Nawfside High

Chapter 3

Kirsnick

When he returned to work on Monday he could tell that everyone was talking about it. He walked into the building, and he was met with hushed whispers that he ignored and made his way to his classroom. He put his bag down on his desk and when he turned to walk back out of the classroom, he found Ms. Tatum standing there. She was holding the books that she had borrowed the Friday before. An apologetic smile tugged at one corner of her mouth, like she was smiling at a sick animal that did not know that its time was ending.

"You sneak around like that all the time?" he asked.

"I wasn't," she said quickly. "I couldn't knock because my hands were full."

He laughed a little. "I was joking," he walked over and took the book from her.

"So, you have a sense of humor now?" she asked. Once her hands were free, she slipped them into her pockets. Kirsnick made a face. "What?" she asked.

"Skirts have pockets?" he asked.

"Mine do, I make them myself." she replied.

"You make all your clothes or just the skirts?" he asked not really knowing why he was asking. He was curious.

"Most of them," she replied.

"that's cool," he replied.

"Aww thanks," she said. There was a moment of silence, but not comfortable silence. The kind of silence that was thick with the anticipation of where the next topic would come from.

"You can ask if you want," he replied.

"Ask about what?" she replied. Kirsnick looked up at her and smiled.

"You were at the bar just like I was, well before I left." he said.

"Well, I wasn't really paying attention because I was playing pool and I was winning, but I did hear and I think that it's very valiant of you,"

"What is?" he asked.

"You know, overcoming homelessness isn't an easy thing-"

"Hold on," he turned away from the shelf in front of him. "Who told you I was homeless?"

"I mean, it's going around." she shrugged. "And people are laughing but, but not me because honestly I don't think it's something to laugh at."

"I was never homeless." he said cutting her rambling short. She was trying really hard to give the rumors a positive spin, but they didn't need a spin because they were lies.

"Oh, well it was just....Ms. Young-"

"Came to my apartment and saw that I had no furniture and called me a bum." he said. "But she didn't know that I just moved from the other side of the country and haven't bought any furniture yet."

"Really? The other side of the country?" her eyebrow furrowed with curiosity.

"Yeah, I moved there after I graduated....I have a degree too." he replied.

"Interesting," she said. "Any more information you'd like to share?" she walked, in the whimsical way that she moves around, and sat down on top of his desk.

"So, you think I'm interesting?" he asked her.

She was nearly across the room, but he could see her flush with embarrassment. "What?"

"you're asking about my personal life, so you think I'm interesting?" he asked.

She shrugged again. "I was just asking, you know you're kind of standoffish."