Edison

Chapter 7

"Hi." He didn't smile, just went back to reading his book.

"Where did you get that book?"

He looked at me again. His face was kind of blotchy, like he had been crying. Was he scared or unhappy? "The teacher set them on the corner of her desk."

I stood up and walked to the front of the room to pick up a textbook and syllabus. I don't get all mushy when I see a puppy, and I didn't cry at the end of Ghost. But something about this kid sitting there with his big backpack on and those big sad brown eyes made me feel charitable. He was so skinny a breeze could have knocked him down. And he must be new, wearing his best shirt to school like his mom helped dress him this morning.

"Looks like Mrs. Cranky is at it again." He didn't answer me. He was writing something in his notebook.

"She's the only teacher in school that would give us work to do before she's taught us anything."

No answer.

"Hey!" He jumped and finally looked up. "What's your name?"

"Edison."

"I'm Chris." I waited, but he said nothing more. "You okay?"

He nodded, continuing to work on our first assignment. His notebook was covered with letters and numbers, drawings of angles and words. It looked like another language to me. I opened my text and scanned the first page, looking for clues about what I was supposed to be doing. I glanced around. Mrs. Crinkle was writing notes on the board, and students were copying things in their notebooks. A few people had their books open like Edison.

"What're you doing?"

"I'm working."

"On what?"

"Physics."

"I know, but where did you get the assignment? Did she say something before I got here?"

Edison reluctantly stopped working and looked me in the eye. "She hasn't given work yet. I was just writing down some stuff from the first chapter in the book."

"Oh! You're taking notes. That's a good idea."

"No. I'm not taking notes. I was comparing inconsistencies in the first chapter with my own research. Mrs. Crinkle is writing notes on the board that you can copy."

"Why aren't you copying them?"

He looked at me, the lost puppy dog look gone. His face was expressionless, his tone flat. "I don't need them. I've already read this book."

I stared at him, and he stared right back. "What do you mean you already read the book? It's the first day of class."

He didn't answer. Instead, he went back to his scribbling. I was going to say something else, but Mrs. Crinkle chose that moment to call my name. "Ms. Blakely? Do you have a question?"

I shook my head and got out a pen. Edison continued to write in his notebook, ignoring me for the rest of the period. I didn't know whether to feel sorry for the little nerd or annoyed by his weirdness.

I had time after physics to swing by my locker and drop off my books before heading to the courtyard for lunch. My locker is on the way, and I had no intention of lugging that heavy physics book around for another second. Thankfully, the two people who had lockers on either side of mine weren't there, so I could get in and out quickly. Anna would be waiting for me in the courtyard, and I couldn't wait to tell her about my classes. As I spun around, I stepped right into Travis Johnston. Thankfully my head was down as we bumped heads; otherwise I would've ended up kissing him.