DAVID WASN’T going to stop by Scott’s house Tuesday, but it was right on his way to school, and maybe Scott would be there.
He wasn’t.
“I told him he should wait for you, Davey,” said Scott’s mother, “but he seemed to be in a hurry.”
“That’s okay,” said David. “I figured he wouldn’t, but you know, I mean since I had to walk right by your house anyway, I might as well—”
“Oh, he forgot his lunch,” said Scott’s mother. “Would you mind bringing it to him?” She disappeared back into the house, then returned a moment later with a white paper sack.
David carried Scott’s lunch all the way to school, where he saw Scott, Roger, Randy, and Alvin all laughing together. He dropped Scott’s lunch into a trash can. After all, he didn’t want to ruin Scott’s reputation.
He got his books from his locker and headed toward his homeroom. Maybe Mrs. Bayfield really did put a curse on me, he thought. Except even if she was some kind of witch, she would have put a curse on Scott or Roger, not me. All I did was give her the finger.
And then I gave my mother the finger too, he realized. Maybe Mrs. Bayfield somehow made me do that.
A weird thought popped into his head. He had broken his parents’ bedroom window too, just like Roger had broken a front window in Mrs. Bayfield’s house.
And, he suddenly realized, he had fallen over backward in his chair in homeroom, just like Mrs. Bayfield when Randy pulled over her rocking chair.
He smiled at the strangeness of it all.
The smile left his face when he saw Miss Williams coming his way. Her red hair hung over a long yellow and purple sweatshirt. He hoped she hadn’t thought that he was smiling at her.
Her green eyes flashed at him. “Hi,” she said.
His mouth went dry. “Hello, Miss Williams,” he said, nearly gagging on the words.
She pushed on through the door and made her way to her desk.
He hoped she hadn’t seen him blush. He felt like an absolute fool as he went to his desk.
He couldn’t believe that he had called her Miss Williams. So what if he didn’t know her first name? He should have just said hi back to her. “Hi,” she had said, cool and sweet. “Hello, Miss Williams,” he replied, nerdy and dumb.
He felt himself blush again, just thinking about it. Well, it’s not my fault—I’m cursed.
Mr. MacFarland was talking about John Wilkes Booth, a prominent actor who assassinated Abraham Lincoln right in the middle of a performance. “For all we know, President Lincoln might have thought it was all part of the play, right up until the last moment, when Booth fired his pistol.”
She did say hi to me, David realized. That was something. He wished he knew her first name. He wondered if he had ever heard it before. He went through every girl’s name he could think of to see if one rang a bell. Alice Williams. Amy Williams. Betty Williams. Barbara Williams. Carol Williams. Cathy Williams. Debbie Williams. Donna Williams.… He made it all the way through Zelda Williams, but the only bell that rang was the one at the end of the period.
AT RECESS he saw Scott and Roger and everyone hanging out on the steps. Roger was waving his arms, talking about something, and everyone else was laughing.
David sighed. He didn’t know what Roger was saying, but he doubted it was very funny. Still, he knew if he was there, he would have laughed too.
Leslie Gilroy was wearing Roger’s black vinyl jacket. That was one of the games they played. Whenever a girl wore a boy’s jacket it meant she wasn’t allowed to talk to another boy. Leslie wasn’t even allowed to talk to Randy or Scott without first taking off the jacket.
Leslie had long, silky, beautiful blond hair that she was always complaining about. It seemed whenever she wasn’t the center of attention, like when the guys were talking about sports, she’d suddenly say, “I hate my hair. It’s too straight. I wish it was like yours, Ginger.” Ginger had dark frizzy hair.
David opened his math book and started on his homework. If he didn’t have any friends, at least he’d get his homework done so he’d have plenty of free time after school. He laughed at himself. Free time to do what? Play with my little brother and his friends?
“You have to go with me, Ginger!” he heard Leslie exclaim.
He glanced up to see Leslie and Ginger coming toward him. He looked back down at his book but continued to watch Leslie and Ginger out of the corner of his eye.
They stopped right in front of him. Leslie took off Roger’s black jacket and handed it to Ginger. Now she was allowed to talk. She turned to David and said, “No girl will ever want to wear your jacket. You’re the ugliest boy in the whole school.”
She took the jacket from Ginger and put it back on. Then the two girls turned and walked quickly back to their friends.
“I said it!” David heard Leslie exclaim. “I said it right to his face!”
“He didn’t do a thing,” said Ginger. “He just sat there.”