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was because he knew I was getting ready to
start bawling. I wanted him to believe I was an idiot and, so far,
I think it was working. The lunch bell rang as I twisted my way
through the thickest part of the crowd and headed down to the math
wing. I walked through the door and went straight to Mr. Lucas’s
desk. I was his teacher’s aide and he kept a list on his desk of
those who needed help. I walked over and looked down and couldn’t
believe what I saw.
    “ Evan Lewis? You’ve got to
be kidding?”
    “ No,” Mr. Lucas stated with
surprise, “You know him? He’s new.”
    “ Yeah, I know him,” I said
with a little too much irritation to my voice.
    “ His transfer grades were
low in math so I figured you could work with him to get him up to
speed, unless you don’t want to, of course.”
    A pink piece of paper was tossed onto
the teacher’s desk. I looked up and there was Evan staring at me. I
wondered how much he had heard, but from the look in his eyes it
was enough to hurt. “No, that’s fine,” I sighed grabbing an extra
textbook. “Where do you want him to sit?”
    Mr. Lucas handed back the schedule to
Evan. “Welcome to Algebra II, Evan. I’m Mr. Lucas,” he held out his
hand and Evan shook it in silence. “I guess you know
Annalisa.”
    He only nodded.
    “ She’s going to catch you up
on what the class has been doing since January. Sit at the study
table in the back of the room and after a few sessions with her,
we’ll move you to a permanent seat.” He walked past me and went
straight to the back of the room.
    I’ve got to be all business, I kept
telling myself. No more teasing, no more staring at his face or
looking into his emerald eyes, and no more chit-chat, all business.
I opened the book and began with factoring equations. “Do you
remember how to do any of this?” I asked blankly.
    “ I hate math.” He sounded
nothing like the guy I met yesterday. He kept looking around the
room, not paying attention as I tried to show him how to work the
problem. He fidgeted and leaned back away from me in his chair.
Wow! I had done too good of a job of turning him off. If anything,
he acted totally pissed to be sitting there beside me.
    I got what I wanted, so why couldn’t I
be at least semi-happy about it? A lump rose up in my throat, and
audible bubbles fought to struggle through it.
    He reached across me and closed the
textbook.
    “ I wasn’t finished,” I
rebutted with the half copied problem.
    “ I am,” he said with a
threatening growl. He got up and walked to the front of the room,
grabbed a green pass from Mr. Lucas and went out the door. I sat
there for at least two or three minutes just trying to absorb what
happened.
    He must think I’m a total jerk. I
wondered at that moment if he would even stay at Pensacola High? A
sickening knot began to form in my stomach as I thought about him
quitting high school and never getting a degree because some stupid
little girl ruined it for him. I worked with two other students
before the last bell, but I don’t know how much good it did them
because I just couldn’t get my head back into algebra.
    I was slow finishing up after the bell.
I collected the scattered textbooks and stacked them neatly, put
away the calculators and wiped off the board. I was stalling
because I didn’t want to face him or Jewels in the parking lot, but
I had to leave because I’d be late getting Kimmy if I didn’t go
pretty soon.
    I was right about the parking lot. Only
a couple cars remained as I walked to my bug. I put down my books
and fished out a tissue from my purse. Alone in my car it would be
okay to let a few tears fall. Tissue in hand, I turned the key in
the ignition. The most amazing thing happened: absolutely nothing.
“No way,” I said out loud. “Crap!” I checked the stick and made
sure it was in neutral, still nothing. I pushed in the clutch and
put the car in first gear; no response from the engine. This can’t
be happening. I’m going to