Just Friends...For Now-Book Four

Chapter 2

I looked back at Britt, who was already looking at me. She had a worried look on her face, her eyebrows all scrunched up. She mouthed 'What did you get?'. I shook my head the smallest bit, frowning. Her shoulders dropped and her eyes grew dimmer. I turned away from her quickly. I hated the fact that my failure hurt Britt.

Once Ms. Rosburg had finished handing out the tests, she returned to her desk and grabbed a different stack of papers pristinely stacked on top of one another. She turned back to the class and sighed.

"Most of you did good on the last test," Ms. Rosburg said, focusing her gaze on the back corner. I looked back to see who she was looking at, only to see Britt returning an awkward smile to the teacher. I rolled my eyes.

"Some of you did not do well." Ms. Rosburg said, swinging her eyes all the way across the room to look at me. I looked behind me dramatically, pretending to be confused. The class laughed as I swiveled back around in my seat. I smirked at the teacher who looked as if smoke was about to erupt from her ears.

"Silence." Ms. Rosburg said strictly. The whole class became completely silent, so silent you could hear a pin drop on the floor. Even I became silent and my quirky humor seemed to evaporate into thin air. Ms. Rosburg had a sinister glare on her face as she scanned the classroom for any rebels, but everyone was completely still and staring nervously at her. She took a dee breath and allowed a pleasant smile to form onto her cracked lips, which honestly scared me more than when she was yelling at us.

She began to silently pass out tests, one by one. When she reached my desk, she looked at me with pure hatred. I know it's not right to think that teachers hate some of their students, but Ms. Rosburg did hate me. I bet that if she had the opportunity, she would fight me, even in her old and weak condition.

"Jacob, please come by my desk after class." Ms. Rosburg said in her normal voice, which seemed even more magnified in the silent classroom. A few boys made noises, pumping their fists in the air and yelling "OOOHH!". I laughed, even though I was dreading having to see my teacher after class.

"Do you want to stay after class as well?" Ms. Rosburg yelled at the boys. The boys stopped pumping their fists in the air, but as soon as the teacher turned around they snickered and made rude gestures towards her. Normally, I would've found this funny, but now I was thinking about what I was going to be in trouble for.

I began my test and the questions were even harder than the homework. Each equation that I had studied so hard the night before seemed to have just gone into a dark part of my brain and wouldn't come to the light; I couldn't remember a single one. Some of the questions I felt somewhat confident that I got, but the rest were just a bunch of typing random things into my calculator and hoping that they were correct as I scribbled them down onto the paper.

After ten minutes, I finally finished my test. I stood up cautiously with my test in hand. I looked around and realized that everybody else was still working hard on their tests. I gulped nervously as I walked slowly to the turn in bin. I looked down at the bin and my fears were confirmed: nobody had yet turned in their test. I sighed, throwing my test down into the bin. If I had finished first, I had definitely done something wrong.

I pivoted around and walked back to my seat glumly. I slouched down in my chair, fiddling with my pencil. After a few minutes had passed, a few people began to turn in their tests. I watched glumly as more and more people began getting out of their desks and filing to the front of the room, turning in the papers with hundreds of equations and number jotted down on them. I sighed, looking down at my lap.

After what seemed like an eternity, the bell finally rang. I smiled out of relief, grabbing my heavy backpack and walking towards the door when I stopped.

Oh yeah, I have to stay after class. I thought. I sighed, turning around slowly. I jumped when I saw that the class was nearly empty and Ms. Rosburg was standing right in front of me at a dangerously close distance.

"A word, Mr. Sartorius." Ms. Rosburg said in a monotonous voice. I frowned.

She turned around and walked towards her desk. I trailed unwillingly after her, leaning against a nearby wall. She sat down in her comfy chair and looked up at me through her slim glasses.

"Do you know why you're here?" Ms. Rosburg asked me, a hint of annoyance in her voice.

I shrugged my shoulders. "Why should I know?"

The old woman frowned disappointedly at me. "First of all, that little stunt you pulled today in class caused a Saturday detention."

I scoffed, looking at Ms. Rosburg incredulously. "I literally did nothing, you-"

"That's enough, Mr. Sartorius!" Ms. Rosburg said loudly, cutting me off. Her face was in a contorted, wrinkly mess. "Otherwise it will cost you another Saturday."

I clamped my mouth shut, but didn't stop looking at her through eyes of pure hate.

"Also, I don't know if you realize this," Ms. Rosburg said angrily. "But you are failing this class with a fifty eight percent as you grade. Now, if you don't raise your grade before June, you will not be able to graduate!"

I bit my lower lip, my stomach tying itself in tight, little knots. I took a deep breath, asking, "Well what do you think I should do?"

Ms. Rosburg looked at me through cold eyes. "Start accepting the fact that you are not going graduate this year. Unless you can pull your grade up to a seventy percent or higher."

I groaned, my shoulders falling. "Is that even mathematically possible?" I said sadly. Ms. Rosburg grinned evilly.

"Well, we have two more tests that go into your test category, which is worth fifty percent of your grade. If you get over 90 percent on your last two tests," Ms. Rosburg paused, slowly killing me with anticipation. She took a deep breath and said, "There is a chance you can graduate on time and with a seventy percent in this class."

I smiled brightly, probably the only time I ever smiled genuinely in the presence of that horrible woman.

"Thank you so much!" I said, extremely happy.

I turned away from the teacher, ready to leave just as she said, "Don't thank me yet. You have a long ways to go, Rolf."

My eyes widened and it took everything in me not to rip off her wig. I groaned, clenching my fists as I walked out the door.

"And don't forget about Saturday!" Ms. Rosburg yelled after me.

Once I was a good distance away from her classroom, the happiness began to fill inside me again. I still had a shot of passing the class. I still had a shot at graduating on time!