Chapter 15: Chapter Fourteen

Mr. Walsh surveyed the classroom, and he shook his head in disappointment. I wanted to grin because I’d read up about Jamestown’s history just for the fun of it. Mr. Billings hadn’t known what to do with me next and he’d given me crappy assignments like that.

I liked to read anything I could get my hands on, and Alexander’s library had kept me busy and my mind quiet. I never knew I liked to read so much but once I started, I couldn’t stop. I was already reading four books every weekend.

“What about the surrounding areas?” Mr. Walsh asked and looked at me again.

“During the Cretaceous era, almost all of North Dakota was under water,” I said.

“Yeah, and dinosaurs roamed here,” the jock from the hallway said and chuckled.

“They did, but that was during the Paleocene epoch,” I said, and Sloan laughed loudly from the back.

Mr. Walsh kept looking at me. “What dinosaurs were found here?”

“Ostrich dinosaurs, Tyrannosaurus, Triceratops and Pachycephalosaurs,” I answered.

“And if you like the Tyrannosaurus, they still walk among us today,” Sloan piped up.

Mr. Walsh smiled and stood up from his desk. “This isn’t really part of our history lesson but yes, most dinosaurs evolved into animals we see almost every day.”

“What animal?” another student asked.

“The chicken,” Sloan said, and everybody started to laugh.

Mr. Walsh silenced the class and looked at Sloan. “Can you provide more detail into that theory?”

“It was scientifically backed with the discovery of prehistoric collagen,” I said, and Mr. Walsh turned to look at me. “They found traces of this in a sixty-eight-million-year-old dinosaur fossil or rather in the thigh bone of a T-Rex. A British paleontologist said that the analysis showed that the T-Rex collagen make-up is almost identical to that of the modern chicken.”

“Okay guys, tomorrow we’ll continue our discussion of the surrounding areas,” Mr. Walsh said loudly as the bell rang. “Kage, hang back.” I stopped in front of his desk and waited for the classroom to clear.

“Yes, Sir?”

“Why aren’t you in the AP class?” he asked me.

I frowned. AP classes weren’t something I’d thought about. “We just transferred here.”

“You and Sloan?”

I smiled at him. “We’re five brothers.”

“I’ll request your transcripts if you don’t mind,” he said, and I wondered why he was asking me.

“I doubt you’ll find what you’re looking for. I skipped a lot of school last year. I barely passed,” I said, and he smiled.

“Did you take the SATs at your previous school?” I had no idea why he wanted to know these things because I’d spewed some bullshit facts about dinosaurs.

“No. I didn’t see the point.” The conversation was making me slightly uncomfortable.

“Why not? I can see that you’re bright, especially as a new student to the school. These kids all studied the town’s history last year and you didn’t, yet you knew your facts,” he said.

“I like to read,” I said with a shrug.

“That doesn’t answer my question, Kage.”

“I moved here because I got adopted. Before all this, I was in foster homes, so I didn’t really see the point of hoping for a higher-level education when I knew that there was no way in hell that I’d get the chance to attend,” I said feeling a little angry.

Mr. Walsh didn’t seem upset with my harsh tone, and he ignored my little outburst. “I think you should take the SATs. The sooner, the better. What do you say, Kage? Are you game to try?”

“How much time do I have to prepare?” I asked him.

“I’ll tutor you myself, Kage. What do your afternoons look like?” he asked me.

“I’m all yours until hockey season starts,” I said.

“Great, we have time then. Speak to your father this afternoon and come see me tomorrow so we can work out a schedule,” he said.

“Can I ask you something?”

“Sure.”

“Why do you care if I go to college or not?” I was intrigued by why he cared.

“I don’t like wasted potential and you have plenty of it,” he said.

Sloan had waited for me outside in the hall and he fell in next to me and asked what Mr. Walsh wanted. The girl who had sat next to me was waiting further down the hall and she watched us as I told Sloan about my conversation with the teacher.

“You’re Kage, right? I’m Madison. Was all that true?” she asked as we kept walking and she tried to keep up with our strides.

“Of course not, we made all that shit up,” Sloan said. “I mean we are criminals and delinquents.”

“Wow, asshole much?” she asked him.

Sloan stopped walking and faced her. “Actually yeah.”

“Sloan,” I said with a smile. Sloan lifted his chin, but he understood the warning in my tone. It was no use trying to convince people that they were wrong. The gossip mill had been working overtime since we’d parked our bikes in the lot.

“Firstly, I didn’t spread any rumors about you,” she said.

“No, you just listened and assumed they were true, and you didn’t actually believe them when you asked Kage if he was in the right class,” Sloan said and turned to me. “See you at lunch, Kage.”

I had stopped walking as well and Sloan went down another hallway, already having memorized his school map earlier. Madison was looking at me and I remembered which way to go and headed to English.

“Maddie!” The jock from earlier called her name as he stalked toward us.

“Sorry,” she muttered under her breath just as the jock reached us and pushed me backwards.

“What’s your problem?” I asked him.

“My problem is you stepping up to my girl! Hands off, delinquent,” he said, and I gritted my teeth.

“We were just talking, Josh,” Madison said.

I ignored them both and kept walking to my next class that I was officially late for now. I could hear them behind me, and I steeled myself for another push, but it never came. They both had English with me, and I really contemplated going to the office and asking to be moved.