Behind Closed Hearts

Chapter 35

James' professor, Mr. Cardona, which he now knew was Eddie's father, went about the room passing out quizzes they had taken last week and James waited with his hand pressed to his face.

His grades had been suck-tastic recently and he was a bit afraid to see what his test grade was. He had improved on his homework though.

Mr. Cardona came upon his desk and James straightened immediately, glancing up at his teacher impatiently. He set a test down by James' hands. At the top of the paper was a bright red 'A'.

"Good job, Mr. Wilson," he said with an encouraging smile.

James beamed as his teacher moved on. Slowly, he was turning things around. James hoped to make it back to the straight A's he had been getting just a few months ago.

After class, he deliberately took his time collecting his materials, allowing the other students to escape the classroom first. Then, James approached Mr. Cardona's desk. "Ah, sir?"

"What can I do for you, James?"

He shifted his backpack up his shoulder. "I was wondering what my grade is at right now. By the end of the semester, I want to maximize my total score. Maybe get an A?"

Mr. Cardona turned and logged onto his computer. He slowly scrolled across a screen, settling on James' name. "Right now, you are at a B+."

"Really?" He grinned. This was certainly better than he expected.

"Yeah," his teacher said, "your score from your old school averaged it out. And I think, if you ace the final exam next week, you could bring it up to an A."

"Thank you, sir! I won't let you down."

By the time James made it to therapy, he was in a fantastic mood, and nothing Nana said would get to him this time. "Hello boys!" she said brightly as they entered the room.

Aleks wobbled in on his crutches while James carried Aleks' backpack for him. He struggled to make it around the chair to sit down.

"How are you doing, Aleks?" she asked, watching him flop into the short chair with his leg stretched out in front of him.

"Oh, just swell," Aleks said sarcastically.

James put his crutches aside and set both of their bags down by the base of Nana's desk, before heading to his own seat. He settled in.

"What did you do to your leg?" she asked with a concerned look on her face.

Aleks grinned. "Just a soccer accident. I broke it while on the field."

"Do you want to talk about it?" Nana asked.

"Why do you always have to turn this into a sappy moment?" He chuckled, rolling his eyes at her. "Not everything we do have significant meaning."

"I feel like it was because of me," James suddenly inputted.

The others looked at him. Aleks had this look of horror on his face that made James almost laugh. Nana only looked inquisitive.

"Ah, don't get me wrong," he said quickly, "It really isn't a big deal. I'm not agonizing over it. It's just that I told Aleks I hated him before he went out onto the field. I think it might have distracted him or something? I don't know, it's just how I feel." James finished with a shrug.

Aleks scoffed. "You are so full of yourself, James. I was being a jerk, so I deserved it. You know what they say, Karma's a bitch!"

James gave his brother a smile which Aleks returned. They were both trying to take the blame for something that was blameless, and somehow it comforted them.