Ember Gods

Chapter 5

Jacob's first class of the day was math—a subject he normally enjoyed. His teacher had arranged for a substitute for the last class period—who gets substitutes for the first class of the year?—and Jacob hadn't yet met the man.

He and his best friend, Tani, plopped down in the back of class. Mr. Coolidge—a tall, bushy-eyebrowed man who dressed and looked like a member of the Italian Mafia—wasn't ready to start class yet, so the room filled with chatter.

A girl with long, blond hair sat in front of Jacob and turned to talk to him. Her eyes were lined with electric blue makeup, and she had on a ton of bright pink lipstick. Jacob tried not to shudder when he thought about what it would be like to kiss her. Gross. If it weren't for all the makeup, she'd actually be sort of cute.

"Hi, Jacob," she said breathily. "You remember me, right? Shirley?" She winked at him.

Whoa. Did she really just pull that move? Jacob's jaw dropped. He didn't know girls did that in real life—in movies, yes, but in high school? He clamped his mouth shut.

Jacob looked at Tani with a questioning expression. She leaned over and whispered, "Shirley Christensen. She's had a crush on you since the third grade."

"Why didn't I ever know?"

"'Cause she only tells girls. Plus, you don't notice much of that sort of thing, and I've kept it from you—best friends do that. I know how much she annoyed you four years ago when you worked on that project together."

Jacob frowned in concentration. He couldn't remember having had a project with Shirley.

Tani must have noticed his confusion. "Science? She lied about her part? Got you both in trouble?"

Jacob nodded slowly, the memory coming back. "Oh, yeah, I remember."

Mr. Coolidge called the class to order before Jacob could respond. He'd written a bunch of stuff on the board, and his handwriting was almost impossible to read, especially from the back of the room. Jacob sighed in exasperation as he tried to take notes.

It took him nearly five minutes to figure out that Mr. Coolidge was lecturing about the order of operations. Jacob slumped in his seat and tuned everything out. He'd learned this well over two years ago. He stared out the window and contemplated taking a nap.

Shirley stretched, a piece of paper in her hand, which she discretely dropped on his desk at the end of her stretch. Jacob picked it up. It was a full-length letter.

Rolling his eyes, Jacob propped it up inside his tilted math book, facing it toward him where the teacher couldn't see. When he saw the massive wall of text, though, his eyes began to blur. He couldn't read it. Shirley would have to wait.

"Mr. Clark, I asked you a question."

Jacob jerked up in his seat, slamming the math book shut around the note. "Yes, sir?" He tried to remember what the teacher had just been lecturing about and grimaced when nothing came to mind.

"Your answer? What is it?" Mr. Coolidge paused, then stormed down the row and held out his hand. "Give me your textbook. Anyone that absorbed in school literature isn't reading school literature."

Dang.

Jacob racked his brain, trying to think of a way to keep the note from falling into the hands of his algebra teacher. "I'll—I'll put it away now."

"No. You will give it to me."

Every eye in the room was on Jacob, and he felt his cheeks flush. He didn't know most of these students. He slumped in his seat and handed the textbook to Mr. Coolidge.