The Atheist Agenda

⋉ chapter seven ⋊

At 5PM I'm scheduled to meet Ren in the library and honestly, I'm not sure how we're going to do this. I plan on confronting him about the rubric guidelines and maybe he'll reveal that he actually does talk, he just prefers to be mute. Hopefully.

After waking up early and being unable to go back to sleep, I found myself trudging along the sidewalk to school. When I get to the cafeteria, there are several huddles of students scattered about, laughing, talking, smiling. And none of them are Caleb Caron.

He still hasn't answered my texts or calls since yesterday, and now I'm beginning to think Erica wasn't lying. Caleb never picks up the phone when you initially call him, but he always calls back. Unfortunately, he hasn't said a word to me since yesterday afternoon.

Since I have no one else to sit with, I keep walking. Past the cafeteria, through the halls. And I find myself in front of Mr. Cardsmith's classroom.

The door is slightly cracked, and through the small opening I can see him grading a stack of papers. Maybe it's our pop quiz on natural selection. Seeing as this is the perfect opportunity to see my score and avoid the cafeteria, I walk in. "Hi, Mr. Cardsmith!"

His head snaps up to identify the voice. "Hello, Nova. I assume you want to know your score on the pop quiz?"

"Yes, please."

"Sixty-four percent," He murmurs. "I have to say, I was disappointed."

My heart freezes in my chest. "Wh-what?"

He examines me a while before an ear-to-ear grin breaks out on his face. "I'm kidding." He shuffles through a stack on his left side, snatching one with what appears to be a green smiley face on it. "You got a ninety-five percent."

"Oh, wonderful!"

"Anything else I can help you with?"

"No." I say.

"Alright, bye-bye."

Oh shoot. I need an excuse to stay. Or I'll be condemned to wander the halls of Trinity High until the bell rings. "Wait! I wanted to hear the story of your last name!" I blurt out.

He beams, sliding his stack of grading aside. He's offered to tell our class on multiple occasions, but most students don't care so it's always voted down. "Take a seat Miss Nova, you're in for a heck of a story."

I oblige, pulling a chair in front of his desk.

"It all begins with my ancestor, James Cromwell of the 19th century who was a drunkard and gambler."

...

Mr. Cardsmith's blazes through his swashbuckling story in which his English ancestor started a bar fight, tricked a police officer out of $100 dollars in a game of cards, and snuck into the last boat voyaging for America to start anew.

"The boat stopped at Ellis Island. And when they asked for his name, he wrote James Cardsmith." My teacher explains, his face bright with amusement. "Because a "smith" is a master of something, like how a goldsmith is a master of gold. He was a master of cards."

I don't know if this story is entirely factual, but it's fascinating nonetheless. "That's really—"

My voice is drowned out by the blaring of the school bell. Mr. Cardsmith grins. "That's first period bell. You should probably get to class."

I chuckle because he is my first period. I move to my assigned spot, awkwardly waiting as students filter into the classroom.

Mr. Cardsmith waits for everyone to get settled before he begins. "Alright everyone! We're going to start with the basics on the theory of evolution—"

"Mr. Cardsmith!" Erica interrupts, raising her hand.

"Yes, Erica?"

She walks up and gives him a note. "I hope you can understand." She says, but her tone is uncaring, and her expression is sly.

"You're saying this is a note on behalf of the entire class?"

She nods, winking at Michael for what I suppose is moral support. "Yes. My family, and many others in the Church are opposed to such teachings."

Mr. Cardsmith blinks at her. "I have a hard time believing everyone is in on this."

"Perhaps you don't go to Church, but most people here do, Sir." She says, brushing her silky, raven hair behind an ear.

Silence.

Mr. Cardsmith looks like he wants to crumple the note and stuff it down her throat. "Raise your hand if your parents have barred you from learning about evolutionary theory." He grits.

Slowly, but surely, people do so. Some shoot their arms straight into the air, unashamed of their beliefs, while others scan the crowd to decipher the general consensus, before following suit.

The only two not participating in this ridiculous attempt at a coup are me and Ren Nishiyama. Delight sparks across Mr. Cardsmith's eyes when he sees us. "I don't think that's the whole class, Ms. Wright."

She looks back, her eyes blazing as she searches for the dissenters. "Nova? I thought you were...Christian..."

Erica claims to have a "Christiandar" which she uses to sniff out fellow disciples and those who are not. She doesn't actually like me, she never has, but my saving grace is that my family sits in those Church pews every Sunday, two rows in front of hers.

I don't know how to explain that my religion is unchanged regardless of the classes I take, so I remain silent.

She frowns at me in disapproval before turning back to our teacher. "The majority of the class isn't going to learn this."

"In that case, I will arrange for separate assignments for all of you. Unless you want to take it up with the Supreme Court, I must teach the curriculum."

I catch Mr. Cardsmith's eye and he winks at me.