Short stories and Other Whatnots

The Wire Guy

“Does it bother you that most of your friends are seniors?” Claudia asked as she cut the thread with her teeth, “And that we’re going to graduate next week?” She added. I shook my head to answer her question, “I have other friends, Claudia. Besides, I only have 3 friends in your year, and one of them is you.” I said to her, “Does it bother you that you’ll never see my uniquely beautiful face every day?”

She scoffed, “Oh, your face is unique alright.”

 “Shut up.”

Claudia laughed, “Just sew that pathetic skirt faster, we look like idiots sewing in the hallway.” She said, making faces at some of the freshmen looking at us like complete weirdos, “Take a picture, it’ll last longer!”

“You sure are a great role model for the freshmen, Claudia.” I say to her closing the sewing box, “I swear to God if Le Clair doesn’t give me at least an A-, I will smother her with this.” I held up my finished project in the air, appreciating it in every angle. Le Clair is my Home Economics teacher; she’s tight when it comes to projects like this.

“Claudia!” This guy called, holding a mass pile of wires, “You told me that you’d help me with my Tech project, I am literally tangled up here.” He said, holding up his arms which were certainly tangled up. Wire guy glanced at me, giving me a first half of a nod, the usual nod when a guy passes by you, “Hey.”

Claudia groaned, angrily stuffing the left over cloth from my project for Le Clair in a plastic bag, “I told you that I’d help you later!” She said, “I’m helping a friend here with her project too, you know.” She said, acknowledging my presence.

Wire guy looked at my skirt project, then at me, and then at Claudia, “Well, that skirt thing looks finished. Now help me.”

She scoffed, taking the skirt from my grip, “No, it is not! There is a lot to fix! The hem is all wrong; the stitches look like they’ve been done by a person who had an epileptic attack while sewing. This skirt needs help.” Claudia glanced at me, “Sorry, kid, but you are terrible at this.”

I shrugged, “I’m not going to deny that.”

Wire guy still stood there, his eyes narrowed at us, “So... Nobody’s going to help me then?”

Claudia set her eyes on me, “Well, this one’s smart. You two can figure that – whatever that is you call your project.” She pulled me up from the hallway floor and pushed me and wire guy into their classroom (which I am not allowed to be in by the way), “Have fun figuring that one out.”

“You are going to look pathetic, sewing outside the hallway alone.” I hissed at her. She rolled her eyes at me, “Ugh, who cares? I’m graduating anyways.” She then pranced happily back to her sewing station on the floor and rejoiced in re-doing what I did to my project.

I turned to look at wire guy, who stood there looking like a sad puppy holding wires. Oh well, time to think like I know how the hell to help him in whatever project he’s making. We set our camp at one corner of the room, our backpacks, various tools, and rolls of electrical tape surrounding us. He placed the wires between us and looked up at me, “Do you know how to make an extension cord?”

I shook my head, “No, but I can try.”

He sighed, “Well, you’re better than nothing.”

“How sweet of you to say so,” I muttered under my breath, “Now, what kind of teacher do you have to give a project like this to you guys?”

He laughed dryly, “Brown,” He said, “He’s a pain, I’ve had him for Tech class for the past 2 years in this school.” He then pauses to look at me, “Lucky for you undergrads though,”