Georgetown Academy, Book One

Chapter: Eight

Wednesday, 10:39am.

“Can anyone tell me which party Andrew Jackson belonged to when he ran for president?” Mr. Walsh asked.

Evan knew the answer, but she was too distracted to raise her hand. She was sitting so close to Hunter, their elbows were practically touching. Before class started, Evan had impulsively moved into the empty chair next to him where Ellie typically sat, making an excuse about having to ask him a question about student government for an article she was writing. And then Ellie had never shown up and so, Evan casually remained in the seat long after he had answered it, simultaneously dying of happiness at her close proximity to Hunter and worrying incessantly that everyone else in the class thought it was weird she was sitting there.

Kevin Pike, whose mother was head of the Republican National Committee, called out, “Andrew Jackson was a Democrat. That’s why the deficit spiraled out of control during his presidency. Boo-ya!” He gave the guy sitting next to him a high five.

“Okay, that’s not exactly true—” Mr. Walsh began, but as usual, he got steamrolled. He never learned you couldn’t ask questions like this in a G.A. history class.

“I find that interesting,” interjected Fiona Hutchison, whose grandfather had advised three democratic presidents, “because actually Jackson was able to reduce the federal deficit to the lowest it ever was. Probably because he wasn’t afraid to tax the richest two percent.”

And now she’s just repeating campaign slogans. Evan didn’t mind if people had different opinions than her, as long as they could back them up. You would think at a school like Georgetown Academy, everyone would have really strong, thought-out positions, but most of the time, the students just parroted their parents’ talking points as their own.

“Getting back to Mr. Walsh’s original question,” Hunter began from his seat next to her and Evan immediately brightened. She was still reeling over their amazing conversation last night at the rookie party. Though she had initially been nervous when she realized Hunter had seen Luke kissing her, it ended up having the opposite effect of making him want to talk to her more. And Luke got his moment being seen making out with a girl, so everybody won.

“Jackson was a member of the Democratic-Republican party,” Hunter was saying, “Which, actually, wasn’t akin to either modern-day party.” Evan loved that whenever Hunter spoke in class, he always tried to say something that would cut the tension and unite the other students.

“He’s right,” Evan chimed in, aware of Hunter’s deep blue eyes focusing on her. “The tenets of the Democratic-Republican party had elements that both modern day parties would never agree with these days.”

“All right, thank you everyone for your input,” Mr. Walsh said wearily, “Let’s get into the details of his presidential bid in 1824—”

“Was that before or after he pulled a Sarah Palin and quit as a senator in the middle of his term?” asked Fiona, her eyes flashing.

A loud “oooohhhhh” went around the classroom.