A Boy Among Wolves

Chapter 5

Danny-

Mrs. Anderson hands back our math tests the same way every time. First, she gives us a weak smile. Second comes the sigh when she makes eye contact with a few of us, usually me. Then, last but not least, she hands them back and "whispers" something to each of us.

"Good job," she says to Britney Hanna in front of me. The whisper is loud enough for everyone to hear. Good or bad.

"Mr. Madison. Talk to me after class," is all she says as the test slides my way.

I let out an annoyed huff as the class giggles. I'm a Junior in a sophomore math class; I should be better than this. I've always been bad at math. Always. It's the one subject I really can't understand. Thankfully Theo helped me study last weekend for this one. Maybe I didn't understand it as much as I thought.

I flip the test over, and I'm shocked to see a C+. My best grade to date.

"Then why does she want to see me?" I mumble to myself and check the clock. 5 minutes to the end of class. Then I can see Theo in history....glorious adorable Theo.

"Now, class. We'll have a quiz next week to cover the lessons from this one. You know the drill. It could be any day next week, so study," she says over the groans. "Some of you did much better than normal on this last test, so please keep up the good work."

The bell rings seconds after she finishes speaking. It's Friday with two periods to go before the Homecoming game and the dance tomorrow. We're all ready to escape.

I swing my messenger bag over my chest and fix my football Jersey. I gotta look good when I see my man later, but first, the cryptic Mrs. Anderson is waiting for me.

"You wanted to talk to me?" I say quietly. Some kids are still in the classroom, and I know they're listening in on this. I'm a popular jock; some people like to see me suffer.

"Yes, thank you," she says with a genuine smile. "You did quite well on the test. You're best score yet."

I look at the holdouts and see they're disappointed, "yes, ma'am. I've been working my butt off this year. It's still hard, but I think it'll work."

"Who's your tutor?" She asks without preamble.

"Uhhh," is all I'm able to say as she caught me off guard.

"Your homework this week had different handwriting where someone was clearly helping you with the basic formulas. I know you didn't cheat on the test, but I'm curious who it might be," she says and points to my homework on her desk.

"Oh...uh Bryce's cousin, Theo. He's been helping me. Seeing as I'm at their house a lot," I say, not really sure where this is going.

"Ohhh, the new boy. He's one of Mr. Kramer's students," she says. Referring to another math teacher who probably just does the advanced classes. "Well. It's working. Please keep it up. You need to keep getting a 75 or higher on every test and quiz to save your grade."

"Yeesh. Ok. I can do that," I say quietly. I managed to bomb the first test so badly that she called home to make sure I wasn't sick that day. Thankfully dad said I was, so she let me do it again. I went from 22% to 31%, and that was mostly guessing.

"You can do this, Danny. I believe in you. Looking at the homework, however, Theo's explaining it to you is clicking," she says with a smile. "Ask him to come see me. I want to talk about how he's explaining it so I can help you more in class."

"Yes, ma'am. I will," I say as the first warning Bell goes off. I have two minutes to get across the school.

"Here's a pass for class," she says. "Good luck tonight, Danny. I'll be rooting for you like always."