The Kings of Kentworth

136.

Trevor gave three quick knocks on Mr. David’s door that morning at school.

“Come in,” Mr. David called from the other side.

Trevor pushed the door open and peeked in. “Morning Mr. David.”

Mr. David looked up and smiled. “Oh, Bowman,” he said as she beckoned him in and pointed to the chair before him. “Come in and sit down.”

Trevor gently shut the door and moved to one of the seats infront of his Algebra teacher. Just a few minutes ago, he was sitting all alone in the gymnasium, watching as the preparations for prom were going on. He remembered looking to the side and finding a poster on the wall with a picture of he and Lisa. ‘Vote Trevor Bowman and Lisa Watson for prom king and queen for the class of 2019’….that was what was written below. He was beginning to realize how unimportant and trivial it all was, before someone tapped his shoulder and said the Algebra teacher wanted to see him.

As Trevor sat there infront of the heavyset bearded man, he knew it could be one of two things; either he passed the course narrowly, or he wasn’t graduating this year. Either way, he didn’t care.

“Uhm…first of all,” Mr. David cleared his throat and then looked up at Trevor with concern. “How’s Lance?”

Trevor paused for a moment, as if thinking of the best way to answer that question. He looked down at his hands perched on his lap as he rubbed his thumb against the screen of his phone, and then he looked up at Mr. David and shrugged. “I don’t know,” he replied, blinking uncontrollably. “They won’t let me see him.”

“Oh,” Mr. David started to look uncomfortable; he looked down at his desk, clearly regretting his question. “Well…uh…” he began as he pulled out a piece of paper from a file and stretched it towards Trevor. “These are the results of the Algebra exam from your class.”

Trevor stiffened in his seat. He looked at the paper for a few seconds without even stretching out to grab it, and then looked up at his Algebra teacher. Algebra was the threat Trevor had. The only thing that stood between him and graduation. He had studied for months, up until the day of the exam, an exam he wasn’t even sure of. Now, here he was, staring down at a sheet of paper that held the result. A sheet of paper that held his fate. If he got anything less than forty percent, he was doomed. His heart was pounding loudly in his chest and his pulse beating heavily against his skin. He looked up from the paper and into his teacher’s blue eyes.

They were blank.

Mr. David’s face was completely unreadable. Trevor felt his stomach tie in a nut when he realized he couldn’t tell if the man was happy,…….or disappointed.

“Are you going to take it?” Mr. David raised his brows.

Trevor looked down at the outstretched paper once more, before reaching out slowly with trembling hands and taking it from his teacher.

He pulled the paper down to his lap and hung his head. He squeezed his eyes shut and took a deep breath. He opened his eyes and the first thing he saw was her name.

Stephanie Morris, right beside her score. One hundred percent.

“Jesus,” Trevor whispered to himself.
His eyes kept moving down the paper.
Lance had a ninety-eight, and Lenny, a ninety-five.

Scores between ninety and eighty were shared between ten of Trevor’s classmates that he never even knew existed. His kept travelling down, until they stopped at a name in the fourteenth position. He looked to the score beside the name and felt his heart skip a beat.

“Seventy-five percent?” The words flew out of Trevor’s mouth with a gasp of disbelief.
He looked at the name beside the score again, just to be sure, and yes, it was his name.