Discovering Spencer

19. Rumor has it

Sunlight streamed through the windows of my English class, tickling my skin. It was a beautiful Monday morning, one I couldn’t enjoy for the simple fact that I had returned to school after a very eventful thanksgiving break.

I wanted to stay at home and do nothing all day. I begged my parents to let me stay home today using all the excuses I could think of but they weren’t having it. My mother, who was very well aware of the school year schedule, pointed out that midterms were underway and I needed to be present for every class period.

Here I was sitting in English, barely listening to Ms. Paisley as she discussed the play Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller. I had to remain inconspicuous in this discussion because I did not do the reading over the break. I was too busy thinking and worrying about Logan. Once again Logan Whitlock had successfully managed to take my mind off schoolwork to focus on him. What was this boy doing to me?

I was a fool to think I was ever going to find a way to juggle school and my social life. It was absolutely imperative that I made good grades so I can get accepted into a good school but in order for that to happen I had to do my work and pay attention in class. I enjoyed being with Logan but it was becoming clear to me that I wasn’t ready for a relationship. My parents knew this; why else would they ban me from dating?

“Okay, Class.” Ms. Paisley was standing in front of her desk now, holding a small stack of papers. Oh no, not a pop quiz. I prayed a small prayer internally, begging God to not let her give us a pop quiz.

“In my hands are papers that contain two short answer questions,” she said. “These questions are about the themes and symbols that were in the play.”

Oh shit! This was not good. How in the hell was I going to answer not one but two short answer questions when all I did was glance at the book. I knew I should have read the play. I had all of yesterday to read it but I was so consumed with the long phone conversation I was having with Quinn regarding Logan that I didn’t. And when I finally got off the phone Logan called to apologize for being “such a dick” his words not mine, we ended up falling asleep over the phone and now it was about to bite me in the ass.

“Pass the papers down the row please,” She instructed as she handed them out.

When Matt Samuels turned around to give me the last piece of paper, he lingered for a few seconds to look at me.

“Here,” he whispered with a coy smile.

I snatched the paper out of his hands causing his smile to fade. What the hell was that? I’ve known Matt Samuels for years and I’ve never said a word to him, so why would he look at me like that all of a sudden. Did he have a thing for me? No, no way, I shuddered at the thought. I couldn’t think about Matt Samuels and the possibility of his sudden infatuation for me, I had a quiz to fail.

I glanced down at the paper, reading and re-reading the questions. I didn’t know enough to fake an answer so I pretended that I was writing something just to make it seem that I knew what I was doing. Sitting next to me was, Henry Black, one of the smartest kids in school. He looked super focused as he jotted down his answers, no doubt he’ll get a hundred on this. I craned my neck over at him to peek at his answers. I copied the majority of his first answer; luckily I was a master of subtlety that Ms. Paisley didn’t catch me but Henry did and he looked none too pleased.

I turned my head away fast. I couldn’t believe I was caught cheating on a student by the student himself. This was beyond embarrassing and so unlike me. Why did I let it come to this? Henry black respected me as his fellow peer. I was one of the few students who was not afraid to go against him in a heated discussion during class. Now what was he going to think of me as: a copy-cat, a cheater, a failure__