- 2 -

18 1 2
                                    

I stopped at my locker and did the combination. As I opened my locker, all the pencils that I keep in a little holder decided to spill out onto the floor and roll down the hallway. I ran after the pencils, grabbing every single one. I ran back to my locker, quickly shoving them back into the holder. I noticed that the holder only had one magnet actually working, and now it was just lopsided. I sighed, and grabbed a pencil and got my music stuff for first period.

As I shut my locker, my finger was still in the locker and it hit my finger. I yelped, almost dropping everything in the process. I shut my locker more carefully and made my way to the music room, sucking on my now bruised finger.

The bell rang when I was opening the door. I noticed that everyone in the class was already seated but me. I quietly made my way to my seat, put down my stuff, and hurried over to the place where I kept my instrument, which is the flute.

I tried really hard to get back to my seat before the music teacher, Mrs. Piper noticed, but I failed.

She turned around and caught me almost running to my seat. She called out, "Evie, what are you doing?" I cringed. As I turned around, she motioned with her finger to come to her desk. I stopped at her desk and whispered, "Yes, Mrs. Piper?"

Mrs. Piper whispered back, "Were you late today, Evie?" I sighed and said, "Yes. I dropped all the pencils in my locker and I had to run down the hallway to get them and then I slammed my locker door onto my finger and I almost dropped everything and then I had to run down here and yeah." I held my breath.

Mrs. Piper took off her glasses and put them down on her desk. I braced myself for the second time today. Was she going to write me up or something? I mean, Mrs. Piper is an understanding person, but sometimes she can be mean.

She said, "I know your day has already started off bad, and I know you were trying to not be seen late, but I have to write a check next to your name, Evie. You were late yesterday, too. I'm sorry."

Embarassed, I turned around and walked to my seat. By now, people were wondering what was going on. I sat in my seat and did the bellwork, which was asking how old Mozart was when he died.

After a little moment, Mrs. Piper went over the bellwork and told everyone to get with their partner from yesterday and work on one of the songs in the book. I was partnered with Austin.

I picked up my flute and walked toward where Austin was. He plays flute too. I try to tell myself it's not that bad to be partners with Austin, even so if he picked me to be his partner.

Which makes me feel weird.

Austin and I worked on the song we worked on yesterday. He actually didn't talk about Pokémon cards when he was in music class.

**********

After eternity, the bell rang. I rounded up my stuff and walked the long journey to my locker. As I got there, I opened my locker and put my music stuff in there. I got my math stuff and walked to Mrs. Stevens. She saw me and forced a smile. I did a forced smile back.

I sat in my seat next to Alison. I whispered to her, "Hey, can you give me the answers to the homework?" She looked up from doing the bellwork and gave me a disgusted look. Before she said anything, I laughed and said, "Like I'm gonna copy!" She smiled and went back to the bellwork.

As soon as the bell rang, Mrs. Stevens walked into the room, snapping her fingers. She yelled, "Okay, people! Get your homework out!"

I crossed my arms and waited for the worst.

Of course, Alison got a perfect score on her homework. She shot me a little glare for me not doing my homework and walked to the bin that held packets.

Mrs. Stevens walked over to me and asked, "Evie, where is your homework?" I looked down at the desk. I felt like saying I just didn't want to do it, but that would make things worse.

I shrugged my shoulders. Mrs. Stevens rolled her eyes at me and said, "I'm sorry, Evie. But I'm going to have to give you a check."

Why do they always apologize when they give checks out? It's not like they're sorry!

That was how my day basically was. I actually did my homework for English, which is my favorite subject. By the end of the day, I had five checks.

As I sat on the bus listening to my favorite band, I realized that my mom would see my grades.

And I have a D in math.

She is going to kill me.

Man, am I excited to get home.

As I slumped off the bus, I noticed that my mom was standing outside on the porch with a smile, like she was proud of herself. She gestured for me to sit down on the chair next to her. I gave her a questioning look. I guess this isn't about my grades.

I sat down and asked, "What did you do, Mom?" She laughed and said, "You make it sound like it's a bad thing. I actually think you will like what I did!" I rolled my eyes.

She explained how she knew that I was self-taught with music. She said she signed me up for private lessons that is kinda far from where we live. I asked how far away it was, and she said about 30 minutes. I nodded. I do need lessons. I can only teach myself for so long.

Mom then asked me, "So you like bands, right?" I smiled and said, "No. I absolutely hate them." She ignored that comment and said, "Well, there is a clue about next Tuesday. Which is your first lesson."

Hugging Mom, I walked upstairs and into my room. I sat on my bed and decided to actually do my homework. I don't need any more checks.

But while I tried to do my science homework, I couldn't concentrate.

What is Mom talking about?

**********

The mom in this story is kinda like my mom omg.

Thanks for reading!

What A Catch × Patrick StumpWhere stories live. Discover now