Twenty-One ~ A Dean Portman Fanfic

Eight

A gloomy look fell over her face as she stared at the paper with a B+ on it, the letter circled in blue as a 'good job' comment was written in cursive below it. Sucking in a breath of disappointment, Evangeline tucked her English book below her arm and held the paper in front of her as she exited the classroom.

The bell had just rang and everyone left with their graded essays on the book they'd finished; To Kill A Mocking Bird. The smarter students like her gawked over the papers, which made her bow her head in embarrassment and sadness. Her rosy features faded to a frosty pale as she inhaled, saddened by the grade she received.

A culture classic in most schools, she had been really developed in the books that she wondered why she'd gotten a grade lower than normal. A normal A student should've received higher than simple B+ which got Evangeline ticked as she was curious. She'd been one of the first to finish the book and spent two days writing her essay and finalized it three times before handing it. None of it made any sense and she felt like she was going to cry, simply because she thought she did so well and her proudness of having thought so, made her succumb to the realization she did average.

Veering away from the door, she stopped at the teacher's desk where the woman was writing down her notes for her next class tomorrow. Preparing ahead of time during her few minute break while waiting for her next bunch of students to pile in through the door.

The woman looked up with a small smile to notice Evangeline standing with her graded paper in hand. "Miss Sullivan," She smiled. "I want to congratulate you on the paper. It was beautifully written."

She nods in understanding. "How come I got B+ plus then?"

The new teacher glanced down, folding her hands together above the desk and faced her student. "You may have written this essay beautifully, however I asked for a literary analysis on the book."

"And I wrote that-"

"And you did," She agreed. "However, I felt like you could've explored the topic a bit more. I know you read the book thoroughly, so I was upset to see this paper turned in."

Evangeline gulped, glancing to her right when she noticed a few of the JV hockey players leaving, several of them taking looks at her. They didn't know why she was speaking to the teacher, therefore Charlie pushed them out of class as they'd been dismissed.

"The question was describe one person who represents a mockingbird...and you did describe, however, you could've detailed it better than you had. Look, I'm sorry if you're upset about this grade, however your last year's teacher may have graded you differently."

Lips pursed heavily as she almost bit her lower lip open in anxiety. "Thanks."

It was all she could manage to spit up upon hearing the reasoning behind it.

"Evangeline, I'm-"

The girl walked out of class with her head low and a frog in her throat as she held back her emotions, not understanding how she didn't perform well on the essay. She believed she gave every detailed word she could've about the character she'd picked, a common one for most.

It simply struck her by surprise and she shook her head, pulling a piece of hair behind her ear as she wandered down the hall.

Shutting his locker door, Dean Portman mustered up enough kindness to approach Evangeline in her time of sadness. Never would he do it for anyone else, but he feared maybe she'd want to be cheered up. He knew as much as he annoyed the crap out of her that he could potentially make her smile by just annoying her.

He fell in line next to her as they travelled through the hall and Evangeline hadn't even realized he was walking beside her, thinking it was another student roaming the hall, too. Her watery eyes forced back the tears she'd hate to cry and show her weakness for a bad grade, noticing it was the hockey enforcer walking alongside her.