Normal by Jason Conley Page B

Carissa stomach knotted as she examined the problem.  A sharp pain shot into her eyes.  Too much thinking, she was sure of it.  But she needed to get this down so she could get a good grade thus ensuring her leaving this town after next year.  So she picked up her pencil and worked the problem as if she were a mathematician. 
                  With pride, she looked up at David.  She worked the problem beautifully.  She had each line of numbers drawn out making sure she used as much space as needed for the actual figuring.  She was sure she had the right answer.
                  Carissa handed the paper across the vacant desk.  David reached for it with a small wince. Carissa heard but did not acknowledge it.  He looked at the elegance in her handwriting.  Being an English teacher’s son, he could appreciate fine penmanship.  He graded the problem.  “Am I right?” Carissa said.  Soft, her voice landed with a sweet splash against David’s eardrum. 
                  “No, but I know where your mistake was,” He said painfully.  “When you start a simple equation, you do the problem in the parenthesis first.  It’s not like reading; sometimes you start in the middle.”
                  “But wouldn’t you get the same answer,” Carissa said, embarrassed.
                  “No, because the problem is changed,” David said as he walked up to the board.  “See you have an addition and subtraction problem in the parenthesis.”  He then worked both problems.  The first he worked the same way Carissa did it.  The second he worked correctly.  “By multiplying the five before you work the problem in parenthesis, you come out with X=15 1/3.  If you work the problem inside the parenthesis first, then the rest of the problem you end up with X=-11 1/3.” 
                  David looked at his notes and wrote a second problem on the board.  Carissa worked the problem, her answer correct.  “Good job.  Now, try this one,” he said.  He handed her the problem and eased into the desk next to hers. 
                  Carissa felt the tension of the situation easing.  David looked at her in a way that she had never expected.  The kindness on his face drew her in.  She felt the corners of her mouth begin to curl.  She tried to stop it but it was inevitable.  She smiled.
                  Carissa could not remember the last time she had an uncontrollable smile.  She felt…happy in the moment.  She had happy memories but they had been so long ago that they seemed like dreams, now.  Smiling without force was something she missed, but only knew in this moment just how much. 
                  Being unhappy is normal.  The way she felt was not, it was strange.  Almost another world to her.  This boy she did not even know was doing this to her.  If she knew how, then maybe she could control it, but some force was pulling the two together. 
                 
                  “Great, you’ve got it,” David said with only having to glance at her paper.
                  “Well, I’ve got a great teacher,” Carissa said to her own amazement.  She had no idea where the thought had come from, but it was there and she agreed.  She knew that the way she said it might have scared David. She blushed knowing that she was letting this boy draw something from her.  Carissa’s wall was down and could not go back up, at least not with him.       
                  “Thanks,” David said as he shifted uncomfortably in his chair.  David had no idea how to take a compliment.  He had never had one, well, not from someone like her.  He could see the pull that she had in her eyes.  He had never seen that look from a girl; not toward him. 
                  “You must take after your mom,” Carissa said. 
                  “I am