That time I got rejected three times on the same day!

Chapter 6

I was close enough to hear them.

"How many times have you been told not to run out into the street?" Mr.Williams said with a mixture of concern and anger. I didn't recognize the boy; he looked like he was maybe in year four or five.

"Yes sir," he replied, his voice quivering.

It appeared the boy was still a little bit shaken. From the noise I assumed he had almost been run over.

"Just don't do it again," Mr.Williams said.

He let the boy go. The kid walked away very quickly with his head hanging low. Almost getting hit by a car and then being scolded was a lot to take in for a boy that age.

"Damn kids." Mr.Williams muttered, watching him go.

Mr.Williams and I weren't on the best terms. He was my maths teacher and I think he saw my repeated failure as his own inability to teach. He was also getting frustrated by my recent lack of concentration. He was still standing close to the curb between where I was standing and the north gate. I didn't want to walk all the way around to the western gate, so I had to get past him one way or another. Hugging the wall that ran around the school as close as possible, I started sneaking past him. It didn't work.

"Henry?" he said.

I kept walking, pretending I didn't hear him, but I felt a tug on the back of my bag holding me in place. I turned around and looked up at the man. Mr.Williams was bald, but had a strong black beard. He looked very menacing for a teacher.

"Oh, hello sir," I said. "I didn't notice you there."

I could read what he was thinking. 'Like hell you didn't,' was the response he probably wanted to use.

He looked me over with a discerning eye.

"I see you out here at the same time, in the same place, whenever I have bus duty. What are you up to?" he said.

I had learned to lie a long time ago; it just came naturally to me. That was a lie actually, I don't lie, to be more accurate, I am economical with the truth, that is to say, I lie by omission or by misconstruing the facts. It was something I hated about myself, but I felt was necessary for my wellbeing. My rationale was that lying disrupted order and encouraged miscommunication, but it was for the greater good, or my greater good.

"I was waiting for a friend," I replied.

The best lies were simple. This is where most liars got caught out. A lie also needed a grain of truth and you had to believe it yourself with all your heart. If you don't believe your own lies other people can pick up on your 'tells', looking down or away; scratching your nose; or shifting your weight. 'Waiting for a friend,' was all of these things; simple, elegant, and part truth.

"Hmmm, one of your class mates?" he said.

"No, they are in a different class."

Again, I used 'they' instead of 'him', because explicitly stating the gender as male would be a true lie. Neris was also in a different class, which was completely true.

"What's their name?" he said, putting emphasis on 'their'.

Mr.Williams was a wily man. He dealt with kids like me all the time. He couldn't call me out on it, because I hadn't lied yet, but he was closing in on me. I couldn't really tell him I was lovesick and waiting for a glimpse of the girl every morning. I had to think fast, and carefully. Nerissa or Neris would not do as an answer. If in doubt, deflect. This was not an elegant solution, and looked like a rout, a retreat, but I knew that I was outclassed and outmatched by Mr.Williams.

"Sir," I said. "The bell is about to go, and I just had a question about the math homework we were given last week."

He let go of my bag and crossed his arms.

"Go on," he said.

He looked like a predator that had just watched its prey do something surprising. The truth was I didn't understand the homework at all. Percentages and fractions didn't make sense to me.

Now I was going to drive the deceit home by using the absolute truth.

"You said that one half is equal to one over two. I get that. Draw a circle and colour in one side. This makes sense, but what if you got a fraction like," I tried to think of something unreasonably complex. "Three over twelve, what's that in decimals?"

He cocked his head.

"What's twelve divided by three?" he said.

It took me a moment to work it out.

"Um... four."

"And, three divided by three?"

"One?" I said hesitantly.

"And, what is one over four in decimals?"

This one I did know.

"0.25!"

"Very good, and what is 0.25 times 100?"

I couldn't work it out. I needed a calculator.

"Um... I don't know."

He had a worried expression on his face.

"0.25 times 10?"

"Sorry sir, I still don't know," I said.

"Shift the decimal by the number of zeroes. 10 times 0.25 becomes 2.5. 100 times 0.25 becomes 25."

I didn't get it. I tried to visualize the numbers, but it was too difficult. In the distance I heard the electronic chime of the school bell. I was saved. It looked like Mr.Williams was also pressed for time.

"We'll go over it again in the next math lesson. Do we have maths today?" he said.

I knew we did, I always dreaded Tuesdays to Thursdays. Monday and Friday were the only days without mathematics.

"We do sir."

"Very good, run along and get to class."

Those were the words I wanted to hear. I turned on my heel and escaped as quickly as I could. My plan had been a great success.