The Sins of Regret

Chapter 8

I

"You've got to be strong, for Trevor, for Mark, for Joel, for everyone. Stay strong." Ross told himself as he opened the door to his creative writing class.

Shock hit him like a blow to the chest.

Sitting at the front of the class, in Bridget's seat, was Mark.

"Hey," Ross said as he sat down beside him.

"Okay, listen to this great idea I have for a superhero. Imagine, if I could control atoms."

Ross was too stunned to reply.

"Wouldn't that be awesome. I could teleport, I could fly, I could do anything. And, I could keep the atoms in my body from dying, and live forever."

Ross turned his head away to face the teacher.

"Everybody, pull out your poetry notebooks. You're spending the day writing three poems. One about nature, I expect that to be full of imagery. One about emotions, that should be easy, and has the potential to be really campy and cute. And the last poem, you choose the topic. Any questions? Parker?"

"Can the last one be a rap?" He and his friends laughed.

"It can be whatever you want." The teacher turned and sat at her desk.

Mark turned to Ross, " You know, I think I'm gonna write about how relaxing it is inside of a volcano."

Ross nodded, "I mean, that's how I spend my weekends, surrounded by bubbling rivers of lava."

"It's really soothing."

Ross turned to his own notebook, but it was coming in and out of focus. His thoughts took over giving him a sick feeling in his stomach. He didn't notice that the bell had rung until the teacher pointed him out of the room.

Ross stepped into the administration building, when he noticed a young woman poking around in the principal's office.

"Hey, Kid!" He snapped, startling the girl, "I don't know what you think you're doing, but stop. Now, is not the time to be screwing with admin." He pushed her out of the office, "Now get to class, or... reflect on your life choices."

The girl brushed herself off, "Well, I'm flattered. Hi, I'm Mrs. Gold. I'm filling in as the principal here for the time being."

Ross turned and gently slammed his head into the wall.

"You must be Ross Parker," Mrs. Gold laughed.

"Unfortunately," he groaned, still leaning against the wall.

She reached in her pocket, "I heard you really helped out around here when it got chaotic."

"I'm an aid this period. I kind of had to help."

"Well, from what I heard, you kept the head on this school. So, I want you to have this."

In her outstretched hand was a twenty dollar bill.

"What's the catch?" Ross questioned.

"The catch is... You have to help the office. Looks like you already did that, so we're even. Now, go get a snack or something. I have work to do."

Before she could change her mind, Ross took the money and drove off.

He walked into his math class, soda in hand, where a withered old man with faded brown hair was writing on the chalkboard.

The bell to start class rang, and the man snapped around. "Hello, Class," he began in a cranky loud voice. Even from the back of the room, Ross could see the spit flying from his mouth. "I'm the fill-in teacher, Mr. Anne. I want you to take out a piece of paper and solve these problems that I have written on the board."