Junior's Luck

Junior's Luck-Chapter 6

Mike Stephenson sauntered into drafting class as the tardy bell rang. He collapsed on his stool, looked over at Kelsey, scowled, and jabbed a pointed finger in his direction. Kelsey turned away and pretended to prepare his desk for class. For a minute, fear didn't allow him to take a breath.

Mr. Warren lectured at the blackboard, then let the class resume work on their projects.

With his attention focused on Mike Stephenson, Kelsey failed to concentrate and kept making stupid mistakes on his drawing. The multitude of erasure marks gave it a fuzzy, grayish appearance. It was fast becoming a sloppy project destined for a low grade.

Kelsey observed Stephenson, bent over his drafting table, working furiously, his triangles and T-Square moving precisely around the board, his compass dancing on the heavy manila paper like a ballerina on point, the yellow pencil plunging to make swift strokes. Stephenson excelled at drafting, woodworking, athletics, and girls. The guy had everything. Why did he have to pick on Kelsey? Why did he have to push people around? When he had so much, why did he have to take the joy from other people's lives by intimidating them?

All his life, Kelsey had believed that if you were nice to others, they would be nice to you: the golden rule. More and more, it seemed the opposite was true. Arlene didn't want him because he tried too hard to please her and because he apologized when he did something that displeased her. Mike Stephenson was a cruel bully who happened to be the best athlete, most popular student, and an industrial arts genius. It didn't seem to matter that he got into trouble once in a while. The time he spent in detention made him the favorite of Mr. James, the counselor, and everyone else. Even the principal stopped Stephenson in the hallways for a friendly chat.

The clean up bell rang.

Relieved that sixth hour was almost over, Kelsey cleared his drafting table and got ready to go. He assumed Mr. Warren had changed his mind about punishing the class since he hadn't mentioned the clock prank. Kelsey planned to take credit for it and get Mike Stephenson off his back.

"Kelsey!" Mr. Warren called from his desk. "Please stay after class."

The passing bell sounded, and the students filed out. Everyone gave Kelsey a bewildered, sympathetic look. All except Mike Stephenson, who smirked at him.

"Well, Kelsey," Mr. Warren said with a nervous smile once the classroom had emptied. "I am sorry for my father's behavior yesterday. He regrets it, also. He'd like you to visit him again. You impressed him as a sharp young man."

"Not today, Mr. Warren. I have some plans."

"I understand. But I hope you will come over again. I promise he will behave."

"Yes, sir. Can I go now? I'm late." Kelsey shifted his books from one arm to the other.

"You won't hold what happened yesterday against me, will you, Kelsey?" Mr. Warren stuck out his right hand.

"No, sir." Kelsey shook the teacher's sweaty hand and left.

*****

Oliva Castleman, Junior's girlfriend, was waiting for Kelsey when he arrived at Arlene's locker.

"She's already gone," Olivia said. "She said that you two broke up."

Kelsey sighed. "Yep."

"I'm sure you'll get back together." Olivia's voice trailed off at the end, as if she didn't believe what she just said.

It did not reassure Kelsey, but he didn't mind. He enjoyed the attention, even if it came from his best friend's girlfriend.

Olivia Castleman with her broad, flat face, big round brown eyes, a wide slice of a mouth, and sandy hair in tight curls reminded Kelsey of a Raggedy Ann doll. He mentioned the resemblance to Junior once. Junior became indignant and said, "I wouldn't talk if I were you." Kelsey didn't understand what Junior meant by that, but he never brought up the subject again.