TEACHER’S PET
I WALKED INTO HISTORY CLASS—I’D BEEN dreading it from the second the day had begun. I had to take the egg and notebook from Jacob. I covered a yawn. After Paige had found me last night, we’d both gone to bed, but I’d gotten up at four thirty to finish homework and double-check my schedule.
Jacob was already in his seat when I slid into mine. He saw me, then leaned over and reached down beside his chair leg. He got up and walked over. Jacob held a box in one hand and the notebook in another.
He sat in the chair in front of me, turning around to face me.
“Hey,” he said.
“Hi.”
He put the box and notebook on my desk.
“I made the egg a cushion to keep it from breaking,” Jacob said. He opened the top of the box lid, and inside, padded with cotton and Kleenex, was our egg. I peered at it.
“You drew a face on it,” I said, trying not to laugh. “Omigod.”
Jacob laughed. “Yeah, well, it needed it.”
He’d drawn a goofy mouth, nose, eyes, and ears with a blue Sharpie on the egg.
“I love the eyes,” I said, admiring the round eyes with tiny eyebrows.
“Thanks,” Jacob said. “Since it’s your egg too, you can draw something else on it if you want.”
Jacob reached into his bag and pulled out a couple of different colored Sharpies.
“Okay.”
I took a green one with a fine point and picked up the egg. I drew a sideways baseball hat on its head and wrote CCA on the hat.
“Niiice,” Jacob said. “That’s exactly what he needed.”
“Excuse me? He?” I made a face at Jacob. “When was that decided?”
Jacob smiled. “It was obvious after I drew the face. I made him in blue and then you just added a baseball hat. Of course it’s a boy egg.”
“Oh, so a girl egg definitely wouldn’t have a blue face or wear a hat?”
I reached over and swiped the blue Sharpie from Jacob.
“Sasha! What are you doing?” Jacob grabbed for the pen, but missed.
I giggled. “Careful! Don’t break ‘him.’ And you forgot something.”
Jacob shook his head, but watched as I started drawing on the egg.
“There,” I said, holding it out to him. “Now what kind of egg is it?”
Jacob peered at it, then grinned. “I would guess that from the curly eyelashes you just gave him, it’s now a girl.”
“Exactly,” I said. We smiled at each other, then I realized we were acting too friendly. Too close. This couldn’t happen.
I sat back in my seat, creating more distance between us. “We can text tomorrow or something about when to trade again,” I said. “I’ll, um, log in our notebook that I took it now.”
Jacob nodded—his smile fading. “Okay.”
He went back to his seat and I snapped a pic of the egg on my desk. The rest of the classroom soon filled. I was so busy reading my to-do list, I didn’t even notice Eric walk into the room. I just looked over and he was sitting in his seat.
Mr. Spellman walked into the room, smiling at us. “Before we get started,” he said, “I want to remind everyone that group projects start at the end of next week and
I hope you’ve all had a chance by now to be in contact with your partners and get to know each other.”
I’d forgotten all about that. Mr. Spellman had put Jacob and Eric in the same group. I still didn’t even know my group members—I’d have to ask Mr. Spellman who they were. I’d been in too much shock to pay attention after he’d said that Jacob and Eric would be partners.
“Let’s talk about the reading,” Mr. Spellman said. “Who wants to start our discussion?”
I raised my hand and Mr. Spellman nodded at me. I was beyond prepared for talking about the homework.
“I’ve read about the Industrial Revolution before,” I said. “But I didn’t remember how much it impacted
society in such a huge way.”
Mr. Spellman nodded. “Continue with that, Sasha.”
I talked for a few more minutes about how losing animal-driven power to machines had changed daily life for so many people. Mr. Spellman agreed with my answers and seemed pleased that I’d given such a detailed response.
And for the rest of class, I raised my hand every few questions. My participation grade was going to skyrocket after this class. Everyone already thought I was a backstabbing boyfriend stealer, so who cared if they thought I was a teacher’s pet, too?