The Broken Date

¥14¥: Part 2

Jack’s POV:

“Hey, Jack! Take one and pass it on,” Ethan cried impatiently, shoving the exams toward me.

“Oh. Sorry. Guess I was daydreaming.” I took the papers and passed them to Laurie Weber in front of her.

“No, Jack. You forgot to take one,” Ethan said. “Are you totally vegged out, or something?”

“No. I---yes. I mean---” I tapped Laurie on the shoulder and asked her for one of the exams back.

I had daydreamed my way through the entire school day, unable to concentrate on anything, unable to hear anything.

Mark hadn’t been in homeroom. I realized that I was a little relieved about that. We wouldn’t have been able to talk during school anyway.

Word got out about Mark’s dad being in a bad accident. But no one seemed to know any more than I did about how he was doing or were Mark was.

A few kids asked me about about it, but I could only tell them that I hadn’t heard from Mark. Most of my friends saw that I was upset, that I had dark circles under my eyes and looked really tired and drawn, and so they kept their distance. They knew how close I was with Mark’s family. They didn’t want to make me uncomfortable or bother me for details.

And so I made it through most of the school day without having to talk to anyone. Around eleven-thirty, during Advanced Algebra, a storm came up outside. The sky turned an eerie green-black, and enormous rain droplets pounded the window. The rain was heavy and loud that Mr. Andropolus, the algebra instructor, had to shout, straining his tiny, whistle-like voice to be heard.

Thunder roared nearby even though there was no lightning. The sky went from green-black to purple.

I stared at the window, hypnotized by the sound of the pounding rain, by the splat of the big drips as they hit the windowpane and then cascaded down the glass in a thick, continuous stream.

I had a strong urge to run out of the room, to dash out into the rain, to let the big drops cover me, to feel the cold, refreshing water all over my body, to let the powerful rain wash me away, away from the school yard, away from Cloverhill, away from my life.

Then, as suddenly as it started, the rain stopped. The sky brightened returned to gray. Robins chirped noisily in the trees outside the window. They swooped down to the grass to pull up the juicy worms the rain had drawn to the surface.

What a strange day, I thought.

“I’ll ask you one more time, Jack. Earth calling Jack. Are you there, Jack?”

I slowly became aware that someone was repeating my name.

A few kids in the class were laughing, laughing at me.

I turned from the window.

“Earth calling Jack. Do you read me?”

It was Mr. Andropolus. He had his hands cupped around his mouth like a megaphone. I guessed he’d  been calling , me for some time.

“Sorry,” I said, feeling myself blush. “The rain. I was---uh---watching it.”

“Luckily it stopped. Or we would still be robbed of the pleasure of your company,” he said in his reedy little voice, grinning as if he’d just made the best joke ever made.

A few kids giggled, mostly nervous giggles.

“Sorry,” I repeated. I felt invaded. I had chosen to sit in the back row because I thought it would offer safety from being called on. But now I had been called on and embarrassed. My remote seat hadn’t protected me at all.