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He was practically flunking history. This was the fifth time that he didn’t have his homework. And it was the second time that his backpack was where it shouldn’t be. And today was the first day that his teacher hadn’t marked him absent. The other kids looked at him, smirking, whispering behind their spiral notebooks and fancy folders. Their teacher, Mr. Landers, who had seemed to like him in the past, set upon him a glare as cold as ice.
“Anyone else forget their homework?” He asked sending scathing looks towards every single one of them. They all innocently shook their heads primly. Gerard hated them all of a sudden.
Mr. Landers turned to Gerard. “You, see me after class. Now, lets all turn to page 149. Can someone tell me what we learned yesterday?”
Gerard sat there, looking at his desk, eyes downcast. A long piece of his black hair fell into his eyes. He let it stay there, not bothering to pull it back. If he failed the semester this early in the year, that would look really bad. School had just begun a month and a half ago and already he was screwing up. And already, he thought, as the class began to file out, it was time to go see Mr. Landers.
Gerard stiffly walked up to Mr. Lander’s desk. Mr. Landers was going through some homework papers, shuffling them and straightening them out. He looked at Mr. Landers who was tired looking and old, wisps of thin white hair emerging from his head. His blue eyes looked faded behind his glasses. His shirt was crumpled and his tie was askew. Mr. Landers leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms.
“Gerard, I hate to interfere with a student’s personal life, because it is none of my business. But in your case, I feel obliged to. You haven’t been coming to class, and when you do, you come unprepared and look sad and tired.” The teacher gave Gerard a moment to speak.
“Mr. Landers, I do come to class, everyday in fact. You don’t see me I guess, because I usually sit in the back row. I didn’t sit there today, because when I came in, the back seats were all taken.” Gerard said truthfully looking his teacher in the eye.
“If you do attend my class, then why don’t you turn in your homework I assign?” he asked irritation in his voice.
“I do the homework, except that I forget it at home, or I forget my backpack by mistake. I did hand in homework two weeks ago and I got an A on it as I recall.” Said Gerard.
His teacher looked at him. Gerard looked so sad and worn out. Loss of sleep? Mr. Landers sighed.
“Gerard, I am giving you until a week from today to hand in the missing assignments you owe me. It’s bringing down your grade.”
Gerard nodded, biting his lip. “Ok, thanks Mr. Landers.”
As Gerard emerged from the building, an unfriendly gust of wind blew at him, sending a shiver down his spine. He remembered that inside his backpack was his leather jacket, and he rubbed his arms trying to warm them. He knew that he had to get his backpack back, and that meant making the long journey to the abandoned part of town through the graveyard and woods. His bones ached from all the walking, but at least, he thought, he wouldn’t have to be home for Luke because he was at a neighbor’s. Gerard felt bad, feeling that he had let Luke down somehow. Sure, he had left him alone for an hour or whatever, but his brother was perfectly capable of taking care of himself.
Gerard started walking faster, telling himself to get a move on, and letting the wind blow through his long hair. The wind was getting really intense, and scattered leaves flew every which way. Gerard silently promised himself that he would be home before dark. Then he remembered his mother wouldn’t be home until late, so he had plenty of time to kill.
The harder the wind blew, the faster he walked, and he arrived at the graveyard in half the time he usually did. He should have been exhausted but instead, he refreshed, and heaved open the iron gates with newfound strength. The graveyard was silent as a dead cat, and there was not