The Bookworm Next Door: The Expanded and Revised Edition (34 page)

              Loaded down with her class notes and running gear, Jennifer was thankful for one thing: the track events took place before their finals week. 

              She knew that her odds of placing first were slim.  There were other runners that were better than she was.  All she cared about was that her accepted college’s track recruiter was going to be there and see her run for the last time. 

              She knew that her friends would be listening.  It was in the middle of the day and they still had classes.  Her teachers were going to e-mail her coach with her assignments.  It was mostly review, but nobody wanted to take any chances of her losing her top spot. 

              There was a chance that her brothers would show up at the meet, but none of them were in the car with her track coaches. 

              The energy wasn’t what she was expecting.  Jennifer felt her nerves.  Her excitement.  The energy that pulsed with each win and loss as team after team, event after event, crossed over that finish line.  So many people were sitting on the sidelines, on the bleachers, watching and waiting for their events while ear bud wires hung from their ears. 

              Jennifer had spent four years training for this event, nearly coming close to the State Meet her junior year. 

              She didn’t care if her friends and family weren’t in the stands – her parents and brothers wisely decided to stay out of her line of sight – as long as she tried her best.  Top five.  That was her goal.  Top five.

              Top three would be nice. 

              The irony of how often she found herself in the top three her Senior Year hadn’t escaped her.  She never expected to be the top runner in Sectionals, but this wasn’t Sectionals.  This was State and sixth place was not an option. 

              Jennifer counted her laps, ignoring Coach’s shouts to pick it up.  There was still one lap and several meters left to go.  Seven people were ahead of her and she expected a couple of them to wear themselves out soon. 

              500 meters.

              1 lap.  400 meters. Six people.

              300 meters.  Five people.

              200 meters and the curve.  Four people in front of her.  Jennifer was exactly where she hoped to be. 

              “Run, Jenn! Run!” she barely heard from the stands.

              100 meters.  The final stretch.  Passing one.  Two. 

              The Finish Line and a level of exhaustion she never expected to feel. 

              Second place and a new personal record. 

              Taking the time to breathe and wishing for water.  Or a sports drink.  Maybe some place nice to lie down and collapse. 

              Instead she wobbled over to the stands where her coach was waiting, both him and his assistant grinning.  “That’s how you run a race,” he congratulated her while Ms. Meyer handed over a water bottle. 

              Next she was converged on by her family.  Brothers on top of brothers congratulating her on an amazing race.  The recruiter shaking her father’s hand and her own. 

              Everything was a maze of words mixed with her exhaustion.  Jennifer had put her all into the race and could honestly say she didn’t have anything left in her. 

              “Congratulations, Jenn,” a familiar voice stated from beside her.  Turning her head, she barely noticed that Wesley was beside her.  “You still need to stretch.” 

              “I know,” she responded, laying her head down on his shoulder. 

              The group found themselves going through finals week as if in a hazy dream.  It was two days of scantron test sheets for multiple-choice questions – the quicker to grade – and filling pages upon pages with writing for short answer and essay questions. 

              Now they were waiting for graduation caps and gowns.  Going through graduation practice by standing in lines and working on trial runs while waiting for final grades to be calculated. 

              Finally, one of the guidance counselors approached them with a print out in her hands. 

              “It’s the moment of truth,” Grace whispered to Kyle and Jennifer. 

              Grabbing his girlfriend’s hand, Kyle gave it a squeeze.  Jennifer looked over to where Wesley was standing, waiting and watching.  Taylor was bouncing up and down with impatience. 

`              It stopped when Mrs. Tucker announced the fourth ranked student as Taylor.  “Wait.  What?” his voice screeched throughout the gym.  “Are you f-ing serious?”

              Jennifer, unable to keep her mouth closed, whispered to Kyle, “Would he have to put a quarter in Penny’s swear jar for that?”

              Grace left out a giggle that caught Taylor’s attention.  “What the hell are you laughing at?  This is serious!”

              “Taylor!” Kyle coldly exclaimed, “That’s my girlfriend you’re cussing at.” 

              “Fifty cents,” Jennifer mumbled. 

              “Dammit!” Taylor turned to Jennifer, “What the hell are you mumbling?”

              “One of our friends had a great idea to have try to get us to have a swear jar.”

              Hearing it from her classmate gave Jennifer a glimpse at what her friends had been putting up with for a while.  She suddenly understood what Kyle meant when he said it wasn’t attractive. 

              Not that Taylor was often heard cursing like a sailor.  Jennifer had been the one unofficially voted “most likely to cuss like a sailor.”

              “Like you didn’t have anything to do with this!” Taylor yelled, getting even more attention than before.  “Who did you sleep with to get top honors?”

              Wesley made a move towards her before she held up a hand in his direction, “It is fourth, Taylor.  We still don’t know who ranked third through first and you are acting like a spoiled brat all because you didn’t get the grades you expected.  Look at my GPA,” she challenged him, “It’s not going to be perfect because I threw a few tests to better your odds at getting valedictorian.  Because everybody knows how badly you wanted it.  But now you are acting like a child because you messed up and didn’t get everything right on your finals.  That’s on you.”

              Taylor’s face reddened, ignoring Mrs. Tucker’s attempts to get him to calm down and calling for the school’s resource officer on her walkie talkie.  “You think you can talk some big game, Ms. Cheater, but I know you didn’t earn those grades.”

              Wesley cleared his throat from where he was standing behind Taylor.  “Apologize.”

              “No.”

              “I did too earn my grades.  It’s not my fault I have a photographic memory.” 

              Wesley grabbed Taylor by his shirt collar and pulled him over to where the SRO was entering the gym.  “I’ll take care of this, Mrs. Tucker,” he stated as he forcefully removed Taylor from the group. 

              Releasing an anxious breath, “Well, that went better than expected,” Mrs. Tucker sighed before announcing Kyle as the third ranked student.   Everybody looked around them as they wondered who would be the class valedictorian and salutatorian. “Now, the next two students will have to give speeches.  You will have twenty-four hours to get them written and approved before graduation.  Congratulations to our salutation Jennifer Matheson and valedictorian London Summers.”

              Everybody turned to look at where London was standing behind Grace.  “Me?” she squeaked.  “How?”  She moved to look at the GPA list in Mrs. Tucker’s hands. 

              Laughing, Jennifer looked at the sheet and noticed how close the numbers all were together.  “Looks like you edged me out by half a point,” showing the girl her 4.96 compared to London’s 4.97.  Kyle glanced to see his 4.96 and Taylor’s 4.95 underneath the girls’ GPA’s.  Their honors classes gave them that extra boost that they needed to surpass the non-honors classes 4.0 GPA scale that Wesley, Grace, and the others were based off on.   

              Breaking into a smile, “And Taylor was so confident too.” 

              “Well,” Grace reminded her boyfriend, “he was leading our sophomore year.”

              “Then Jennifer and Kyle passed him last year,” somebody remarked.

              Shaking her head, London added in her two cents, “He had been trying to intimidate you both with trash talk.  He didn’t notice me right behind him.”  Turning to Jennifer, “And I’m sure you were too busy dealing with your State track meet to completely study for our finals.” 

              Laughing, “Second place again,” Jennifer stated, looking around the gym to see if Wesley had rejoined them.  He’d be amused by the coincidence. 

              She felt as big as a whale.  It had been weeks since she had been able to see her feet and was relying on good slip-on shoes.  It took them – Hannah and the junior guidance counselor, Mrs. Maldonado – ten minutes to find a graduation gown that would fit properly with her belly. 

              “Now, don’t go into labor during the ceremony,” the senior counselor, Mrs. Tucker, whispered jokingly as she handed over a baby gift.  She had enjoyed having Hannah as an office aide.  “This is from all of us.  Mrs. Trenton, the freshman counselor, and Ms. Juarez, the sophomore counselor, wished that they could be here, but the office needed them to help with the auditorium.”   

              Hannah felt a mild twinge in her lower back, but thought nothing of it.  Instead, she smiled and insisted that she had no intention of going into labor before June.  “I need a little time to catch up on my cooking competition shows and relax while Brady and I have some time where we don’t both have to deal with school assignments.” 

              Her feet hurting happened to be the first thing that Hannah remembered about the ceremony.  She could barely see her mother sitting with the Johnsons.  Sitting beside her, Kelly was busy bouncing up and down, more than happy to share this moment with her sister-in-law and new best friend. 

              Hannah couldn’t remember who the valedictorian and salutatorian were, knowing that they had bitterly battled to be the head of the class since they were freshmen, although most of the competition was rather one-sided during their Senior year. 

There were a lot of moments that she had voluntarily skipped.  Prom.  When the Basketball Team made it to the State Semi-Finals and everybody wanted to take the trip to Murfreesboro.  She didn’t miss any of it.

              She wouldn’t trade any of it for sitting in the bleachers at Brady’s baseball games.  Of snuggling up next to him on the couch as they both read assigned readings for their classes.

              Kelly and Trevor Johns helped Hannah stand up when it was time for their row to receive their diplomas.  She walked carefully in her flats, avoiding the haphazardly taped down extension cords, taking each step carefully as she waited for her name to be called, Kelly beside her each step of the way. 

              “I’m thankful you’ve been with me all year,” she whispered to her new sister.  “Thank you for taking care of Aimee for me.” 

              Grabbing Hannah’s hand, Kelly gave it a squeeze before dropping it, “That’s what sisters are for.” 

              “Hannah Johnson,” the assistant principal announced, smiling as he watched her waddle across the stage. 

              “Congratulations,” the principal whispered to her as he shook her hand and handed up a piece of paper that represented her diploma.  The real diploma would be delivered in a few weeks to the Johnson’s house along with Kelly’s.  

              Later she would go over to Kelly’s house and watch movies with Kelly and the drama students instead of going to Project Graduation.  Singing along with
Into the Woods
and having a surprise baby shower was more fun than watching everybody else play basketball while she waited on the sidelines.