Riverview High: Circumstances

The Purpose Of School

After my performance at the audition, I saw myself getting more respect around the school. The mean mugs and hating stares stopped for the most part. I still had a few visible haters though. Two days after the audition, the YouTube video of the whole performance went on to get thirty thousand views and numerous shares on Facebook and Twitter. It was amazing!

All this love I was getting made me consider my future as a musician. I always had a love for music but I never took it serious because I never saw any opportunities in it. But, maybe I can do my own thing. I swear, Dr. Peterson is like a prophet! Because of her, I’ve decided to try out for the band.

During 3rd period on Thursday, I was walking from the restroom. I was on my iPhone looking at all my new notifications on Facebook as I made my way back to class. The video was really sending new action towards my profile. I happened to bump into Maury. I hadn’t seen him since we talked at the audition. He looked pretty frustrated.

I walked over to him, “Hi Maury.”

He looked at me and let out a huge sigh, “What’s up Brianna?”

“I should be asking you the same thing.”

He smacked his lips, “Man, I’m so tired of school!”

“It just started.”

“Exactly! These teachers are already tripping too! Everybody in Mrs. Ruby’s Math III class failed the pre-test and she has the nerve to lecture us about it. Nobody ever passes a test over something that they never learned! I told her that too and she had the nerve to tell the class that I got the lowest grade on the test and how that ‘says a lot about me’! I decided to walk out before I cussed that lady out!

“I swear, school isn’t about how smart you are. It’s about how well you can remember things and suck up to teachers. I’ve gotten tired of all this BS! What’s the purpose of school anyway when I can learn anything I need to know from reading and the internet?”

I asked, “So what are you trying to say? Do you want to drop out?”

He shrugged my shoulders, “I am sixteen and that is the legal age that a child can choose to drop out without consent from a parent in this county.”

I shook my head, “Come on Maury ! I know you’re not serious! We only have a year left before we graduate. Why give up now?”

“I don’t even know. I’m just fed up. You feel where I coming from right? You’ve probably gone through the same thing.”

I smiled, “Well, outside of math, I’m actually a good student. But don’t get it twisted. I do understand where you’re coming from. I’ve gone through my fair share of school drama too.”

“Like what? I definitely want to hear this.”

I leaned on the wall beside him, “Well, I’ve gone through troubles at the many private schools that I attended. A lot of the people that were in administration just couldn’t accept the fact that my folks could afford to send me to a school as expensive and prestigious as theirs. Because of that, they’d give me hell over whatever minor misstep I happened to take. It happened at nearly every private school I attended too.”

He looked at me, “So how did you get past it?”

“I just worked harder than everybody else. I didn’t allow the ignorance of those racist people to get me down. I never let them get the luxury of seeing me down either.”

He smiled, “I feel you. Maybe you could help me out this year because I’m on my last leg with this school thing.”

“Do you seriously want help?”

He nodded, “Yeah, I just need the right person to push me and give me some inspiration.”

I grinned, “I can do that for you!”

He laughed, “How are you going to do that if I never get to see you?”

I laughed, “That’s a good point.”

So, we exchange numbers. I was really starting to take a liking to Maury. He’s different. He’s also incredibly talented and intelligent. He tore it down at the audition with his spoken word piece too. He just needs, like he said, someone to push him. I guess I’ll be that person for my new friend!  

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