Time is Running Out

Part 1- Jacob Wattson

The school day was coming to a close end. I sat in class hoping for the clock to strike three. The teacher continued to lecture about the Calvin cycle, which to me was pretty boring. Five minutes left until the bell rang.

" I know the bell is ringing, but I still have five more subject to go over before the end of our lesson," our teacher said. Her name was Mrs. Havens a teacher who majored in microbiology and was a professor at Yale University.

Clara, one of the better scoring students that I competed with, raised her hand and said," But Mrs. Havens, I'm going to miss the bus. " While everyone ignoring her protest we continued with " Yes, Mrs. Havens." I was kind of getting tired of it by now. We stayed in class, so she explained that she was disappointed in the class for the past exam which was based on Protein Synthesis. She went over the questions. But still as tired as all the students were, she still continued to lecture.

  Her class was actually set up in a college format. All lessons and hours of studying; then came the tests. Each quiz was divided into four sections. Mrs. Havens, had a high expectation out of me because I was the lead student in her class. When you don't meet those expectations, sometimes you wonder where your life went.

The most dreaded thing then just happened. As I started to walk out of the room, I hear her squeaky voice shouting out at me in indignation. " Jacob could you please stay a bit I need to talk to you," she said. I packed up my books, which were about twenty-five pounds each. "Yes," I say slightly frustrated. " Jacob, I'm actually very proud of your latest test results. "But this one..." I see her large old fingers scrambling to find a series of  tests . When she finally finds the paper, she points at the score.
        "What happened , 88 % on the mitochondria, 100 on your first two quizzes, but this one. Why 65 %?" She asks.

I looked at her in disbelief. She wasn't my mother whatsoever. " The concept was hard to understand," I say a little frustrated. "Thank you for being concerned...," I say as I try to slip out of the classroom.
    "I can explain it to you" she says hastily. " Or I'll call your dad."
" Do whatever. Anyways my dad is probably worried sick!" I say irritated and storm off into the hallway. In the distance, I hear Mrs. Havens call my dad. " Hi, Mr. Wattson this is your son's biology teacher-"

I just ignore the drama and walk to my locker. As I open it,  I find a creepy letter stating:

I miss you!!!!!

To me, this made me feel sick to my stomach. I wanted to cry.  On top of  it all , the letter gave an ominous feeling to it.  so I  assumed, it could've been my ex-girlfriend, or some girl that likes me.

I continue to walk down the hall when I  bump into Berk.
Unlike many eighth graders, Berk was a very tall Hispanic football player . He was the most feared student in the school. One day, the football coach of the high school that was closest to us asked his parents if he could be on the team. Although I did hear that since he is failing a lot of his classes, he will be kicked out of the team.

"Watch where you're going dork" he said pushing me to the side. But his strong arm pushed me into a locker near by. The room turns cold, as I feel my hands trembling in anger. I can feel my arms grow stronger as the urge to fight back takes over. I then get up, go up to him and punch him in the face. Suddenly, I feel a rush of adrenaline kick in. As I see the blood from his nose drip. He looks up at me slowly with rage in his eyes. His nose flared like a bull-ready to charge. He jumps tackling me on the ground. Throwing his fists at my face left and right. I felt my warm blood oozing out of my nose. My head was suddenly throbbing from the blows that were being given. I then felt the urge to spit in his face ,throwing him off my ached body. I then jumped up kicking him in the groin forcing him to crouch down on the grown. The next instinct , I get is to kick him again until suddenly, I hear "freeze". Noticing that this time my bad attitude got me into deeper trouble than I was. Unfortunately, now I'm going to jail. I see Berk look behind him.

" BERK ANDERSON TYMOTHY JOHNSON, GET YOUR ASS OVER HERE RIGHT NOW!!!" the police officer yells. " Mom" explains Berk.

He gets up towards his mother. She pulls on his ears. " Say you're sorry to Jacob!" She said.

He hesitates. His mother then pulls on his ears.

" Sorry, Jacob," he says in agony. His mother then releases him. She handcuffs him and myself this time. As well reading our rights " you have the right to remain silent and words you say now will be used against in court. You have the right to ask for a lawyer......"

Inside the police car, I see that the  officer wasn't taking me to the office for questioning. Instead, she took me home. I knew , I was in so much trouble when I got home.

I see my dad, standing on the porch with his arms crossed. She opens the door, uncuffs me, and escorts me to the front porch. I can feel the anxiety build up as she walked behind me. My heart pounded as thousands of scenarios ran through my head as trying to come up with some excuses.
" Get inside" I hear my dad whispering passive aggressively. The officer stopped at the door and went to talk to my dad.

" Your son is on parole for now. We'll be keeping an eye on him for a while. Right now he might have to do some community service for a while. Even though his grades are significantly great, he might have to do extra for the city." she said.

They talked for a while about the further consequences and possible expulsion from the school.
I waited for a while and finally, my dad closed the door. Yet, the butterflies in my stomach still continued to flutter making me more nauseated than ever.

" Jacob, what is up with you lately?" He looked at me with concern. " Don't you understand that you were very close to going to jail," he said in dismay. " Those handcuffs she put on you , were just to show you what it is like to be arrested. Since, I am a successful businessman she knows some of my clients and she actually considered saving your life. Honestly, good job for sticking up for yourself, but c'mon the bully is in the hospital." My dad then came up to me to check my bruised face. " If only your mother were here, she would be able to mend your wounds. But seriously, Jacob, the school does not accept bullying. "

" But I wasn't bullying the guy. He literally came up-------"

" I don't care. All I am saying is keep your nose down for the next couple of days. Because they are keeping an eye on both, you and your bully." " Tell me what is the problem?" He looked at my eyes. I could feel my tears dropping drastically.

I look down and murmur, " I just feel like I am not enough in this world. There is nothing that I do is right. Why is it, that I was the one that got arrested but not her son. She read me my rights. I don't understand why it turns out that I am the one that is going into court pretty soon and not my bully. They want to expel me dad. Just for standing up to myself. This isn't fair. This isn't right. "

My dad looked at me. " No one said there is going to be a court date. Just be careful what you do for the next few days. What made you so angry today? " I sighed, " My biology teacher literally was trying to hold me back. I know for a fact that she called you because I heard her call. I didn't want to stay because I just wanted to come home relax review all the wrong answers that I had in the first place. I just want to be a normal kid dad. Why can't we have mom back? Why did she have to die?"

" Your mother is the best thing that happened to both of us , Jacob. And when you were born you were the light of my life. There is nothing that can take that away from us. I want you to understand, that your life will always be impacted by the actions that you put into this world. Do you understand me" he said in a lower voice. " You got to be the better person."

My dad made me dinner that night but it was a quiet night. I did my homework, watched some Tv and wishing for my mother to tuck me into bed just one more time. Boy, do I miss her.