Chapter 1

Shoot for the moon, if you miss you will land among the stars. I have always used this quote for things. It’s good too, unless the moon is advance classes and the stars mean I’m stuck in a class full of idiots. It’s not their fault, and I don’t hate them. I just hate they way they act, talk, walk, and breathe. “You’re just not cut for it” the guidance counselor said to me,”try harder and apply for them next year. “I’m just not understood, I’m a lamb in a herd of goats. A social in a room of misanthropes. An orange in a crate of bananas, or is it a banana in a bowl of oranges? It doesn’t matter; I’m still a lonely orange or banana. Preferably an orange, I like them better. I had almost made it into those advance classes but I “just didn’t make the cut.” I mean, standard was too easy! We were studying combining like signs! Like signs! “Okay, now Justin, what do you do first? Addition or subtraction?” Either or, it doesn’t matter “Umm…” IT DOESN’T MATTER! “I don’t know.” Stinking bananas. “It doesn’t matter. I’ve told you this before.” I study my teacher. Her name is Ms. Yoruv, but we just call her Ms.Y because Yoruv is just too dang hard to pronounce. She’s in her late thirties and has pronounced wrinkles on her face that you can tell from that she’s goes through a lot, every day with these idiots. Under her mask of exhaustion, she is very beautiful. Her nose is clear and straight. Skin is the color of a newly shined penny. But her eyes are like a chocolate milk brown. She was explaining to Justin the meaning of P-E-M-D-A-S again. Parenthesis, exponents, multiplication or division, and addition or subtraction. I had already finished my homework so I zoned out until the end of class, thinking about what I was doing this afternoon. My friends were planning to cut after lunch but I was undecided. “Come on,” they pleaded,” It’ll be fun” “I don’t know, I’ll think about it O.K.?” Now I had until lunch to decide. This was going to be fun. Sarcasm is a big part of my life. It just fits. “Okay, now there’s going to be a quiz this Friday it’ll be fifth teen questions.” “Awwww…” the class moaned, all except me. What were these bananas moaning about? Fifth teen questions was entirely too easy! Calm down, before anyone notices. I relaxed my muscles and found out I had been digging my nails into the chair. There were little crescent moons were I had scraped away the plastic. My mother has told me I have anger issues and has been trying to get me a therapist or something. Maybe I Should listen to her. Just then the

bell rang and I sprinted out of there before the other kids in the classroom across the hall could even step out. Two things I hate about math, one is it’s too easy, two is the advance math class is right across the hall. “Remember! Test on Friday! Thirty questions!” the teacher in the advance math class called out. Thirty questions! Now that’s a challenge! Plus their probably studying harder material. I slowly walked down the hall, making sure to take my time. Suddenly, a hand popped out of the crowd and pulled me forward. ”Whoa! Slow down! We’re not trying to travel into the future!” I called out. “Yea, but we’re not trying to collect dust either.” Count on Bailey to rush you. My best friend’s name was Bailey or a.k.a the most impatient person on Earth. Whenever she got an assignment, first one done. She was in track and guess how she ranked in that class? Speed typer, speed talker, Speed Walker! “Hey, wait up!” “Well walk faster!” “I wouldn’t have to walk faster if you would walk slower!” “Well I wouldn’t have to walk slower if you walked faster because me walking slower and you walking faster would just make me ask you to walk slower!” Of course all this came out as is WellIWouldntHaveToWalkSlowerIfYouWalkedFasterBecauseMeWalkingSlowerAndYou WalkingFaster WouldJustMakeMeAskYouToWalkSlower. It takes a trained ear to understand Bailey, that’s why we’re friends. I was the only kid in First grade that bothered to try to decipher what she was saying. I got jerked to the right and found myself in my homeroom. Before I could even turn and get my lunchbox, Bailey had hers and mine in her hand. She jerked me around again then pulled me into the still crowded hall. We finally got to the lunchroom and sat down. Even with Bailey’s sprinting to get here, it still feels like forever when you have a steel cable pulling you through a crowd as thick as mud by the hand. “Have you decided?” A whisper blew into my ear. I jumped making everyone in a three foot diameter turn in my direction and stare. “Sorry, I wasn’t aware that you came.” I was feeling small under everyone’s stare, and it made my sentence come out funny. Haley gave me a funny look and said “S’ok.” She had that Texas drawl still even though she’s been living here for five years. “So what were you saying?” “I asked, have you decided? Are you coming?” “Uh, no. I don’t think it’s a good idea. I mean like we could get caught or something or maybe someone will be called to the deans because we weren’t here the second half of the day. Then they could squeal or….” “Shuttup!”

I sat in silence. My friends know me well enough that when I get that nervous I’m lying. It’s a bad habit I’m trying to stop but it’s so hard because I rarely lie. Or, at least when it matters. “What about tonight?” Haley asked, trying to hide the disappointment on her face. “I don’t know I have this big math test on Friday and you know I need to study…” “You mean the class you’re always saying you could rewrite the Greek alphabet and distribute it throughout Greece before the others kids finished their test?” A girl in my math class turned to stare at me and Bailey. Bailey oblivious, me almost too aware. “Aw, come on! It’ll be fun! Creeping around at night, all spooky and stuff!” All you need to convince a person is a spirited southern girl to describe what you’re doing and your drawn in. “Well, if I’m not skipping it’s the least I could do. What’s the worst that could happen?” Little did I know.