The F Factor (28 page)

“Well, you didn't say in the message that you and Pat nearly burned up in a fire!” Andy replied. He grabbed a pen and a pencil off Javier's desk and started drumming on the pillow. “Here we are off at the band competition, and our best friends are dealing with smoke inhalation. You need to tell us what happened.”

Javier was tired of talking about the fire, so instead he replied, “No, you tell me about the competition. How did the band perform?”

“We got a ONE!” Ignacio said in a happy tone. He had taken a seat in the canvas chair in the corner of the bedroom. It was painted with the team colors and logo of the Dallas Cowboys. “And the trumpet section kicked butt in the opening fanfare.”

“And let's not forget the drumline got a trophy, thank you very much!” Andy replied. He pointed a pencil toward Javier. “My mom took video of our performance. Do you think you and Pat can work your magic to use the film with the announcement that we brought home trophies and scored a ONE in competition?”

“No, man, he and Pat should make one of those music videos instead,” Ignacio said. “It would be so cool with band highlights. Not everything should be about football.”

Javier smiled as his two friends started arguing about background music for a video. Everything felt pretty normal again, and he was grateful for that. He glanced on his desk and saw the corrected test sitting by his computer. He picked it up and stared one last time at the red grade.

Suddenly, he felt Andy's tapping pencil hitting the back of the paper. “Hey, I forgot all about that test,” Andy said. “I better get my mom to sign my paper, too, just in case Mrs. Alejandro goes bulldog on us and expects everyone to do that.” He sat up on the bed and said, “So, Jack, what happened with your parents? When they saw that F, did they freak out?”

“No.” Javier looked at Andy. “After everything that happened on Friday night, failing a test wasn't that big of a deal to anybody. You know, for a guy who has a reputation
as a smart guy, I was pretty stupid to think there was nothing else out there for me but a perfect GPA.”

There was an awkward silence in the room. Javier rubbed his feet together.

“Okay, I get all that,” Ignacio said from his seat across the room. “Especially since I don't have a perfect GPA, but, Jack, don't start flunking everything just to show us you're our friend, okay?”

Javier started laughing, as did Andy and Ignacio. At least, he'd always get an A+ for finding good friends.

I
t felt weird to drive his truck to school Monday morning without Pat sitting in the seat beside him. Javier put on music for a while, but it annoyed him, and by the time he had left the neighborhood, he had switched it off and just accepted the silence. It gave him a chance to hear his own thoughts. For too long, he had turned down the volume inside his own head.

He wished he could just announce on Guardian TV, “Today Javier Ávila is giving up the phony reputation of ‘smart guy.' Instead, he wants to keep a decent GPA, have fun with his friends, and get lucky with girls.”
Yeah, right! If only my life could be that simple
, he thought.

Javier walked inside the media classroom fifteen minutes later, wondering if any of the guys had seen the news. His classmates were already busy, but he couldn't remember what job he needed to do.
Has it been only two days since getting the camera for Friday's game?
he wondered.
It feels like it's been much longer
.

Javier carried the case with the school camera and placed it on Mr. Seneca's desk. He held the tripod in one hand. “Good morning, Mr. Seneca.”

Dylan yelled out from where he stood in the desk area. “Hey, hero! Do you have time to edit film so we can show highlights from the game?”

At that moment, every guy stopped working and started applauding. Even Mr. Seneca clapped his hands and said, “It's good to see you all in one piece, Javier.”

“He's famous! He's famous!” cheered the three juniors.

Javier felt like he had swallowed a string of firecrackers.

The same noise happened three days later when Pat Berlanga walked into the media classroom. Every guy applauded, and Javier proudly joined in. Pat's face darkened with embarrassment, but he still gave a shy smile.

Mr. Seneca had been standing talking to the guys in the desk area, and he slowly walked over to Pat. The applause died down when Mr. Benjamin Berlanga walked through the door just a few steps behind his son. The man was dressed in a tailored business suit with a silver tie. He blinked a few times as he looked over Mr. Seneca's appearance.

Mr. Seneca had steadied himself so he could extend a hand to Pat, who smiled at his teacher and shook his hand. “You looked good on TV, Pat. You did us proud.” Then he straightened up on his crutches and nodded at Mr. Berlanga. “We've haven't met. I'm Patricio's Media Broadcasting and World History teacher, Winston Seneca.” He repositioned himself before he turned his attention to Mr. Berlanga. “Good morning, Sir.”

“Good morning,” Pat's father said. His dark eyebrows lifted up. “My son told me everybody's too busy and you wouldn't want visitors, but I wanted a look at the media
classroom. I was
very
surprised when I saw the tape of Guardian TV.”

“It's a new program with a great future,” Mr. Seneca said, nodding in Pat's direction. Then he looked back at Pat's father, giving the man one of his intimidating stares. “Parent-teacher conferences are this week. I'll see you on Thursday night, right?”

Mr. Berlanga stepped back and tugged nervously on his tie. “Yes, well—”

“Good. Thursday night it is!” He slowly walked forward, forcing Pat's dad to move backwards, closer to the door. “You film a lot of TV commercials at your dealership, don't you? Our media students should watch how it's done. When's the next taping? I'll arrange a field trip to one of your dealerships. We can work out details at the parent-teacher conference Thursday night. I'll see you then. Good-bye.”

Javier smiled, watching his teacher handle Mr. Berlanga. Pat wore a pleased grin as he walked to the computer desks where Javier sat.

“Good to have you back,” Javier told his friend. “How are you feeling?”

Pat dropped his backpack to one side of the desk. “Still tired, but I just couldn't stay home another day.” He sat down in the empty chair beside Javier. “I figured if I fell asleep in class, the teachers would think it's more of the same old thing for me, right?”

He had to laugh. “Right! So I guess your dad liked the tape, huh?”

“I barely say ten words to my father at a time,” Pat answered. “Imagine his shock when I could speak in full paragraphs and say funny things that even made him laugh.”

“My family got a big laugh out of us too,” Javier said.

“So, do you think we should do stand-up comedy or become news anchors?”

“Luckily we don't have to make that decision right now.” Javier stopped when he heard Mr. Seneca's creaking walk coming in their direction.

“Pat, find the digital file of the five girls running for Homecoming Queen on that computer where you're sitting,” their teacher said. “You and Javier will feed it into the broadcast this morning. You need to listen to cues so you can match the picture when Dylan and Omar announce each girl's name. Don't mess this up, gentlemen!”

As their teacher walked away, Pat said, “Ha ha! No pressure!”

“No pressure at all,” Javier replied, tapping his itchy foot.