"Five more minutes," Logan thought as he peered at the clock at the front of the classroom, "five more minutes and I will officially be a junior." He fiddled with the No.2 pencil in his hands. A thick white packet bore its black ink into his soul. His twin sister, Abigail, sat two seats away on the left, working on hers.
At the end of this monstrosity lies long, hot nights, with telescopes and journals underneath the endless sea of stars. No oafs to invade the pleasant solitude of an introvert. Two and a half months of no school sounded like heaven, yet one obstacle remains, a question on a final exam. "Okay, focus," he told himself.
Write a two column proof:
Given: 2 and 6 are supplementary angles.
Prove: line g is // line l.
"I hate these stupid proofs". Four more minutes.
Statements Reasons
a.) Angle 2 and angle 6 are supplementary a.)Given
b.)Angle 2 + angle 6=180 degrees b.) Definition of Supplementary Angles
c.)Angle 2 and angle 6 are corresponding c.)Corresponding Angles Postulate
d.)Angle 2 =angle 6
e.)
"Oh crap", his mind froze, "what now"? Anxiety opened its mouth, " You've gotta be kidding me! Abigail and I studied for hours, just for this exam. I'll fail!" His hands and forehead began to perspire. Three minutes.
Logan quickly scribed his answer and double-checked to make sure he answered every question. Discreetly, he rose. Peering around, every single person had a book or was sleeping. Slowly, he approached the desk of the one and only Mr. Jones.
Sensing his presence, Mr. Jones scowled as he lifted his troll-like face. His bifocals magnified the glare in his ice-encrusted eyes.
Logan's mouth ran Sahara dry as he drew a breath, "I've just finished".
The face of the man drew tighter, "Well, are you going to turn that in"?
His bones quivered. They were surely heard, "Yes, sir."
"Then step lightly, boy. I don't accept late work".
The rods of flesh grew sultry. Logan mustered what remained of his control. Handing the exam to Mr. Jones, he did as he was told, stepping lightly to his seat. The pounding in his head began to recede. All the agony of testing was over. Thirty more seconds.
Abigail, he noticed, was reviewing hers, at last.
Logan was steadily watching the clock, counting the moments until the bell beckons us to the freedom of the summer sun. His lips moved in time with each tick. Twenty, nineteen, eighteen, seventeen, sixteen, fifteen. Logan whispered, "Fourteen, thirteen, twelve, eleven..."
Their peers began to join. A mighty rumble began, "Ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one..." Levity erupted in the room as the new juniors exploded from their seats.
Clearly displeased, Mr. Jones bellowed from his seat, "Shut up, you barnacles". But it was in vain.
Logan exited the classroom of torture and tilted his head back. He breathed in a sigh of relief, glad to be done with the year, and Mr. Jones. "Thank you, Lord".
Students poured into the hallways. Old tests and assignments were tossed into the trash. The O'Reilly boys raced for the nearest door, glad to have total freedom forever...well, two and half months.
Logan reached his locker down the hall and retrieved his remaining items.
"Hey, Logan," cooed a voice from behind him.
He jolted and turned to see Brooke Larson behind him just as startled as himself. "Hey, Brooke."
"Hey, so are you and Abby coming with us to Valley?"
"Uh...yeah I think so," he said. Logan stared at the strawberry blonde, awkwardness creeping in. He snapped out of it, "Speaking of Abby, where is she?"
"Hey, there you guys are," came Abigail's voice, "we are heading out."
"Okay. I'll see you guys there," Brooke smiled, as she turned to leave.
With a sigh, Logan hoisted his Jansport onto his shoulders. "So, what do you wanna do with all this junk? Burn pile tonight?"
The brunette chuckled, "Well, I don't see the point in keeping it."
Simultaneously, the twins' voices exploded, "Campfire!"
"We'll see if the girls can come out. Will you run into the gas station and get some s'more stuff once we get done at Valley's?"
"Sure, right after you give me some more mulah."
"Smart-alec," she scoffed. "Ah, what a way to start good ol' summer break," she added as they hopped in their black grand am.
With the rev of the engine, they were gone. The school faded out of the rear view. Logan relieved, "School, out of sight, out of mind."
"Not really, Abigail refuted, "We still have to put up with it for two more years."
"Shut up".
A cackle escaped her throat as their black chariot carried them away.
After a nice lunch at Valley's with the girls, Logan and Abigail arrived at Cowanshannock Creek with their sugary vices and campfire supplies. They built their fire and waited for their friends' arrivals .
Logan leaned up against a tree. "Everything is just perfect. No more Mr. Jones and, for the summer, no more of those stupid-"
"Hey, worm", a voice cawed.
Logan cringed at the sound of the voice of Nicholas Thomas and his gang.
"What do you think you're doing here? This is our spot," he spat.
Logan stood frozen. His fists coiled, but there was not one ounce of strength to let them meet their match. The quivering began again.
"Hey, I asked you something, dummy!" The crew oafs snickered and jeered as their leader moved in a little closer to his prey.
He turned. Heat crept from his core to his neck, like volcanic magma rising from its birthplace beneath the earth.
"Okay, Gaston," came a feisty voice from behind. Low and behold, Abigail saved the day-again. She stormed over to the bunch. "Who do you think you are?"
Nicholas and his heathens cackled, "You really need your sister to get you out of trouble? When are you going to come up with a better excuse? Oh, wait, never because you're such a weakling! You'll never be a real man like me".
Logan's blood boiled, "He's just as conceited as-".
The proud villain refocused his attention on Abigail. Nicholas' gaze haunted her petite figure as a hawk's eye on a mouse. The crew of imbeciles cackled as he continued his mockery. "You know, Abby, you always seem to be showing up when you are least wanted and the one saving your brother."
Abigail spat back, "Well maybe that's because I enjoy seeing you not getting what you want like you do with everyone else."
Logan stood froze, "If anyone comes around here, we're busted."
The towering terror stepped close enough to lay hands, "Well, I always do, eventually".
With a flash, Abigail's knee shocked Nicholas' abdomen. A near regurgitating sound escaped his lips they kissed the bone of her hand. His body was caught by the earth. Nicholas gasped for air as his posy hoisted him up. The blonde giant gritted his teeth. His nostrils flared and his chest heaved. "This isn't over, Johnsons. I'll have you expelled!"
Abigail scoffed, "In your dreams, Thomas, in your dreams".
His gang followed him out of sight.
Her brother sighed, "You know, he actually could get us expelled".
"You know that he is a total chicken and will try to make up some story about he was the victim of some what-to-do with another guy, just to cover up being beaten up by a girl. He has to maintain his reputation to some degree around here, especially to all the girls," she said.
There was no use arguing with her; she always won somehow.
Hours passed. The fire crackled and offered its natural incense underneath the veiled, Pennsylvanian sky. S’mores and hot dogs were hovering over it on skews. The dew was beginning to make its invasion on the green blades beneath their feet.
Abigail sat with her friends and brother, roaring over the school year. It was finally over! All the late nights of studying for dreaded tests, no more papers for English, and no more dealing with jocks. The only thing upsetting her was the fact that she wasn’t going to be able to have basketball practice until October.
Logan, Tiara and Brook, were laughing to the point of nearly choking. April on her right, was turning red, as a slight toothy grin crept to her lips, at Chloe reminding the group of the embarrassing account of her role in the spring play, “You literally just crashed to the ground, like ‘BOOM’!”
“I was so into it that I just forgot where I was”, she exclaimed, “the funny thing is, it fit my character so well!”
Laughter continued to rise. More stories swirled through the group.
The conversations shifted to the summer plans. Each year was different in some way for all of them. Chloe and her family always went to either Disney World or Universal Studios, while April and her family traveled out of the country. Tiara always went to stay with family in Ohio during the summer. Brooke and the twins always stayed behind in their tiny farm town, waiting for the rest of summer to pass into another school year.
“When do you leave again,” Tiara asked. ”
"At six for the airport, but our flight is at like eight."
Logan cleared his throat, “Tiara, are you ready for the wedding?"
She sighed, “Almost. We still have a month before the wedding and there's so much left to do: flowers, a couple people are waiting on their dresses and tuxes, they haven't even picked a honeymoon destination yet!"
“Still?!” Abigail exclaimed.
Tiara sighed and nodded as the lot moaned and put their hands on their heads.
“Well, at least you guys have most things done,” Brooke pointed out.
“Yeah, you’re right.”
“Okay, while we are all here”, April announced, “when do we want to have our last hurrah party”?
Chloe pulled out her phone, “Let’s see, when will everyone be done with family vacations and stuff? I’ll be back from Disney the second weekend in August.”
“My plans are the same as usual, so I’m free”, added Brook.
At that, Logan’s mouth turned into a slight smile.
Abigail chimed, “Logan and I don’t have plans this summer”.
Tiara and April nodded in agreement.
April gasped, “Oh crap! It's almost 10 o'clock! I need to get home”, as she reached for her phone.
“Me too,” Chloe agreed.
“We should all probably get going,” Brooke concluded.
The teens rose from log benches, saying, “good night”, and dispersed.
Abigail yawned, stretched her arms, standing to her tiptoes, while Logan began to kill the fire. Soon, they were home.
Logan followed her up the stairs and moved down the hall towards his room.
She stopped him and whispered loudly, “Good night, egg head.”
Logan halted, “Good night, sister”, he said slyly, and faded into his black habitat.
As she entered the gateway to her chamber, she closed the door quietly behind her and made her way to her library of unlocked treasures. Books of lands miles away, real and not so real. Any adventure, any escape, would more than take her away from this vault of mundane summer life.
Her hands scanned the bindings. Which one was going to capture her this time? Shall it be pirates and daring escapes, mythical creatures touching base with the modern world, or a futuristic swirl of survival, perhaps? Everything promised an adventure, but she knew one by one that each ended the same way every single time.
Finally, she gave up. “No sense in it. It’s late. I’ve got all summer to read these things again if I want.”
Abigail exchanged her jeans and flannel for shorts and a t-shirt and settled on her twin sized bed. She peered up at the ceiling. Stars winked at her beige face. Shadows of her dresser and shelves cast themselves on her floor. Dreams of where her greatest desires awaited filled the walls. Another night in this room, in this house.
She turned her head to the left. On her desk was a journal, leather bound. Memory of the last dream she had dared to write, now resting in the pages, flooded her mind. Dreams of the impossible, of the extreme in each way, of her as the heroine. No one could tell her where she couldn’t go or what was impossible. Dreams that could be mocked in the real world. Dreams, fantasy, nothing more.
Her head returned to the stars. Their light gently whispered sweet dreams as she left today, and continued on to the land where she was the queen of all dreams.
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