That Year Read online

Principle Burns shouts. When the kid doesn’t budge from his chair, Principle Burns tugs his ear and drags him out of the classroom, slamming the classroom door behind him.

  I walk to the forgotten part of the school, down the hallway of despair and sadness and into the classroom where I first met Leo. Leo takes his grey and black check patterned flat cap off and places it onto a coat hook. He rubs his hands through his sleek black hair, “Glad you could make it, some people can’t handle change. They feel it’s impossible, that the way everything was before is the only way. They are wrong. Change is sometimes is just another opportunity.” I think of me and Victoria sitting down at our booth at the shaking bar, laughing, comfortable. We shared so much, she was the first person, and so far only person I ever truly let in. I gave everything to her. And oh her beauty, I wonder if she knew how beautiful she really was when she would hold back that smile of hers.

  “Follow me,” Leo says. I get up from my chair wiping the dust off my pants as we leave the isolated section of the high school. He takes me to other parts of the school I never yet explored. We cross an elevated bridge, or catwalk as it’s referred to, connecting the school to another part of the school. The catwalk’s left, right, and upper section is made up of glass panels letting the natural sunlight in. “There are other class rooms here, but that’s not why I brought you here,” says Leo as we cross the catwalk and turn to directly to the right at the end. Leo tries to open a door that appears locked. “As suspected,” he says to himself. He takes out what appears to be a stretched paper clip, and toggles with the lock. Eventually he gets it to open. “Close the door behind you,” he tells me while climbing the staircase.

  “Have experience in lock picking I see.” We reach another door after climbing 25 flights of stairs. Unlike the other one, this door doesn’t have a lock. Leo opens the door. We are on the roof of the school. I look around. I see 7 baseball fields, tennis courts, basketball courts, and the football stadium behind the school. The campus is massive. Forests surround the outliers of the rural campus. Leo sits on the ledge of the roof looking out admiring the beauty that Mother Nature has to offer. I walk toward him standing next to where he is sitting. We both just admire the view. “We are going to change a lot of things around here Matt,” Leo finally breaks the silence. I think getting transfer and foreign students the rights they deserve is a big enough task. I don’t know what else he is referring to.

  A truck drives up the road leading toward the school. Leo picks up binoculars that I didn’t notice were right next to him on the ledge of the roof, and looks at the truck. “What time is it,” he asks looking through his binoculars. I take out my phone from my pocket, “11:35,” I answer. “What’s the importance of that truck,” I ask. “It’s a Pyramid Company truck, the company that delivers our school cafeteria with food.” “Why are they important to us,” I ask. Leo, with his black hair blowing in the light breeze turns to me and smiles.

  5

  “Matt stay here,” Mrs. Snow notifies me while the rest of my classmates gather their belongings for their second period class. The girl that talked me after this class on my first day of high school smiles at me while exiting the classroom. Two weeks have passed since that first day.

  I walk up to Mrs. Snow as she organizes papers on her desk. She looks at me with her bright blue eyes making my entire body feel frozen in time. “You wanted me to stay,” I say unsurely. “Sit down Matt,” she demands.

  She pushes her blonde hair behind her ears and tilts her head in my direction. “How are you?” “Good,” I say. “Am I making you are uncomfortable? You didn’t do anything wrong. You can relax.” If I didn’t do anything wrong, then why did she want me stay? The classroom door opens. It is a built black man with buzzed black hair and facial hair extending around his chin. “Just checking to see if you’re getting accustomed to the school,” he says. “I am Mr. James thanks for asking.” He looks at me then at Mrs. Snow and smiles as he goes through the classroom door backwards, smiling until the door finally closes. “He’s been checking alright. He comes here every day asking me.” She was my teacher, but she was still young and she talked to me in a tone I imagined she would talk to one of her friends in.

  I glance at a picture on her desk next to a boutique of red roses. It’s of her and another man, most likely her husband. She notices me looking at it and picks it up. “I got married young,” she says placing the picture frame, with the picture facing down onto her desk. I look at her; I see sadness in her eyes. “You must be happy, with a job and family,” I say. Truth was I really didn’t know what to say, but that’s best I came up with on the spot. “I’m not happy,” she says shaking her head. Her eyes get redder. Please don’t cry, please don’t cry. Too late, tears scroll gently down her face. I realize that I said the wrong thing. Wait, how is this my fault? I don’t even understand what’s happening. How did I get this situation again? She sniffs and wipes the tears off with her left hand. I don’t notice any wedding ring on her finger.

  “I’m sorry for this, I’m a mess.” “No, no you’re anything but that,” the words just roll off my tongue. I shouldn’t have said that. What did I just say? She smiles. “Don’t make the same mistakes that I did in life,” she says with her sobbing getting under control.

  “I’m not happy, Matt.” “I have two kids with a guy that doesn’t even love me. I’m 26 years old and my life is already off to a terrible start.”

  “I’m sorry this is happening to you, you don’t deserve it,” I say. “I wish I could go back in time and be in your position, your whole life ahead of you.” “Mrs.”. “Please. Call me Elizabeth,” Mrs. Snow interrupts me placing her hand on my leg. She slowly and gently scrolls her hand up my leg.

  She gets up and walks toward the door and locks it. She walks toward me her long blonde hair flowing as she walks. She lifts her shirt up to her breast exposing her stomach. Her shirt falls back down as she sits on my lap her face facing mine. I’m unable to control myself. We kiss. She takes off her shirt, then her bra. I sit there admiring her. She pulls down her skirt and thong. She is completely naked. We share another passionate kiss. I take my shirt off. We kiss more. I take my pants off. I kiss and feel every part of her body. I take off my boxers. She leans against the desk, so I place her legs under my arms and force myself upon her.

  I wipe the sweat from my forehead and put my clothes back on trying to get my normal breathing back.

  6

  During the following weeks I continue to meet Leo during our 35 minute lunch periods. Our time varying between preparing the Student Body Presidency campaign and feeding the transfer and foreign students hope that change is imminent and their hunger for education and rights will be met. From the roof of the school we would watch as the Pyramid Company delivery truck would drive up the campus road in route toward the back of the school. We would observe as it parked, and watch as the driver unloaded boxes onto a magna cart and enter the school cafeteria’s back entrance. Every time I would ask Leo the importance of the delivery truck, he was unrevealing.

  Leo was a natural born leader, and inspired the students whom spent their days in a forgotten and long lost section of the high school. He inspired me with his confidence, his sureness about himself.

  Today, Leo and I decide to have lunch in the abandoned classroom that I first met him in. I take a bite from my chicken patty. “This won’t be easy. We are running against a person, Bruce Sneel, in the pocket of Joey Fontane and his gang.” I finish chewing the piece of chicken in my mouth. “Who’s Joey Fontane,” I ask. “The person responsible for the fear the run in the school hallways,” he answers. “People let him get away with what he wants, never standing up the weakened, for what’s right and what’s wrong, out of fear of retaliation from Joey Fontane and his gang.” Leo turns his head in my direction, “But what we are attempting is going to rock the very foundation this school is built on, it will rattle the cages of Joey Fontane. We need to show the students we are strong enough
together to change this school for the better, that thugs like Fontane no longer run this school.”

  I walk through the bus parking lot. I notice the girl that sits on the opposite side my first period classroom stop conversing with her friends, and look at me. She walks toward me. “Hey,” I say first. “All this time gone by and I still don’t know your name,” I continue. She blushes, looks at the ground, and then lifts her head up, “It’s Kayla. My parents are not going to be home this weekend, so I’m kind of throwing this party Friday night. If you’re interested I would like it if you came,” she says. “Yeah that sounds fun.” “Great give me your number and I’ll text you my address.” She adds each number I say into her phone, smiles then walks back to her group of friends. I notice how excited she and her friends are when she is back. I hope that excitement is not for me. I’m not worth getting that excited over. I will just disappoint her.

  Friday night arrives. Steve’s older brother drives Steve and me to the party. Steve didn’t get invited but I guess hearing about a party means you’re allowed to go. I don’t know. Kayla’s driveway and street are full of