didn’t really want me the way I wanted him?
The moment lunch ended our table cleared, books and papers disappearing in a matter of seconds.
Noah grabbed Ren’s shirt sleeve and dragged him away from the table. Noah kept acting like I might contaminate his new friend.
I found my biology class and took my usual seat at the black lab table. It smelled sour, probably from a lab the class before us had done. Mr. Leitner was at his desk on his computer, frowning and clicking away. Grades, probably. He was always harping about how apathetic our “generation” was. Whatever.
Did Ren really like me or was he just lonely because he was new? I obsessed over it while Mr. Leitner droned on and scribbled on the board, his pen jabbing to emphasize the fascinatingness of cells. Suddenly the classroom lights flickered and went dark.
Mr. Leitner stopped and turned around, looking up at the lights. A sweet, wonderful blackout.
Everyone cheered in the semi-darkness until Mr. Leitner reminded us that the lights were probably only going to be off for a few minutes. We chatted about why the lights had gone off while Mr. Leitner sat on the edge of his desk, refereeing the speculation. As time went on we were more and more hopeful the lights wouldn’t come back on.
Burke, as usual, was the most obnoxious. He’s a thin kid with longish red hair who is always doing something abnormal. Last week right before we started our lab he pulled his goggles down over his eyes and yelled at the top of his lungs, “SCIENCE!!”
I couldn’t decide if he was crazy or he just pretended to be. I don’t think the teachers even knew. I heard a rumor that his IQ was 160 or something improbable like that. His guesses about the blackout ranged from thermonuclear meltdown to zombie takeover.
Mr. Leitner looked at his watch and told us it was time for the next class.
Burke jumped out of his chair and yelled, “I’m free!!”
He burst out of the door and we could hear him running down the hallway screaming “I’m FREE!”
Mr. Leitner didn’t even try to stop him. He rubbed his beard and said, “I hope he’s going to his next class.”
I was in my next class for five minutes when the lights came back on. There was a collective groan of agony and disappointment followed by a distant shouting out in the halls. I could barely make out the words, “I’m FREEE!” and then footsteps sounded in the halls.
Miss Carmichael peeked out the window and gasped, so of course we all had to go look. We crowded around the small window in the door, the taller ones lucky enough to see out over everyone’s heads. Suddenly Burke ran past us, his red hair flying and his mouth open in a gleeful howl. Two teachers and three policeman followed, pounding after him. We stared, open-mouthed and silent as Burke was tackled at the end of the hallway.
“Oooh,” one of the boys whispered sympathetically. Burke flailed around for a few moments and then Miss Carmichael ended the show by insisting we all get back in our seats “for our own safety”. As if Burke was going to explode and we’d get hit by flying Burke-debris. We shuffled back to our seats, awed and delighted.
I’m not sure what school policies he was breaking—do they have rules about running in the halls declaring your freedom from education? Not that I’d read the student handbook, (who has?) but I was pretty sure they didn’t have anything specifically against it. Maybe next year they would have to make up a rule just for Burke.
When I got home from school I told my mom the Burke story and she loved it. I’d been telling her Burke stories ever since he popped up in the eighth grade.
“The police tackled him?” she asked in disbelief, but she was laughing, her eyes bright with interest.
“Oh, yeah. I saw it. He wasn’t going to stop running around so I guess they had to do something before he hurt himself. Or maybe it was just super annoying.”
“Mr. Leitner let him go?”
“Mr. Leitner
The moment lunch ended our table cleared, books and papers disappearing in a matter of seconds.
Noah grabbed Ren’s shirt sleeve and dragged him away from the table. Noah kept acting like I might contaminate his new friend.
I found my biology class and took my usual seat at the black lab table. It smelled sour, probably from a lab the class before us had done. Mr. Leitner was at his desk on his computer, frowning and clicking away. Grades, probably. He was always harping about how apathetic our “generation” was. Whatever.
Did Ren really like me or was he just lonely because he was new? I obsessed over it while Mr. Leitner droned on and scribbled on the board, his pen jabbing to emphasize the fascinatingness of cells. Suddenly the classroom lights flickered and went dark.
Mr. Leitner stopped and turned around, looking up at the lights. A sweet, wonderful blackout.
Everyone cheered in the semi-darkness until Mr. Leitner reminded us that the lights were probably only going to be off for a few minutes. We chatted about why the lights had gone off while Mr. Leitner sat on the edge of his desk, refereeing the speculation. As time went on we were more and more hopeful the lights wouldn’t come back on.
Burke, as usual, was the most obnoxious. He’s a thin kid with longish red hair who is always doing something abnormal. Last week right before we started our lab he pulled his goggles down over his eyes and yelled at the top of his lungs, “SCIENCE!!”
I couldn’t decide if he was crazy or he just pretended to be. I don’t think the teachers even knew. I heard a rumor that his IQ was 160 or something improbable like that. His guesses about the blackout ranged from thermonuclear meltdown to zombie takeover.
Mr. Leitner looked at his watch and told us it was time for the next class.
Burke jumped out of his chair and yelled, “I’m free!!”
He burst out of the door and we could hear him running down the hallway screaming “I’m FREE!”
Mr. Leitner didn’t even try to stop him. He rubbed his beard and said, “I hope he’s going to his next class.”
I was in my next class for five minutes when the lights came back on. There was a collective groan of agony and disappointment followed by a distant shouting out in the halls. I could barely make out the words, “I’m FREEE!” and then footsteps sounded in the halls.
Miss Carmichael peeked out the window and gasped, so of course we all had to go look. We crowded around the small window in the door, the taller ones lucky enough to see out over everyone’s heads. Suddenly Burke ran past us, his red hair flying and his mouth open in a gleeful howl. Two teachers and three policeman followed, pounding after him. We stared, open-mouthed and silent as Burke was tackled at the end of the hallway.
“Oooh,” one of the boys whispered sympathetically. Burke flailed around for a few moments and then Miss Carmichael ended the show by insisting we all get back in our seats “for our own safety”. As if Burke was going to explode and we’d get hit by flying Burke-debris. We shuffled back to our seats, awed and delighted.
I’m not sure what school policies he was breaking—do they have rules about running in the halls declaring your freedom from education? Not that I’d read the student handbook, (who has?) but I was pretty sure they didn’t have anything specifically against it. Maybe next year they would have to make up a rule just for Burke.
When I got home from school I told my mom the Burke story and she loved it. I’d been telling her Burke stories ever since he popped up in the eighth grade.
“The police tackled him?” she asked in disbelief, but she was laughing, her eyes bright with interest.
“Oh, yeah. I saw it. He wasn’t going to stop running around so I guess they had to do something before he hurt himself. Or maybe it was just super annoying.”
“Mr. Leitner let him go?”
“Mr. Leitner
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