Magic in Costa Rica

Radio Silence

Beep. Beep. Beep. I groaned and reached over to turn off my alarm. Monday. I went to bed late last night after I got home from my date with Chris. Chris. I smiled and sighed at the thought of his cute, freckled face. It took me longer than usual to drag myself out of bed and I sluggishly got dressed and brushed my teeth. On my way out the door, I suddenly remembered that my essay on The Color Purple was due today. I rushed to open my laptop and printed it out before running out the door, certain I would be late.

I sprinted into class just as the bell rang, provoking applause from Carla and a few other students. I laughed and took a small bow before sitting down. Carla looked at me with a million questions in her eyes, but before she could speak, Mr. Miller began class.

"Glad you could make it, Alma. Now, let's get started everyone." He took attendance before collecting everyone's essays and announcing another pop quiz. The class groaned. Mr. Miller raised his eyebrows "Are you all really surprised at this point? I give you a 'pop' quiz almost every time we read a book." Carla shook her head.

"Not surprised, just disappointed," she shrugged. I laughed and Mr. Miller shot me a look as if to say Don't encourage her this early in the morning! I suppressed another giggle and looked down at my desk. Carla leaned over to try to talk to me, but was once again interrupted by Mr. Miller as he began passing out the quizzes.

"We'll talk later," I whispered to Carla and began writing my name at the top of the page. Carla looked at me again as if to say Later isn't good enough and began to write on a piece of notebook paper. She tore away a small piece of the page and passed it to me sneakily. I started to read it, but then noticed Mr. Miller out of the corner of my eye. Great.

"Are you passing notes in class?" he asked, genuinely surprised.

"Um, no," I shook my head. He pointed to the note in my hand.

"Then, what's that?" He pointed to the note in my hand. I looked down and back up again, my cheeks burning red.

"Um, it's a note. But we weren't cheating I promise," I insisted.

"Well, why don't you share with the class?" Mr. Miller raised one eyebrow. "I mean I'm sure we are all curious about what's so important that you couldn't wait until after the quiz to discuss it." Carla's eyes widened in horror and she avoided eye contact with me. Oh God, what did this note say? I unfolded the piece of paper and cleared my throat. "Why don't you stand up so we can all hear you?" Mr. Miller smiled smugly. I slowly stood up and started reading.

"How was your date?" I cringed at the next line, "Did he kiss you?"

"Ooooooohhhh," a collective giggle rose from the classroom and I sunk back into my chair. Mr. Miller's face turned red as he realized that he had gone a bit too far.

"Right, get back to work everyone," he started to head back to his desk.

"Well, how was it?" A classmate shouted from the back of the room. I gritted my teeth. A chorus of yeah's accompanied more giggles.

"It was nice," I shrunk down, covering my face with my hands.

"Did he kiss you?" the same voice as before spoke up.

"That's enough!" Mr. Miller barked angrily. "I'll see you after class," he pointed to Mark, the kid who was heckling me. "Get back to work everyone." Everyone bowed their heads in unison and began scribbling their answers.

* * *

"Oh my god, that's so embarrassing!" Chris laughed as I recounted what had happened in English. "Did you get in trouble?"