Max Baker: Guardian of the Ninth Sector by Matthew Cronan Page A

absentee father. These stories provided refuge.
    Mr. Shook scribbled ‘Polyphemus’ up on the chalkboard.  He was one of the few teachers who still used the archaic device.  Most of them relied on overhead projectors or huge dry erase boards.  Mr. Shook was the epitome of old school though.  He had been the head of the English Department since the school had opened 30 years ago.  Before that he had taught in Brooklyn, or maybe Boston…Max could never remember.
    He was a shorter man, and his tweed sports coat looked a size too large for the man’s small frame.  His elbow patches were faded and worn. He was bald on top, but had a thick mane of gray that hung around the sides and back of his head.  He had a bushy gray beard that matched.  It was thick and full and reminded Max of a pirate who had been out at sea for months, or of an offensive lineman toward the end of the regular season.
    Mr. Shook continued to drone on about the Isle of the Sirens as Max turned his attention to Kennedy; she was not focused on the lecture, but instead on the cellphone that was hidden discreetly in her lap.  In one hand she held her pencil with the point pressed haphazardly on the blank white page of her notebook, pretending to take notes. She texted with her other hand, her thumb rapidly mashing buttons and then pausing for a response. 
    Probably talking to Corey, Max thought to himself. He could feel contempt simmering inside.  
    Kennedy had been the girl of Max’s dreams since she had moved to Forest Valley in the third grade.  She had been awkward looking back then, a stark contrast to how she looked now.  She was gawky as most 10 year olds are, hiding behind an oversized pair of thick glasses and a mouth full of braces.
    She had started midyear, and Max could still remember getting so angry when his friend, Roger Smallwood, called her a nerd as she stood in front of the class as the teacher introduced her.  He had no idea why it had made him so angry, but Max retaliated by telling everyone at recess that Roger had spent the night over the weekend and wet the bed not once but twice. 
    Ever since that day, Kennedy had sat with Max and Noah at lunch.  She would split her unwanted oatmeal raisin cookies with the two of them.  They would go over to Noah’s house after school and play freeze tag or red light, green light in the backyard.  They would have sleepovers in the summertime, and they would watch scary movies until Noah’s mom would make them all go to bed, and then they would stay up talking late into the night.
    The trio had remained close until shortly after the sixth grade had ended; although the sleepovers had stopped in fifth grade when Mrs. Allman caught them playing spin the bottle.  During their summer vacation between the sixth and seventh grade, Kennedy’s grandmother, who lived in Topeka, had been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and given a few months to live.  To help with the passing, Kennedy and her mother went to Topeka for the summer, planning to return in time for the seventh grade.  However, Kennedy, who had always been close to her grandmother, refused to come back home while she was still alive.  As the summer drew to an end, Kennedy’s mother made the decision to enroll her at a middle school in Topeka. 
    Max called her every single day – every single day until Evelyn received the first month’s phone bill.  After that, they were allowed to talk every Saturday for half an hour.  Then one Saturday, Kennedy’s mother answered the phone.  She was sobbing and told Max that it had finally happened.  She told Max that Kennedy would call him back once everything calmed down.  He remembered waiting by the phone every Saturday for three months for Kennedy to call, but she never did.
    When Kennedy returned home a year later, she did not come back as an ugly duckling, but rather she had transformed into a beautiful and graceful swan.  She had shot up almost a foot, making her one of the