𝑬𝒓𝒆𝒔 𝑴í𝒂 | ᴮᵒʸ ᴹᵉᵉᵗˢ ᵂᵒʳˡᵈ

26: Strike My Heart

"You don't know what the hell you're talking about!" I yelled.

"Adriana-Camila Paloma Flores!" Dad yelled back. "Dad, it's not like that! I sw—" He cut me off.

"Nothing about your relationship with Matteo is romantic. It may seem cool or rebellious to date an older boy, but it's not. It's fucking disgusting and I need you to get that through your damn head." He said.

I never heard him curse like that before. That's when I knew he really meant what he said and he wouldn't take it back even the slightest bit.

"Just get ready for school." He said, before leaving my room and closing the door.

♥

"Okay, we talked about The Grapes of Wrath. Who can give us an overview of what we've read so far?" Mr. Turner asked. Cory's hand shot up. "Muscle spasm, Matthews?"

"No, sir. I'd like to take a shot." Cory said. "Okay, everybody, give him room." Mr. Turner said. "Alright, I think the conclusion of the book shows the Joad family's been pretty much destroyed by the greedy farm bosses, but the authors telling us they still have their dignity, and they're gonna fight on."

The room went silent. "What just happened?" Mr. Turner asked. "Who are you and what have you done with know nothing Cory?" I asked.

"You're a disgrace to the entire back row." Shawn said. "Okay, this story about migrant farm workers in the nineteen thirties shows us that powerful people will exploit the powerless until they organize and stand up for their rights." Mr. Turner said.

Cory raised his hand. "Yes." "The thing about the nineteen thirties, will we have to know dates for the test?" Cory asked. "Well, the date is not as important as understanding the historical context of the whole struggle for workers' rights."

Shawn raised his hand. "Excuse me. What page is the historical context on?" He asked grabbing his book. "Are you kidding me?" Mr. Turner replied.

"Well, I need to know that for the test, right?" "No, forgot about the test. I want you to learn about this book to add to your personal knowledge, not to just pass a test. I don't want to hear anymore about the test."

Cory raised his hand. "What?" "When is the test?" "What did I just say?" "Okay, could I just ask one more question about the... you know the written thing that you put a grade on that tells our parents we're idiots?" Cory asked.

"There won't be any essays, will there?" "Matthews, as long as you read the book and open your yap during the class discussion, no test, okay? Now could we possibly return to what is important here?"

The bell rang. "No test!" We all exclaimed. "Flores, stay back a minute." Mr. Turner said. "Yes, sir?" I asked walking to the front of the room.

"So, I heard you've been seeing an eighteen year old." "You gonna lecture me about it too?" I asked.

"Kind of. See, when I was your age it felt cool to have an older girl pay attention to me." Mr. Turner said. "Problem was I was fourteen and she was nineteen. She was interested in things I didn't even know about yet."

"When you live in a world where you're in love with a person older than you sometimes stuff can happen that you don't want to." He said. "Like what?"

"She got me to drink, smoke, steal a car." "Why'd you do it?" "Because I was blinded by the exhilaration of having an older girlfriend. I wanted her to think I was cool. Turns out she was only doing it because she knew I was a gullible kid." Mr. Turner said.

"But you're not. You're smart and you know better." I nodded not wanting to look at Mr. Turner knowing he was right. "Go, you'll be late for your next class."