Ninth Grade Blues

by Bruce Ingram

  Of course, I said yes to all that, and he said he thought that it would be nice for us to go on a picnic on the first Saturday after our first week of being back in school as sophomores, since my parents said I could date my sophomore year. Luke said we could ride our bikes to the national forest that morning and park them back in the woods a ways so that nobody could see them. Then we would go hiking back into the mountains for about a mile or so...he knew a great trail...and we could stop at a beautiful waterfall where a creek flowed near the path and have a picnic there. That I could decide what to pack for the picnic or he could bring his pack fly rod, and he could catch trout for our lunch. If I wanted, he could even show me how to cast a fly rod (it wasn't hard, he said) and maybe I could catch my first fish on our first date.

  It was so obvious that he had thought so much about our dating, and it just made me so, so happy that I wanted to give him our first kiss right then, but then I thought that would make me look too forward again, so I didn't. But I know now exactly when our first kiss will be and how wonderful that day will be, spending time with him.

  We talked and talked about just everything for another 20 minutes or so...about school, what our classes were for next year and whether we would be in many classes together besides Yearbook; obviously, we'll both be in that together seventh period, but I won't be in his remedial math class...about our jobs for next week, and about expanding our L&M business and how much money we could make this coming summer ...just everything. Then we realized that we barely had time to get home before dark, and it was time to go.

  Last Week of School

  Chapter Fifty-Seven: Luke

  This is the week school is finally over for the year, and on Monday Ms. Hawk asked Mia, Elly, and me to come in early before first period on Tuesday to talk about our duties for Yearbook next year and what she wanted us to do over the summer to get ready. I would never have believed before the school year started that a teacher would have called me in to talk to her, unless it was about my attitude sucking. But there I was sitting next to the two smartest, nicest girls in my class, and the teacher was treating us like we were equals... freaking unbelievable. Ms. Hawk told me to read plenty of sports stories over the summer, which I do all the time anyway, and to especially look for the action verbs that professional writers use ...that I had real potential as a professional writer myself. She asked had I thought about doing that? She said she knew that I really liked fishing and hunting a lot; would I write her a story about that over the summer and use a lot of action verbs and description and e-mail it to her for her to critique?

  I told her I would write that story, that I had thought about becoming a professional writer a little, but more and more lately, I had thought about becoming a teacher. I told her Mia had sort of been putting a bug in my ear about that. I didn't tell her that one of the reasons that I was thinking about being a teacher was because I had had so many bad ones in middle school and already in high school. I've had too many teachers that just bore me and everybody else to death...those non-stop lectures like Mrs. Burkhead gives in biology and when those health teachers keep going on and on about the "wonders of the digestive system." Have some mercy on us, please!

  I've been thinking about a lot of other things, too. In middle school, I didn't even think that I could stand high school enough to graduate and now I think I've definitely decided to go to college. I told Mom that, and she was really pleased, and she told me that no male in our family had ever graduated from high school and that my going on to college could give me a better life. She said she had been saving money for me to go...she had never told me that but I was really glad that she had been doing that. I don't want to touch my bank account money for college, I want to have it to buy some country land when I finish school, but I'll use it if I have to.

  I wonder...I fear...that Mom would not be so pleased if she knew I am going to date a Hispanic girl next year. I know Dad would be furious about that, but I wouldn't listen to him, I definitely wouldn't follow his instructions if he forbade me from going out with Mia. But if I could get Mom on my side, maybe I could get away with Mia and me dating without Dad knowing. Should I talk to her about how wonderful Mia is? How smart she is and how she wants to become a nurse or maybe even a doctor? Mom knows my lawn mowing business has really picked up, but she doesn't know that it has happened because of Mia and me working together.

  The other day Dad was talking again about how when I get my driver's license next year that I could go on weekend trips with him to buy used cars and drive them back home to our lot. I don't want to do that. I want to earn my own money for college or land doing my own business. I understand why Dad doesn't pay me to wash and wax his cars; those are my chores. But I don't want to go traveling around with him on weekends all over creation and picking up used cars. I worry that some of those cars might be hot, and if I got caught driving a hot car that I could get in trouble with the police. I don't want to be a part of his business.

  Mia came up with another great idea for us to earn money with L&M during the winter months when lawns don't need mowing. She said we could have a lawn care arm of the business where we could "consult" with clients on how they could "enrich a garden" for wildlife. She said I already know what plants could be planted in a yard to draw birds and butterflies and that we could create the little plots in the winter and plant them in the spring and charge whatever is the going rate for that sort of thing...that we could "manicure," that was the word she used, the garden spot in the winter and plant in the spring.

  The only worry that I had was who would trust two 15-year-olds to do such a job, and I told her that, and she said she would describe our services on the website and communicate with interested people by e-mail. If we got hired, then showed up to do the job, then our work would speak for itself. This girl is really smart. I don't know if this would work, but I know animals and plants and she knows gardening, so maybe it would work.

  I want to try a little harder in school next year, so I can have a little better chance of getting into a college. I don't know what else I can do to score better in math. I am going to take Geometry next year. That course has got low D written all over it, even with Mia tutoring me. But I think I could make an A in history and maybe even in English 10 Honors. Ms. Hawk said she had two classes of that scheduled for her to teach next year, and maybe I could have her again. I couldn't stand her at first, but she's probably the best teacher I've ever had.

  So if I can do a little better in school and go out with Mia, and if we could make good money at our business, life would be really good. And when I think of things that way, I get really hopeful about my future. But then I start to worry about my math grades dragging down everything next year, and Dad finding out about Mia and me dating and pitching a fit, and Dad making me go to car lots with him, and nobody hiring us very often to do jobs and then I get all worried and gloomy again. I guess I'll just to have to wait and see. It seems the older I get, the more complicated everything is.

  Chapter Fifty-Eight: Elly

  Right at the end of school, Ms. Hawk had Mia, Luke, and me come in to talk about how she plans to "take advantage of our skills" next year in Yearbook. She said I would be the photographer in charge of working with Luke in sports and Mia in features and that I would be going with them to take pictures. That sounds like a lot of fun. Dad has already said he would buy me a nice camera for my assignments, even though the Yearbook staff has several cameras I could use.

  When I got to class early to meet with Ms. Hawk, Mia and Luke were already there and talking and laughing with each other. Ever since I figured out that Luke once had feelings for me, it's been on my mind, and I know this just sounds awful of me, but I finally have to admit that I'm jealous of Mia. But on the other hand, deep down, it's hard for me see myself with Luke. Dad would just hate it and probably get angry. But when I see Luke and Mia talking and laughing all the time and think of how Paul and I are together...boring... I just want more from a relationship.


  My dream guy is still Caleb. We grew up in the same neighborhood, go to the same church, have had all kinds of classes together since grade school. He is so, so good looking and so athletic...and a sharp dresser, not that that is really important. Sometimes I dream of us being married and living in a house just like the ones in our neighborhood...how fantastic that would be.

  Luke is so "earthy," that's the word, he seems so unconcerned about how he looks and whether he is making really good grades. He just seems content to make a B or a C in a subject, and I can't stand that attitude about grades. I made an A in every subject this year, and I knew I would; maybe I'm too obsessed with making great grades. The funny thing is that in English and history classes, Luke has spoken up and made comments about things for the first time since we've been going to school together. And what he says makes really good sense most of the time. He just doesn't seem to care about turning what he has learned into better grades.

  Luke and Caleb are really different in how they look at things. If Caleb disagrees with someone in class, it's almost like he has contempt in his voice for that person, not just that person's ideas. On the other hand, Luke seems to respect other people's points of view and be sympathetic to the underdog. Maybe that's because of where his family lives. Luke never responds to somebody in a sarcastic tone.

  Maybe if I went on a diet this summer, Caleb would notice me more when we went back to school. I would need to lose about 20 pounds, and I could also finally go through with my idea to let my hair grow longer. Of course, there's one more obstacle in my Caleb plan...Leigh, his current girlfriend. If you ask me, she's a little bit of an airhead and she wears her skirts way too short. Mary told me that she heard a rumor that Caleb and Marcus sometimes double date with two girls from Southside. I know that Marcus has been dating this girl named Tameka; Mary (she knows everything about everybody; how does she do that) said Caleb has been dating this other girl for about two months, but Leigh still doesn't know, and nobody likes her enough to tell her about it. But if Caleb would cheat on Leigh, who he's supposed to be going with, he could easily cheat on me.

  So maybe I shouldn't go after Caleb this fall. I don't especially want to spend the summer dieting. Growing out my hair wouldn't be hard, except next fall it would take longer to take care of in the morning. But boys like girls with long hair, that's for sure. I don't think Caleb would cheat on me, since we've known each other so long. Why am I speculating about all this stuff? If I lose weight, if I grow my hair longer, if Caleb breaks up with Leigh, if I flirt with him enough for him to get interested in me, if he would be faithful to me. Why must I make a big deal about everything and overanalyze everything.

  I think I'm going to be too busy this summer to go after Caleb and to diet. Dad's home office is at the beach. We're going to go down there for two weeks as soon as school lets out and stay at a really swanky cottage that Dad's company is paying for us to stay at. The first week down there, Dad won't be able to join us during the day; the second week, Dad says he will be on vacation and will be able to do family things with us. Two weeks at the beach should give me a lot of time to work on my tan and come back to school looking really good. But tanning is bad for you, so maybe I shouldn't do that and maybe I should try to cover up while I'm at the beach. Nobody wants to see a chunky girl waddling around in a bikini anyway. Maybe I'll meet this really hot guy at the beach and have a summer beach romance like in those romance novels, and we'll stay in touch afterwards and...there I go again.

  After that, we will come home, and I will just have two days before I have to leave for a science and technology camp for advanced students that will last two weeks. Mom said she wants me to have plenty of options when it comes time to choose a career. She says the tech field pays really well. Mom knows I want to be a teacher, but she says teachers don't make a lot of money. I still think I want to teach little kids, though.

  After that, I'll be home for only a week before we're going to go on a two-week tour of the West and visit, like, six states. I haven't really paid too much attention to what Mom and Dad have planned for that, it just seems so far off. I can work on my photography skills when I'm out West. I should be able to get some really neat photos. I'm going to love being on the Yearbook staff and doing things with Mia and Luke.

  Chapter Fifty-Nine: Marcus

  I'm in big trouble with my parents and Coach Dell. We had our nine weeks test in history Monday, and I calculated that if I got an A on the test, it would bring me up to a low B for the year, and I could tell Mom and Dad that I had brought my grades up in everything and they would stay off my back over the summer. So I made this great cheat sheet organized by the time periods that were going to be on the test and took a picture of it with my phone, and I figured that I could hide the phone between my legs and look down there when I needed to during the test.

  But Mr. Foster busted me right at the beginning of the test. Foster walked up to me and said "Stand up," and I said no, I needed to work on the test, and then he was really rude and angry and said "Get up, now!" and I started to reach down and sort of slide my phone into a pants pocket, and he got up all in my face again and told me to leave my hands where they were. I got up and the phone fell on the floor, and everybody in class looked at me and Mary even snickered. Did she snitch on me ...somebody must have...that's the first thing I thought. But then Foster said he had been watching me the past couple of tests and said I had been staring at my crotch area way too much. Then he picked up my phone and scrolled down the cheat sheet and said, "If you had spent as much time studying as you did making the cheat sheet, you wouldn't have needed the cheat sheet."

  I can't stand it when a teacher gets sarcastic with me, and I started to say something right back to him, but then I realized I was in enough trouble as it was and why make things worse. Foster told me to follow him to his desk and he filled out a discipline referral form, and I didn't even have to look at it, I knew what he had written. It's the only time I've been written up all year. Coach Dell has told us over and over if we ever get written up that there will be "severe consequences" and Coach Henson has said pretty much the same thing. Foster wasn't content just to send me to the office...no, not him, the SOB has had in it for me since the first day of class. He told me he was going to call my parents during his planning period, that the test grade was one-third of my grade for the nine weeks, which meant that I would fail for the nine weeks and probably have a D for the year. So now I've gone from having a B for the year to probably having a D, all because of a jerk teacher.

  And things just got worse from then on out. During lunch, Dad texted me and said he had had "an interesting conversation with your history teacher," and added that Mom and him would have "an interesting conversation" with me before dinner. His text was just nothing but pure sarcasm, he was acting like a child. Then during health seventh period, Coach Dell knocked on the door and said he wanted to speak to me, and he was all red in the face.

  Dell told me as soon as we went out into the hall that my "conduct in history class was inexcusable" and that I was suspended from the football team for the first game this coming season. I told him that the suspension was unfair and that Foster had had it in for me all year, and before I even finished what I needed to say, Dell interrupted me and said that I was to address and refer to my history teacher as "Mr. Foster," that he had changed his mind and I was now suspended for the first two games and did I want "to keep running my mouth," and if so, then he could make the suspension three games long...that I had embarrassed the team and hurt the team's chances of winning with my actions...that all football players were representatives of the team in school and that he expected me to act like that in my grades and behavior. I started to say something right back to him, but I thought I had probably said enough already. He wasn't bluffing about suspending me for a third game, I could tell that.

  Like two seconds after I got home, Mom and Dad got up in my face and told me that I was grounded for a month and that they were goi
ng to "rethink" their purchase of my new car. Then for the next ten minutes, they both took turns ranting at me. Mom was just as mad as Dad. I stopped listening after a while. Honestly, I was glad when they sent me to my room.

  Joshua was waiting outside my door for me and then he lit into me, too. I told him to get out of my way and to shut up, that I had had enough crap from people today. He waited for me to pass him, then he took me by the arm and wrenched it around my back and slammed my face against the hall wall. I know Mom and Dad must have heard that noise, but they didn't do anything about it. Joshua had my left arm pinned against my back and with his other hand mashed my head against the wall and he told me I was to listen and to listen good!

  He said Mom and Dad had worked really hard for us to have a really nice home and to live in an upper class neighborhood, that their parents had worked hard, too, and our great-grandparents had done the same, so all of us that came after them could have a better life. And that I "was disgracing their memory and disrespecting their sacrifices." I told him to shut up and he slammed me against the wall even harder, and, I swear, Mom and Dad must have known he was upstairs roughing me up and they didn't care.

  Joshua was like seething with anger, and he told me to repeat after him every word he said, that I was "going to show more respect for Mom and Dad," and then he wrenched my arm and said repeat, and I said it, and then he said I was "going to show more respect for my teammates," and he yanked my arm again, and I begged him to stop, and he said, "stop begging and repeat after me," and I said it, and he said that I was "never going to cheat again," and I said yes, and he said did I need to be slammed up against the wall one more time just to make sure that I would remember all this, and I said no. And he slammed me up against the wall even harder and said "No what?" It took me a while to figure out that he meant for me to say no sir, and I didn't want to say it, but he was in such a rage that I was scared he was going to twist my arm off right there, so I said "No, sir."