Bryan who sits to his left shuffles in his seat Aiden’s attention zips over to his friend Yesterday’s match appears in flashes in between play-by-play moment by moment He was in a perfect scoring position when Enzo didn’t pass The bird flutters its wings Ben shuffles The rubbery pen on the whiteboard Freddy Wong scribbles frantically in the squeaks front row Allan Baxter jiggles his legs A strong gust blows against the window rattling the frame Squeak rattle jiggle shuffle scribble Aiden can’t wait for practice The clock on the wall ticks ticks ticks No phones in class Tick Class ends finally Clang bang shuffle 10
Books snap shut Chairs slide Aiden’s mind jumps from one frantic activity to the next And suddenly he feels the presence of someone and then hears a voice beside him Aiden you heading over to practice now asks Ben Yeah let’s go They head toward the door Aiden Mr McCartney rolls his squeaky whiteboard pen between his fingers Can I have a quick word Uh yeah sure Mr McCartney Catch you on the field says Ben who is impatient to get to practice himself Aiden approaches the teacher’s desk which feels a bit like walking up to a referee and asking for a penalty You know Aiden sports are important at Mt Pleasant but it’s also important to keep 11
your grades up You missed the last test and haven’t even asked for a makeup I’ve also spoken to Mrs DaSilva She told me that you’re behind in her class as well So you’re really starting to fall behind Are you aware of this Ummm I guess says Aiden You have an official development talk next month but I wanted to give you a heads-up heads-up Do you understand Ummm I think so What do you understand Mr McCartney plucks the top off of the whiteboard marker Click I have to do better And And what Aiden looks down Algebra is hard enough without this extra lecture And you have to take responsibility He snaps the top back on the marker 12
I will I can do better You can do better asks Mr McCartney Yes I can do better Aiden repeats quietly How are you going to do better I’m going to study more And And take that test And when are you going to do that Before the development talk Yes Before the development talk And what happens at the development talk if you don’t get caught up I don’t know Aiden’s eyes drill down to the floor Mr McCartney is wearing soft loafers Old man shoes Someone walks by the door Aiden spies him through the small glass window The overhead lighting buzzes like a bees nest I’ll tell you If you don’t get caught up before the development talk you won’t be 13
