Now What?

Now What? - Chapter 3

Mrs. Krimble was responsible for twelve students on this trip to AMNH, but only two of them spent the previous afternoon with her in detention. She found me and Murph in the ferry terminal as if she had somehow placed homing beacons on us. Murph chose a seat for us on the outside of the terminal, where you aren’t even supposed to wait for incoming boats, but Mrs. Krimble followed us out there. She hovered over us letting the wind blow her perfectly formed teacher-hair in directions I’m pretty sure it previously had no idea it was possible to bend in. “So, did either of you read the entire coverage of that solar storm yesterday?” my heart almost broke due to her extreme sincerity and curiosity.

“Nah, Miss,” I think Murph called all of his female teachers “Miss” whether or not they were married, “You know me. I was sketching,” he said tapping the messenger bag I never saw him without.

“Of course,” she sounded disappointed, and then she laughed adding, “Isn’t that why you had detention in the first place, Mr. Murphy?”

Murph laughed, “Like I said, that’s my thing,” and he shrugged.

She turned and looked at me, “What about you Abby? Did you see the article?”

“Just a little,” I confessed, hoping Murph wouldn’t think any less of me. He raised his eyebrows.

“And?”Mrs. Krimble nudged.

I said, “I didn’t get the big deal,” and the minute the words left my mouth I regretted it. Murph’s eyes grew wide and he bit his bottom lip. Mrs. Krimble’s entire posture changed. I had done it. She was about to lunge on a teachable moment. I had ruined everything. Nice job, Idiot! My inner voice roared as Murph and I both turned our full attention to Mrs. Krimble’s lesson on the sun. She began, “First you have to understand how powerful the sun is,” and, as she turned to point out the powerful beast in the sky, I stole a glance at Murph, who was doing the same to me.

That’s when I realized I didn’t ruin everything. He smiled, took a quick picture with his phone and then, very naturally placed his hand on top of mine. So, to be honest with you, even after fifteen minutes of Mrs. Krimble’s explaining what the big deal with the damn article was before our boat showed up, I still couldn’t tell you the significance of that solar storm. I was too busy regulating my own breathing and ensuring that the voice in my head screaming, That’s his hand holding my hand. Ohmygosh, ohmygosh, ohmygosh! Stayed in my head screaming and didn’t express itself out loud.

***

On the ferry, we sat together as a class on the outer benches on the “tourist side” of the boat. Mrs. Krimble started to tell some of the other kids about the solar storm and, surprisingly, a couple of them seem interested. Stella Malroney asked a lot of questions, but she is so polite that might have just been for Mrs. Krimble’s sake rather than her own curiosity. Idris Falcon, on the other hand, seemed genuinely interested. He asked about how anyone could actually look at the sun - something I hadn’t even thought about - and what a storm is like on the sun. Mrs. Krimble went on and on about the various instruments used so no one actually looked directly at the sun. And then she began to explain a solar storm, interjecting many times that she wished we were in the classroom where she had pictures and videos of such events.

“What about the Rose Center, Mrs. Krimble? Won’t they have videos?” Stella asked in her perfect, Aren’t I so clever? Voice. I don’t mean to hate on Stella. She is, hands-down, the sweetest person I have ever met. Have you ever had sweet potato marshmallow casserole? Just in case you haven’t, let me highlight the major ingredients: sweet potatoes, marshmallows, sugar, brown sugar, vanilla, butter and - oh yeah - cinnamon sugar. This is a polarizing dish in my family. Some people love it, others can’t tolerate the sweetness. Stella Malroney is Staten Island Prep’s very own Sweet Potato Marshmallow Casserole. I don’t believe she has ever had any malicious intents and I don’t even think she was attempting to kiss up to Mrs. Krimble, she’s just sweet, sweet Stella.