I walked beside on our way to Mr. Turner's class. "Hey why'd you skip yesterday?" He suddenly asked. "Uh, just slept in figured I'd just stay." I lied.
"Should've called I would've stayed with you." He said I frowned glancing at the bruise on my arm then to Matt who leaned against his locker with a black eye. "I was fine, Matty stayed too." I said as we sat down.
He furrowed his brows but didn't question me.
"Did you hear the news Mandy? No test." Cory said excited as he sat in front of us. "Seriously?"
He nodded his head as Turner started class. "Good to have you back Ms. Keller. Any good reason why you were gone?" He asked.
I pulled my sleeve further down and shrugged.
"Alright, well let's start. In The Grapes of Wrath, we see that the struggle to organize, to get justice for the migrant farm workers, was long and difficult. Heads were broke, people were killed, a lot of blood." He said putting a book on my desk.
"Sounds like bingo night at the trailer park." Me and Shawn agreed.
Turner sent us a look but continued. "Now, like the Joads, we also find ourselves in the middle of a little struggle. We don't want tests, we think we can learn the material without 'em."
"Right." We agreed as he began passing papers. "Yeah, the bos, Mr. Feeny, doesn't believe us. So, what we gotta do it prove that we can learn the book without taking a test."
"Right." We said again. "Right, and to prove that we're gonna answer a few questions on this piece of paper."
I looked down at the paper with a frown, a test.
"It's a test." Cory Exclaimed. "No, don't think of it as a test. It's a survey." Turner tried to lie. "You gave us your word!" Cory stood up. "I even read the book." Shawn added.
"With my help." I muttered and sent me a small smile.
"So, why can't we talk about the book like you said?" Cory asked him. "Because I couldn't change the system overnight, work with me." Turner pleaded. "I'm not taking the test." Cory put his in the front.
"Can you do that?" I asked him. "I don't know." Cory said nervously. Me and Shawn followed along, the others not long after.
As we all sat Mr. Feeny came in. "Good morning Mr. Turner, obviously I was wrong and your students were so prepared that they managed to finish the test in two minutes after the bell has rung."
"Let me grade 'em and I'll get back to you." Turner said back.
Mr. Feeny walked to the front, looking over all the papers. "Well, that shouldn't take long. Considering all these papers are blank."
"I guess that'll kill the curve." Mr. Turner tried to joke. "Do you mean to tell me that your students refuse to take the test?"
"That's the decision they seem to have made." Turner said. Mr. Feeny glance as us before pulling aside Turner to talk more privately. "I realize that all you ninth graders are delicate adolescent flowers just beginning your high school blooming. And so I say this with utmost sensitivity...." Mr. Feeny trailed off.
"Take this test or die."
Cory jumped up to the front. "Is this fair?" He called out. "No!" We said back. "Have we been tricked?" He asked. "Yes!"
"Take the test or die?" He repeated Feeny. "Die!" We cheered back. "Then we die together! Organized, like the people in the book should've done!"
I grinned, ready to start trouble. "The first Student Union!" I yelled.
"Yeah!" I heard from the class. Cory began marching while chanting, the rest of the class following him out. "Ms. Keller, I advise you to stay." Mr. Feeny said sternly. "C'mon babe, we got a revolution to run."
I looked back to Turner and Feeny. "Sorry." I told them, walking out with Shawn.
"We want steak!" Cory shouted from the top of a table. "We want steak!" We agreed. "And what do we want with our steak?" He asked.
Shawn was the only one to respond. "Macaroni!" Everyone stared at him in confusion. "We don't like macaroni." Cory whispered down to him. "Oh."
"And as a side to our steak? Lobster." Cory yelled. "Lobster!"
Feeny walked up to us with a megaphone. "All right, this is your Warden speaking. So you wanna play rough with George Feeny? Fine, we'll take off the gloves." He paused.
I shared a nervous look with Cory and Shawn.
"The ninth grade dance is here by canceled." He finished.
I gasped, along with everyone else. "No!" Shawn called out. "You can't do that."
"I can do whatever I want, I have the megaphone. Here's a doozy the entire football season....." Feeny trailed with a smirk. "Please no." I begged. "Canceled."
"But that means-" Shawn and shared a fearful look. "Yes, no cheerleaders."
Shawn screamed falling to the floor as I collapsed back onto one of the chairs. "No!"
"Buys it's a strike, we have to make sacrifices." Cory started. "He's taking away the dance!" Zach yelled. "And the girls!" I added, ignoring the few looks.
"Why can't we sacrifice you?" Shawn said to him.
I frowned as Feeny bribed everyone back to class, Cory pulling me back as I tried to run with the crowd. "Come on." I whined as the Cory forced me to chant along with them.
"I gotta tell you, there' no one with us. We're all alone here, I'm gonna bail." Shawn started. I gripped the back of his shirt. "If I have to stay so do you you."
_______________
After school the three of us watched TV at Cory's house. "How come there's nothing on the news about our walkout? I mean, why is every station covering this dumb missing bomb story?" Cory complained.
"Maybe because it was only three of us." I snapped. "Which isn't a walkout, it's three kids ditching school."
"We just got off the phone with your principal." Alan said as he and Amy walked out from the kitchen. "You held a strike over a test?" Alan snapped. "You walked out of school?"
I winced at their yelling. "What were you possibly thinking?"
"Thinking's not our strong suit." Cory joked. "I'm convinced." Alan said in an angry tone. I sank down into the couch. "Maybe what we did wan't smart but at least we stood up for our principals." Shawn said.
"And what were your principals?" Alan asked him. Shawn looked at Cory. "I remember something about macaroni."
The doorbell rang and Amy stood up to get it, smacking Shawn on the way. Mr. Turner, my mom, her boyfriend, and Matt stood at the door. "Janice, Matty hello." She grinned. "And you are?"
"Mrs. Matthew's, Mr. Matthews, I'm Jonathan Turner. I'm Cory's English teacher." He said as they all walked in.
"You wear a helmet?" She asked. "I fall off the desk a lot." He said sarcastically.
My mom walked over with Ben pulling me off the couch. "What the hell were you thinking?" She whisper shouted. "I had to leave early for this, you know how much this gonna set us back?"
"Mom you didn't have to leave it's not a big deal." I told her, avoiding the gaze of Ben.
"Janice why don't you head back, I can stay for this little meeting." Ben said to her. I looked over to Matt fearfully. "You'd do that? Thank you." She kissed him. "We'll talk when I get home."
Ben smiled as she left, putting his hands on my shoulders, walking us into the kitchen beside Cory and Shawn, shoving my into a chair.
"Mr. Turner all we did was read The Grapes of Wrath, and you know what we learned? You have to fight for your rights. That's why we went on strike and that's why we're in trouble." Cory said.
"That'll teach me to read a book." Shawn commented.
"I guess this is what happens when the little guy tried to stand up to the bosses." Cory said. "The little guy should keep his mouth shut." Ben seethed in my ear.
Mr. Turner spared me a look but turned back to Cory. "No, let me straighten you out Matthews. You threw a hissy fit and walked out."
"We went on strike." He argued. "You didn't go on strike, because you don't have the one thing you need to go on strike. You know what you didn't have?" Turner scolded.
"Mob connections?" Shawn asked. I choked back my laughs when I felt another squeeze on my shoulders. "Jobs." I muttered.
"Yes a job." He agreed. "You're just kids, you're in school, your parents make you lunch. Your not a migrant farm worker picking grapes, your just kids. You sleep on sheets with little dinosaurs."
He sighed. "Look, I messed up too. I should've taught you that you can only take action if you're prepared to take responsibility for those actions."
"Mr. Turner, put yourself in our position. If you had done to you what we had-"
He cut off Cory. "No been there don't... look you're just three kids playing way over your heads, okay? Now you can decide that you're still students and get back in school and abide by those rules."
"Or you can go out into the real world and get an immediate test called 'find a job or starve." Alan said. "I highly doubt any of you would pass." Ben commented.
"Now you wanna take that test or you wanna take his?" Alan continued, dismissing the comment.
"They got us surrounded." Shawn whispered to me. "We should talk to Feeny." I decided. "Yeah, I guess you'd better." Amy added on.
"Face it guys, Feeny's not going away." Turner told us. "I mean he's gonna be all over your case. You turn around, he's gonna be there." He paused turning to see Mr. Feeny gardening. "Now that's scary, you got a principal living next door?"
"It's not something we brag about." Alan said.
Turner walked out back, everyone following. I quickly moved into Matt's arms.
"George, you live next door to Matthews?" He asked. "It's not something I brag about." He said shortly. "What are you doing here, Mr. Turner?"
"I came to talk to the kids, turns out they have something to say to you."
"Look, Mr. Feeny, we got it all wrong because we read this book all the way to the beginning." Cory said, earning some looks.
"Really? And I don't suppose you learned anything from it?" Mr. Feeny asked us.
I sighed. "We learned that your supposed to fight against what you think is unfair." I told him. "And what's the parallel you drew from the Joad family?"
"They were out in the real world and they had something big to fight for." Shawn answered.
"And how do the Joad's relate to you?" He asked to Cory. "I guess they don't, we're just kids."
"Yeah, we're not out in the real world yet." Shawn added. "All we know is nothing. And where ever there's a guy who don't know nothin', I'll be there."
"Well said." Feeny complimented.
Shawn grinned. "It's from the book, I actually read it."
"I believe you did, and I'll take that into consideration. That'll be all, you can go." Mr. Feeny told us.
Matt quickly pulled me along with him to his car. "Thanks." I said as Turner walked by to his motorcycle. "Anytime." He sent a nod.
"Not so fast, Matty. I'm taking her home." Ben said walking over to me, taking a hold of my arm. "You aren't taking my sister anywhere." He snapped coming over. "Oh really?" Ben chuckled. "Get you hands off of my sister and don't think about going back to my house." Matt said lowly, shoving Ben away.
He scoffed getting closer to his car. "You're a shit, see you at home." He smirked to me driving away.
My lip trembled slightly. "Hey, it's okay." Matt said pulling me into his chest. I nodded, taking in a deep breath to hold back my sob.
"Mandy, you okay?" Turner called over after Matt got in the car. "Don't worry about me." I said coldly getting into the car quickly.