Geff and Jerald

Big Shot

I just woke up, and Jerald was wearing different clothes. "Huh? Why are you--" I stared at the calendar. The second day of school was today! I totally forgot about that. "C'mon, get up, it's almost time to go!" Jerald said. I shot out of bed like a rocket and quickly threw on some overalls. "You might need a coat. It's chilly," he said back. "Yeah, okay." I stuck my arms in the sleeves and hurried downstairs. I put on my hat and grabbed an apple from the pantry. I put it in my mouth and grabbed my backpack. Opening the door, a quick gust of wind hit me. Jerald was right. The temperature dropped today. Really odd...

Right then the bus came by and we both hopped on. Jerald was chewing something. "Hey, whatcha eatin'?" I asked him. He looked at me. "I'm chewing this thing called 'gum'. It tastes like a mix of berry flavors!" He chewed some more, then blew a big bubble. "Whoa! How are you doing that?" He popped it and gobbled it up. "Here's a piece, but don't let the bus driver see ya. There's a strict rule against these types of things, you know." So he passed me this pink-ish red stick covered in this sugary powder. I unwrapped it, and the second I popped it into my mouth, it tasted like paradise. This was so much better than eating spoonfuls of peanut butter. It was so good Jerald gave me another piece. "Only eat it when your other piece runs out of flavor, and keep it hidden. The same rules go for the school campus." I was confused. "Wait, it runs out of flavor? So you're telling me that it stops tasting like berries eventually? What does it run on?" Jerald laughed. "I have no idea why it does that. All I do know is that another piece revives all those taste buds hungry for more juiciness." He kept on chewing and blowing bubbles. One time he actually blew a BIG one and then it burst, covering a bunch of people in slimy, wet gum. "Hey, watch it! I just got this shirt yesterday!" Some guy told us.

Getting to school, I tried my best to make it through the day. One period went by, and no detention. Okay. We're off to a good start. The second period passed, and I got a close call. That spitball hit someone who was not a snitch. Third period was okay. We only read stuff like books and comics. And as for the fourth period...

"I'm giving you a warning, Geff. If you disrupt the class again, it's gonna have to be detention." I gulped. That ain't gonna happen. No sirree. I sped to my locker to grab my History textbook. This was my least favorite period of the day. Don't make conflict, just go in and get through the period. "Hey, Geff. Why a G? Why not J?" It was this annoying kid. No, Gabriel isn't in my class. It was another dude. "J-J-Jeffrey!" He chanted. He kept on making fun of my name, which was ironic, coming from a kid named Dieter. Yup. Real funny, huh? "Hey, Sam! You should really consider going on a Dieter!" He laughed. If he was like other kids he would get mad at people for making fun of his weight. But since we both hated the same kid, he knew what I was talking about. But Dieter was not amused. And that's when things turned sour. He had this look in his eye, as if he was telling me "you're dead". But I paid no attention. "Okay, we're gonna continue where we left off last week. Turn to page 118 in your history books." I flipped through, but first I raised my hand. "Uh, teacher?" She turned to face me. "I didn't come here until Friday of last week. What were we doing, exactly?"

"We were going to study the Constitution."

"The Consti-what now?"

Everybody laughed, even though I didn't say anything funny. "Just turn to page 118, and we'll explain it with the class."

So we learned about the Corn Starch Tuition. It wasn't half bad, just that Dieter kept on giving me this weird gesture. After class let out, he knocked all my notebooks off my desk. I bent down to grab them, but then he grabbed my hat off my head. "Ha! You didn't think I would do that, did you, J-Frey! Come and get it--" I punched him in the nose, and he started bleeding. I snatched the hat back. "You can say anything you want, but the hat is off-limits." Then I walked away, without saying a word.

The other periods flew by pretty quickly. But the best one was gym. I liked bouncing the ball, and since I was eight I've wanted to be a professional basketball player, just like those I see on TV. Or the TV we had. It broke and we couldn't afford another one. But those were the days. Man, where has my life been?

"GEORGE!"

"Uh, actually, sir, it's Geff."

"Ok, Geff. GET RUNNING! GO! GO! GO! GO!"

The only thing I didn't like was the coach. He was like a giant bear. That is, if bears had a whistle and a voice that could break glass. I ran a lot, and my overalls were soaked by the end of class. I circled around, trying to get air. It was so hot... I was even considering taking off my shirt until some guy burst through the door.

And he had brown overalls.