The Wallflower and the Prankster

Chapter Fourteen: The Difference Between Right and Being Josh

Joshua

I was scanning through my playlist. There was still half an hour to go before the test is over. I glanced upward to see the back of Alana's head. Her pony tail was swishing back and forth. Kinda like those watches hypnotizers use.

          Out of habit, I reached forward, and pinched the tip of her pony tail and twirled it around her finger. She straightened up, shaking off my hand, went back to her test.  She is kind of odd.

          One moment we are talking, the next she is all…quiet. Someone cleared their throat, I glanced up and smiled. The teacher didn’t look so pleased. “Ray (That’s the nickname some people give me now), you aren’t done till you recheck your work.”

          I did but out of laziness of the dull moment. I picked up the paper and glanced at the title: History: Unit Seven test. It seemed more like…a quest. A combo of a test and quiz. It was shorter than most of my tests in my old school. Much easier. Probably because the academic course is an applied one in disguise.

            I glanced up and the teacher was still there. I took an ear bud out of my ear. “Can I get a drink?”

          She eyed me. “I don’t know. Can you?”

          I exhaled. “May I?”

          “If you are done,” she replied. I slid back on my chair, and stood up. I moved my hands to a strap of my bag. “But leave your bag and things here. I don’t want to go skipping class.”

          “But I need my wallet for the vending machine.”

          Some kids in the class snickered in response. The teacher asked, “Can’t you just go to the water fountain?”

          “People put gum on faucet-thing. It’s nasty.” This made the class laugh. “Can’t I just leave my pencil here?”

          “Ray, do you think this is funny. You are distracting them.”

          “What? I am just getting a drink.” Of course I understood what she was getting at, and that I could’ve just taken my wallet but she really had no right of telling me what to bring and what to do. It was ridiculous. She gave me a bore look. “What?”

          “Ray, just go and get back before the class is over.”

          I slung my backpack strap over my shoulder, and gave her a two-finger salute. My eyes landed on Alana, who was still focused on the test. Her page was filled with scribbles and things were crossed out. Told her she shouldn’t have worked with pen. 

 --

The teams were head on head. The tension was high.  The weather was great. It was perfect. The only thing was I couldn’t do anything. What I mean was: I wasn’t on the team. I was in the game. It turned out, the teacher was semi-right. I wasn’t going to head straight back to class. I didn’t see the point.

          I took another gulp of my soda, weighing the team’s future in my mind. It was a simple victory—the plan worked out perfectly in my mind.  I tried explaining it to Leah (she was sitting out because of her cast), but she had bigger concerns.

          “Scotts.” I bobbed my head in acknowledgment.

          “Yeah?” I asked, my eyes didn’t waver from the field. “Leah?”

          “Leah? Ray, it’s me, Carter.”

          That caught my attention. I angled my head to my right (his direction) so I got a view of the game and him. He was the guy who called my place. “What’s up?”