The Phantom of Scranton Hill

3

That day started off like any other, but would soon be the first of many that would change her life forever. It was a Tuesday, and Justine and Dax were sitting in their second class of the day, Honors Algebra II. There were thirty-seven minutes until the period ended and thirty-seven minutes until nutrition. A day couldn't go by when they weren't in trouble, and today wasn't any different.

"Do you think Mr. Kaguras eats glue?" Dax leaned over his desk to ask Justine. Startled at his immediate proximity, she jumped in her seat, but luckily didn't make any noise.

Mr. Kaguras was a middle-aged man born and raised in China. He was relatively short and wore dress pants two sizes too small. His pitch black, spiked hair was stiff as a rock from the pounds of gel stroked into it, and his eyes were temporarily crossed from a baseball to the back of the head. A personal agenda was set against Daxius, and it isn't that hard to guess why or to whom the baseball belonged. One side defends that the math teacher shouldn't have been in the middle of a friendly game of toss, and the other that a friendly game of toss shouldn't be held in the middle of a math class.

"Ah, Mr. Davidson, my favorite student," the teacher remarked, sarcasm underlying his tone. "Would you and Miss Powers like to come to the board and solve this system of equations?" A red and green whiteboard marker was in each of his hands, and he clearly thought he knew something the students did not. Boy, was he wrong.

"Really?" Justine whispered to Dax as they raised out of their chairs and approached the board. "And here I thought we would go a day without having our names outed."

"Oh, come on, J," Dax reasoned, a playful smirk dancing on his lips, "we do this every day. How bad can it get before you just accept it as part of your life?" The two teenagers grabbed their individual markers and got ready to solve.

y=2x+4

y=3x+2

Immediately, their minds began to work, their brains hardwired to work alongside the other. Their hands scribbled numbers on the whiteboard, completing the problem with ease.

2x+4=3x+2

Using the additive inverse property, they each subtracted 2x from each side, an additional two following shortly after, leaving them with the equation:

x=2

They each capped their respective washable markers at the same time, a blur of red and green where a clear spot once was. A triumphant smile was spread on each of their faces, and they high-fived as they made their way back to their seats, sitting down at the exact same time as the class cheered and whistled. However, Mr. Kaguras didn't respond the same way. Instead of applauding, his jaw hung open so wide that a student called out, "You may wanna close that mouth of yours, sir! Flies may get in!"

~*~

By the time Justine returned home from school, her attitude had changed completely. Not only was she exhausted from a long day, but it would only get worse. She walked into kitchen after throwing her backpack down beside the bookcase in the hallway. What set off the butterflies was the sight of both of her parents waiting for her as they sat around the dining room table. A long, white envelope laid in the center of the table, a bright red EVICTED in capital, block letters written across it. Tears swelled in her mother's eyes.

"What's going on?" Justine asked, trying to break the silence though the pounding beat of her heart was anything but. "What does 'evicted' mean?" She knew the answer, but was deep within a state of denial. Her voice broke.

"Honey," her mother pleaded.

Justine's father took over, but remained in his seat. "We've known this was going to happen for a while now, but don't worry! We've already bought another house."