The Framing

The news

December 7th 2015 10:35am
I was sitting in my fourth period technology class with Kevin. It was nice having someone to talk to in this class, it was so easy and I always got done and just sat here silently for 40 minutes every day.

The phone rang and the teacher told me I had to go to the principal's office. I was brought back to the time when I was first asked to go there. I remember how nervous I got and now, felt the same way again. And I really didn't like it.

I sighed and grabbed a hall pass. I walked to the office where the front desk lady now knew me and was sent back. This time it was only the principal sitting behind his desk, my parents weren't in. That was a relief.

"So what did you want to see me about?" I asked. He told me to take a seat, that meant this was going to take a while.

"I wanted to just check in and see how Jeremy was doing." He said. I felt a lot more at ease knowing I wasn't in any trouble. "I think he should be doing just fine sir. I tutor him for an hour every week and he seems to be showing improvement."

He didn't look too satisfied. "Well I just took a look at his grades on my computer. And he is still failing science. Now he has at least a D in all of his other classes, but if he doesn't get an A on his next science quiz, he'll fail the eleventh grade."

I looked down, he still wasn't finished. "And not only will he fail, but you will be expelled."

I looked up, "Why would I be expelled? I'm helping him as much as I can."

"You should have already been kicked out when we found the knife in your locker to begin with. But your grades really boost the school record up so we kept you, but Jeremy, his grades are bringing us down. You understand?"

I truthfully didn't but I nodded my head yes anyway. I didn't want to be here any longer than I should.

"So if he gets an A, we will keep you in school and him in the eleventh grade. Be sure he passes, or it won't look good on you."

I asked if I could leave and go back to class, he said sure and I quickly ran back up the stairs to the tech ed room. "What was that all about?" Kevin asked. I really didn't want to tell him the truth so I made up some lie.

The bell rang and I quickly left. I went to my locker and then to the courtyard. Only Jeremy was sitting at the table which was a relief. "Hey I need to talk to you about something." I said and sat down.

"What is it?"

"I was just meeting with the principal again and he told me that you were flunking out of science. He said that if you get below an A on the next test, you'll fail the eleventh grade and I'll be expelled."

He looked to the ground. "Jeremy I thought that you were doing so well in all of your classes. Why didn't you tell me about this?"

"Because I didn't want to disappoint you." He said without looking at me.

"Jeremy I could never be disappointed in you. You're funny, smart and easy for me to get along with. You need to pass this test or else we'll both be in deep trouble."

He sighed and Neil sat down with us. I didn't want to say anything in front of him, so I decided to keep my mouth shut.

-

Later on that day in study hall, Jules and I were sitting at a table when Jeremy walked in. I gave him a look and he sat with us.

"Okay so take out your stuff for science." I told him. The test was going to be in two days, so we had no time to waste.

He let out a deep sigh and placed his science textbook on the desk. "Now what are you having trouble with?" I asked.

"This." He said and took out a sheet of notes he had from science. It was about the Periodic Table. "I just don't get what any of the questions are asking me to do."

I read over them before I started to help. "Well you see here, the table is made up of different rows and columns. These are the alkali metals, alkali earth metals, metals, metalloids, nonmetals, halogens, lanthanides and actinides."

He nodded his head like he was understanding. "And the atomic number is the same number of electrons that orbit the atom." I said. He just continued to nod.

"So how would I do this one then?" He asked. He pointed to an empty nucleus with the word "Argon" under it.

"Ok so Argon is the eighteenth element, so eighteen protons and neutrons go in the nucleus, and the same number goes outside. Two electrons go on the first valance shell, eight go on the second one, and another eight go on the third."

I hoped I was getting through to him. I didn't want him to flunk out and I really didn't feel like getting expelled. That would look terrible on a college transcript.

"Okay so try the next few." I said. He had three left to do, Oxygen, Beryllium and Sodium.

"Okay I think that's it." He said and handed me the paper. I looked over it, "Okay well if you do this well on the test, then we should both be fine." I handed it back to him.

"Thanks." He said.

We waited for the bell to ring. Jules hugged me as I headed towards the detention room. "Jeremy will you be waiting for me again?" I asked.

"Yeah, and we'll be in the same spot as always."

I thanked him, stopped by my locker and went to detention. It had become a part of my everyday routine.

After detention, Jeremy drove me home. I hoped and prayed that night that he would pass, for both of our sakes.