Page 15 (1/2)
"Layken, can I see you in the hallway please?"
Principal Bass was a pleasant man Plump in the belly, plump in the hands, plump in places you didn't know could be plu day in Texas, but you wouldn't know it fros of sweat underneath his ar out in his office rather than the halls He never went looking for trouble, just waited for it to co feeling deep in the pit of my stomach as I stood up and walked as slow as I could to the classroom door He wouldn't ht at him and his eyes darted to the floor He felt sorry for me But why?
When I walked out into the hallwaythere, mascara streaked down her cheeks The look in her eyes told me why she was there Why she was there, andShe threw her arms around me and started to collapse to the floor Rather than hold her up, I sie of grief in the hallway floor of h School: Denial
Gavin is preparing to perfor in front of the class, his paper shaking between his fingers as he clears his throat to read fronore Gavin's presence and focus on Will, do the five stages of grief only apply to the death of a loved one? Could it not also apply to the death of an aspect of your life? If it does, then I'er
"What's it called, Gavin?" Will asks He's sitting at his desk, writing notes into his pad as students perfor so attentive, focused on everything except e invisible void pisses me off The way he pauses to chew on the tip of his pen pisses ht, those saly red pen were ht of his kiss out ofit will take, but I'm determined to break froive it a title," Gavin responds He's standing at the front of the classroouess you can call it Pre-Proposal?"
"Pre-Proposal, go ahead then," Will states in a teacher-ish voice that also pisses me off
"Eh-he ins to read
One million, fifty one thousand and two hundred minutes
That's approximately how many minutes I've loved you,
It's how ht about you,
How many minutes I've worried about you,
How many minutes I've thanked God for you,
How many minutes I've thanked every deity in the Universe for you
One million
Fifty one thousand
And
Two
Hundred
Minutes…
One million, fifty one thousand and two hundred times
It's how many times you've made me smile,
How many times you’ve made me dream,
How many times you’ve made me believe,
How many times you’ve made me discover,
How many times you’ve made me adore,
How many times you’ve made me cherish,
My life
(Gavin walks toward the back of the roo He bends down on one knee in front of her as he reads the last line of his poem)
And exactly one million, fifty one thousand and two hundredto propose to you, and ask that you share all the rest of theas she leans down and hugs hiirls swoon I si the last poet of the day: Me
"Thanks Gavin, you can take your seat Good job" Will doesn't look up from his notes as he calls me to read my poem His voice is soft, full of trepidation as he says my naood about my piece It's short but to the point I already have it memorized so I leave the poem on my desk as I walk to the front of the classroo as I realize this is the first time I've spoken out loud to Will in his classrooh he can't decide if he should acknowledge that I even have a question He gives ht nod
"What if it doesn’t rhyht I was about to ask, but he looks relieved that this was my question
"That’s fine Rehtly as he replies I can see on his face that what happened between us last night is fresh on his mind All the better
"Good Okay then," I stammer "My poem is called mean" I face the front of the classroo to the thesaurus…
and according to s and substitutions for the word
words; the entire class flinches-including Will)
Jackass, jerk, cruel, dickhead, unkind, harsh, wicked, hateful, heartless, vicious, virulent, unrelenting, tyrannical, malevolent, atrocious, bastard, barbarous, bitter, brutal, callous, degenerate, brutish, depraved, evil, fierce, hard, implacable, rancorous, pernicious, inhumane, monstrous, merciless, inexorable