A Funny Thing Happened in Spanish Class

A Change of Heart?

The following Monday morning, Arno van Keef went to school and met up with Traylor and Quantell in the hall.

"Did you hear?" said Traylor. "Quinton got suspended!"

"What for this time?" asked Quantell.

"He was in gym class, and I guess he raged out and cracked some 9th grader's ribs," said Traylor.

Quantell and Arno grimaced. "Damn," they said together.

"When are they gonna expel his ass?" said Quantell. "That dude's always freaking out on people. Last week in science he shoved Arno to the floor and like cracked his skull or something."

Arno rubbed his head. "Yeah," he said. "Thankfully it doesn't hurt anymore unless I turn my head too far one way."

Traylor frowned. "You're lucky he didn't give you a spinal injury or something. My great uncle fell off a roof and couldn't walk for like two years."

"Hey," said Quantell to Arno, "what's with that chick who came to your rescue?"

"That's Beckie Applebaum," said Tralyor. "She's in history with me."

"Well Beckie seemed awfully concerned for you, bro," said Quantell. "I think she has the hots for you."

Arno grinned. His friends took notice.

"Arno, my man, are you and Beckie, like, a thing?" asked Quantell.

"I thought you were simping for Savannah," said Traylor.

"I'm not a simp!" cried Arno. "Beckie asked me for help with her Spanish notes, and then we got to talking. After Quinton knocked me over, she came by and... asked if we could hang out on Friday. So we did."

Quantell and Traylor's eyes widened. "What?" said Quantell. "So you're telling me you're just such a damn Casanova that girls are just lining up for your attention?"

"Heh, I wish," scoffed Arno.

"So Beckie asked you on a date?" asked Traylor.

Arno pondered his response. "Yeah," he said. If you can't be honest with your best friends, who can you be honest with? "She asked me on a date, and we went to Cafe Solaire."

Traylor smirked. "You went, or did she take you there?" he said. "Did she like pick you up in her mama's car and say 'your chariot awaits' and pay for the bill?"

Arno's eyes became the size of Kennedy half-dollars. "No," he said quickly, somewhat freaked out at how correct Traylor's guess had been.

"She picked him up," said Quantell conclusively.

Before any of them could say another word, the bell rang. "Hey, get to class!" ordered Vice Principal Lindner. The three boys quickly took off to their respective classes.

~ ~ ~

The only sounds in Mrs. Cornwall's math classroom were those of the second hand on the clock and the scratch of pencil graphite on copy paper as the students worked on their equations. Mrs. C herself sat at her desk with her feet up, scrolling through her matches on Tinder, occasionally glancing up at the clock to see how much time remained until the students turned in their work.

Arno van Keef sat at his desk, with Traylor to his right and Inez to his left, silently doing his school work. He was good at math (he was good at most of his subjects when he tried) but he was lazy, and Arno's mind drifted. He thought about Savannah Carmichael.

Alright, thought Arno, I'm gonna have to completely rebuild my plan from the ground up if I'm gonna get her attention...

But as he thought, Arno realized something: Savannah no longer did anything for him. He pictured her face, her figure, her long hair in his mind, but his heart no longer stirred. Pursuing her felt like a dry ritual; just going through the motions.