Geometry

School Days

"Do you like your eggs, James?" Linda asked.
James nodded his head as he shoveled a large spoonful in his mouth.
Linda smiled at the boy. Art walked into the kitchen tying his tie. "Good morning," He said before kissing Linda quickly on the cheek.
"I need to talk to you alone," Linda whispered as Art stood back up from kissing her.
"Oh, will it take long?" He asked.
"No."
Art sat down and started to eat his breakfast. Linda was staring at him waiting for him to finish his breakfast. She glanced over at James. He finished his breakfast.
"Do you want some more?" She asked standing up.
James shook his head. Linda took his plate and put it in the sink. Art was almost finished with his plate. Linda tapped her fingers impatiently as he got nearer to finishing his food.
"James, would you wait in the car?" Art asked picking up his plate and putting it in the sink.
James stood up and got his backpack then walked out the door without saying a word. Art turned to Linda and sat back down at his spot at the kitchen table.
"What did you want to talk about dear?" He asked.
"Have you ever thought of raising a child?" Linda asked nervously. She was wringing her hands.
Art smiled feeling excitement build up in his chest. "You're pregnant!" He exclaimed.
Linda was surprised and shook her head quickly. "I was thinking of adding someone a little older to the family," She said.
Art frowned. "What do you mean?" He asked.
"Well, for that past month James has stayed with us on and off, and you've told me about his situation. He's a nice boy, and I'd hate for him to have to stay with his father. So I was thinking..."
Art smiled and took her hands. "Do you want to adopt him?" He asked.
Linda nodded. "Only if he wants to. I'm not even sure if he'd want to stay with us..." She said.
"Do you want me to ask him?"
"I want us both to ask him."
Art smiled and stood up quickly. He kissed Linda in a way that he hadn't kissed her in a long while. Her fingers found their way into his mess of hair and pull on it gently. His hand went to the back of her head and he cradled it.
Art gently moved away from her and smiled. "I love you."

Candice saw James get out of Art's car. She frowned as she wondered why that was so. She decided that she wanted to know so she walked towards James as he and Art headed to the Geometry classroom.
"Hi Mr. Garfunkel," She said smiling.
Art smiled back at her. "Do you need help with the homework?" He asked.
"Oh, yeah, a little. I got confused on a few, but I only have a couple of questions," Candice replied.
She smiled at James. James smiled back at her. "I thought I explained it to you pretty well," He said.
Candice laughed. "You did. I just didn't get how to set up certain ones," She said.
Art looked at James. "If you keep helping everyone then I'm gonna be out of a job," He teased.
They reached Art's classroom and walked in. Art walked to his desk. James sat on top of one of the desks and dangled his legs. Candice sat in the desk he was sitting on and tugged on his shirt.
"So, why'd you ride to school with Mr. Garfunkel?" Candice asked.
James shrugged. "I spent the night at his house," He said.
Candice stared at James. That had to be against the law or something. "Why?"
"I've stayed at his house sometimes since my mom died."
Candice's throat felt dry. She stared at James and touched his hand. "I'm sorry; I didn't know," She said.
James shrugged. "It's normal to be curious," He said.
"When did she... pass on?" Candice asked. "You don't have to tell me if you don't want to."
"Early October..."
Candice touched James's hand, and he flinched. He looked at her with a few tears in his eyes. "It's been tough this past month..." He said.
"I can't even imagine," Candice said shaking her head slowly.
James wiped his eyes. "I keep telling myself that I can't keep crying about it," He said trying to smile.
Candice took his hand and shook her head. "It's alright to cry," She said.

James was silent as he bounced his pencil up and down on his desk. The class just finished a quiz, and he was waiting to have to start the lesson of the day. He could see Amanda frowning as she sat beside Roy. He hated her.
After thinking about what Amanda tried to do to him James came to the conclusion that not only was he no longer her friend, but he could no longer stand to be around her. Frankly, the only reason he was friends with her before was that he'd known her for so long. High school changed her, and he didn't change fast enough to keep up.
James should have known that something was up when she never wanted to hang out with any of the other friends she claimed to have. The only other friends she seemed to have were boyfriends. It seemed that, like boyfriends, she couldn't hang onto any real friends. Even James eventually left her.
Art stood up in front of the class and started teaching as all of the quizzes were turned in. James took out his notebook and started writing down notes as Art explained the lesson and showed them how to do the work. He'd periodically call a student down to do a question on the board. This went on for an hour until the bell rang and class was out.
James left class and head to his locker to get his notebook for his next class. A boy named Roger approached him. "Do you want to go to the skating rink with us this weekend? Me and Harold and Antonio were gonna pick up chicks."
James stared at Roger. It'd been awhile since he'd been invited to hang out with this specific group of boys. Not since before him mom died.
"Yeah, sure," James said scratching his hair.
"We're going at seven so if you need one of us to pick you up..."
"No, I can get a ride," James replied feeling a little better now that he knew that his other friends still wanted to hang out. He'd been in a slump since he broke off his friendship with Amanda.
"Hey, stay cool man," Roger said throwing a peace sign and walking off.
James wondered if they'd have any pot. He was in the mood to get high, but since he wasn't friends with Amanda anymore he no longer had her as a supplier. He wandered off to his locker.

(The chapter title is from a song by Chuck Berry.)