Dreamer

Apathy

Gavin

 Most days Gavin sat in the back of the class drawing on his notebooks while pretending to listen to the teachers drone on and on about their subjects. Not a single one of them had any spark of talent for teaching. The kind that drove them to connect to the young minds sitting in front of them. They were more like encyclopedias filled with expensive knowledge purchased from ivy league schools.

It hadn't bothered him his freshman and sophomore years, but then again, he hadn't known any better. From his first day of school to this one, he'd attended only the most prestigious schools, and every classroom had been filled with clones.

Then, Ms. Spencer managed to slip inside the hallowed halls of Blythe Prep. She was brash and colorful and invested in her students. Just as brilliant as her peers, she had one thing they lacked. The ability to deliver all her hard won knowledge to her students in a way they could comprehend. The spark Gavin carried for learning turned into a bonfire under her careful tutelage, and for the first time, he considered paving his own path in the world rather than follow in his father's footsteps.

He clenched his hands into a fist at the thought of his father. The man delighted in destroying what Gavin loved. All it took was one whispered accusation against Ms. Spencer from the jealous faculty, and she was released from her contract. With no one to fan the flames, the fire inside of Gavin flickered and faded until not even the spark remained. Only dying embers glowing in the ashes, too weak to be of any use.

Now, he was nearing the end of his first semester of senior year- arguably the most important year of high school- and he didn't give a damn. The first day of school brought none of the usual jitters or excitement, and he mastered a level of apathy that proved to frustrate even the most dispassionate of his teachers. He didn't miss the pursed lips or narrowed eyes when they asked for his homework only to be told he hadn't completed it. He had done the work, but then he tossed it in the garbage. Only his excellent test grades were keeping him from failing.

"Mr. Blythe, where is your essay?"

Gavin shook his hair out of his face and looked into the disapproving face of his history teacher. Mr. Lawrence was the worst of the lot. A walking cliche- the Lacrosse coach with a wandering eye, and Gavin would never forget that it was his claim against Ms. Spencer that cost her her position at the school.

"Oh, was that due today?" Gavin asked, leaning back into his chair and stretching his long legs in front of him. A dimple formed in his right cheek as he grinned. "Completely forgot."

"That essay is worth ten percent of your grade."

Gavin widened his eyes and blinked, saying nothing until the teacher walked away with an exasperated sigh. He watched the lumbering man wind down the aisles to pick up the essays, pausing at the new girl's desk. Something moved in Gavin's chest, stirring the embers and ashes of his heart as he saw her tense as all attention turned to her.

"Ms. Stewart, please remain after class to pick up the list of assignments you'll need to complete to be caught up with the rest of the class."

"Yes, Mr. Lawrence," she replied, her voice a harmonious note among the discordant clamoring of the other students.

That was the first thing he'd noticed about her this morning. He hadn't seen her walk in, but he'd heard her as she excused herself through the crowd. Softly spoken words wrapped in silk reached his ears, drawing him out of his thoughts and breaking through Jodie's incessant, high pitched rambling.

He locked on her at once, admiring the coppery curtain of hair that fell forward, blocking her face from his view. She was reed thin, almost waif like next to the other girls, and she seemed to float rather than walk. Perhaps his rapt attention is what spurred Jodie into action.