary and conclusion.

'Katie Morgan Alder is my study. At the beginning I didn't even want to do this assignment. To me it was stupid. I knew who she was but also threw in my own opinion and judgment towards her. Katie was born 6/24/86. She was born and raised here in Florence Township, South Carolina. She was my first friend I made when I came here. She's honestly a sweet person if people would actually get to know her. When she laughs, her eyes start to close. When she laughs, like really laughs, she'll snort then lose her breath. She will help anyone with assignments if they don't truly know what the heck is going on. She's genuinely a great human being. She loves the constellations and the piano. However, I thought she was a growth mindset because she loves to learn and grow. But as I got to know her all over again. She's a fixed mindset because she doesn't see a future in her sights. No college. Nothing. To me that's fixed I just wish I could prove to her there's a future down the road for her. She just has to look ahead over the obstacles and trial and errors.'

This causes my eyes to tear up. He didn't write a horrible summary on me. His mind changed over time.

However, Hayden there will never be a future for me like you believe. I just don't have the heart to tell you.

Not yet at least.

It's my only darkest secret.

My only secret period.