How Jesse Got His Karma

eleven

Jesse certainly got my attention because I blamed him as the reason why I was given detention that day.

I had to beg my teacher to let me serve my time any other day and sadly, he chose a Friday afternoon after school this week.

I'm still not allowed to go anywhere but school and I can't exactly tell my parents I cause a chemical explosion and that then caused me to get a detention so I had told my parents I had a study group session.

If there's anything my African parents' value, it's education. So the key to being able to do anything remotely fun or without their knowledge is to just say it's school.

I told my teacher that my partner didn't do anything so I'm the only one in the room with Mr.Swayne as he's sitting at the front of the classroom I'm in his with his legs propped up on the desk and his phone in one hand and a cup of Starbucks in the other.

Thank God Mr.Swayne is cool because I'm just in here finishing up some homework before my dad picks me up from school in the next 40 minutes.

My head is facing the top of my desk as I work on an English assignment when I hear the door open swiftly, and a gust of cologne hits my nostrils and I don't even have to look up to know who it is.

He looks directly at me before cracking his knuckles and sauntering past my desk handing Mr.Swayne a pink note slip from some teacher that indicates he is supposed to be in detention.

Crumpling the paper and throwing it in the trash next to him, Mr.Swayne says, "Duran, how do you manage to be late to detention and the sole reason you're in detention is because you were late to class?"

Jesse was silent and held the strap of his backpack tighter in his hand as I was only able to see his back profile before he turns around and meets my stare with cold eyes as he walks towards me sitting in teh desk directly behind me.

Shaking off the nerves I feel, I crack my knuckles and go back to planning my essay.

I can't see whatever Jesse is doing behind me but I try not to think too much about it for the next 20 minutes as the three of us sit there in silence.

Mr.Swayne, who also coaches the varsity football team, lets out a loud yawn and takes his feet off the table before saying, "I'm gonna go see if the football players are out there running their laps and doing their warmups. Don't do anything stupid." he says getting up and walking past us towards the door, shutting it behind him and slamming it behind him.

Not too long after I hear one of the seats behind me make a screeching noise before I start to hear footsteps seeing Jesse walk up to the desk Swayne was sitting at and grabbed a smaller blue chair carrying it over and placing it beside me at the desk I was sitting at.

Refusing to make eye contact out of fear, I continue to stare at my paper in front of me as Jesse is now sitting beside me with the chair turned the opposite way, his legs straddling either side, as he looks at me silently leaning over the top of the chair with a lollipop in his hand.

Tapping my pencil on the desk nervously, awaiting what he'd do next, I'm lost in my thought as I fail to notice Jesse's hand touch mine that was holding the pencil. He successfully rips it out of my hand and throws it onto the far left side of the room causing me to sigh inaudibly, still not looking at him.

I hear him ask, "What's wrong with you?"

I think I know what he's trying to ask when he says this but I refuse to say anything so I keep quiet, his question being met with my own silence.

Sighing loudly he tries again, "If you're mad because I got you detention, I didn't do it on purpose. I didn't think you'd create some sort of chemical reaction, I only shoved you a little to get your attention." he starts.