Mr. Terupt Falls Again (21 page)

CUT TO: CU of LEXIE. She throws her head back and laughs up at the ceiling. She bends forward, still laughing, but her
hands quickly move to her neck region. CU of LEXIE’s hands stuffing something back under her top. Camera pulls back as LEXIE sits up. There isn’t anything showing, but we see her wet eyes. LEXIE gets up and hurries out of the classroom
.

CUT TO: JESSICA entering the bathroom. We find LEXIE sitting against the wall, her knees pulled close to her chest and her face in her hands. JESSICA sits down next to LEXIE
.

LEXIE is crying. JESSICA wraps an arm around her
.

LEXIE pulls some toilet paper from under her shirt and uses it to blow her nose
.

LEXIE pulls free more toilet paper and blows her nose again. The GIRLS look at each other and start laughing. DANIELLE enters the bathroom and walks over and sits on LEXIE’s other side
.

LEXIE walks over to the trash can and throws out her snotty tissues. Then she pulls the remaining toilet paper from under her top and tosses that. She turns and faces JESSICA and DANIELLE. They stand up
.

LEXIE gestures to the classroom
.

JESSICA and DANIELLE smile. LEXIE leaves
.

FADE OUT
.

O
ne of the things I’ve become better at this year is reading people. Just sit back, stay quiet, and watch and listen. What facial expressions is the person making? What gestures or body movements? What sounds, like huffs and puffs or weak sighs? It might sound tricky, but it’s not. It’s no different from knowing that a snarling dog, his teeth bared and fur standing up on his back, is telling you he’s not happy and to get away.

I’ve been doing this reading-people thing ever since the summer. I knew something big was going on at home, but I didn’t know what, so I studied my family members—Grandma and Grandpa mostly.

Did Grandma take time to fold her dish towel or did she throw it down? Did Grandpa talk at dinner or spend most of the time running his hands through his hair and over his
face? Did they talk to themselves, as old people sometimes do when they have a lot on their minds?

Since discovering the “Land Wars” article I was the one with plenty to think about. I wasn’t as worried about reading everyone else as I was about learning more. I started scanning the headlines every time I found a paper, but I didn’t find any new news. The original article was actually from an older newspaper, so I wasn’t exactly sure where this land war stood now, and that made me uneasy. Because of this, our second Exchange Day was a welcome distraction.

It was easy for me to read Peter on Exchange Day number two. He was in my boat building group. There were several times when we had to say his name to get him to focus on our work instead of stare over at Lexie. The rest of my group thought he was trying to get ideas on how to build a good boat by looking to see what Luke was doing. While this was a sneaky strategy that made sense, I knew Peter was studying Lexie and those other boys.

That morning, I prayed for Lexie when I found her in the bathroom with all that toilet paper. I had already prayed for me before that. I wasn’t very comfortable in my clothes. Nothing fit right anymore. All of my pants were high-waters. A tiny part of me felt better after I found Lexie and saw that I wasn’t the only one with clothes not fitting right, but I hoped that wasn’t God’s way of answering my prayer.

And now I wonder if what happened was God’s way of teaching Lexie a lesson. His way of telling her they’d grow when it was time.

Peter’s wide eyes turned into a glare every time Lexie
talked to those boys and every time they laughed. Peter got so mad he snapped the piece of Styrofoam he was holding right in half.

“Wha’d you do that for?” Josh, one of the visiting boys in our group, asked.

“I don’t know,” Peter said. “It was an accident. Here.” He tossed the broken pieces into the middle of our materials. “They’re making fun of her,” he hissed under his breath. “Doesn’t she know that?” He was talking to himself and didn’t realize I was listening.

Peter was mad that Lexie dared talk to other boys. And once she started flirting with them, Peter got madder than a cow getting milked for the first time. That was easy reading. He was jealous.

Peter didn’t see Lexie leave for the bathroom, but Jessica and I did. And it was easy to tell that Lexie was upset. It’s too bad Peter didn’t notice, because then maybe he would have seen that Lexie hadn’t fallen in love with those boys. Maybe then Peter would have calmed down a bit.

In the bathroom, I joined Jessica in trying to make Lexie feel better. But by the time I got there Jessica had already done most of the work. Lexie had finished crying and was beginning to smile. I wanted to be helpful, so I told Lexie about Peter. She acted all grossed out by it, so I don’t know how much good I did. I actually felt worse for Peter than I did for Lexie after that.

Dear God
,

My friends Lexie and Peter had quite a day today. I’m sure you know all about it. Maybe now Lexie will know to take things
slower, but I doubt it. She takes everything too fast. Grandma would tell her, “Patience makes the world go round.” Lexie could use a dose of patience. I’m running out of patience myself. Please don’t leave me in suspense. I know there’s a land war going on, but I don’t know how things stand right now. I’d like to know, if you don’t mind telling me. Amen
.

M
r. T asked me and Anna to escort our visitors to their bus after Exchange Day number two wrapped up. Even though there were no books involved, Anna and I still made a good team.

We led our visitors to the main entrance and held the glass doors open as they filed out and boarded the yellow bus. Mr. T went outside with Mrs. Stern. They were busy talking. I eyed Derek as he walked past me. He thought he was big and mighty for flirting with Lexie. Anger bubbled inside me.

At some point that afternoon the sky started dropping those big, heavy, very wet snowflakes. The kind you hate to shovel because the snow sticks together and weighs so much. A late-in-the-season snow that melts quickly but is pretty while it lasts. It was snow, though. And that triggered
a painful memory and another range of feelings mixed with the anger I already had brewing. For Derek, the snow was an invitation he couldn’t resist. He bent down and scooped a handful. I watched him form a snowball. That was all I needed.

I bolted out the door and chased after him. He was about to throw that snowball in Mr. T’s direction. I connected with him just as his arm was pulled back. Lowering my head, I tackled Derek, taking him right off his feet. I landed on top of him in the wet grass. I heard the wind leave his body as we bounced off the ground.

You have to imagine how I was feeling. Derek was about to chuck a snowball that could have accidentally hit Mr. T. This had nothing to do with Lexie. It was the first time someone had made a snowball in front of me since last year. My whole body tingled. I was just protecting Mr. T.

“Oh my goodness!” I heard Mrs. Stern shriek.

I jumped off Derek. “You can’t throw snowballs here!” I yelled, standing over him.

“You’re just mad ’cause I spent the day with your girlfriend,” Derek said. He got up and brushed his pants and jacket off.

“She’s not my girlfriend,” I said. “You just can’t throw snowballs here, okay?” I felt other kids gathering around us as Derek stepped closer to me.

“Oh yeah, why not?” he said.

“Because somebody could get hurt,” Mr. T said, pushing his way through the crowd and stepping between me and Derek.

“Get on the bus!” Mrs. Stern demanded. “This behavior is unacceptable!” Her class knew to listen. They did as she ordered. “I’ll have a talk with them,” she told Mr. T. “I’m gonna whip them into shape yet.”

Mr. T smiled. “Oh, I know you will, Dolores. I have no doubts about that.”

Anna and I started back to the classroom. She knew I was upset over Lexie, so she tried talking to me about it. I changed the subject to Jeffrey. I told her that he had the hots for her, which he did. Anna was taken by surprise. She didn’t really get a chance to say anything, because as soon as the yellow bus pulled away, Mr. T hurried to catch up with us.

“Thanks, Peter,” Mr. T said. “Everyone should have a guardian angel like you.” He put his arm around me.

A guardian angel shouldn’t be far away, I thought. Definitely not at Riverway.

“Peter, did you learn how to tackle like that at wrestling?” Anna asked.

“Sort of,” I said. “That was a double-leg takedown, except in wrestling you don’t get a running start like that.”

“Because there’s not enough room in the ring?” she asked.

Mr. T and I laughed out loud. “Sort of,” I said again. “Except it’s not a ring. It’s just a mat.”

“Oh,” she said.

“Did you want to try wrestling, Anna?” Mr. T asked.

I stiffened. I was afraid she might say yes. I couldn’t imagine wrestling a girl!

“No!” Anna said. “But I do think I’d like to watch it.”

I let out a sigh. Whew.

“Well, guess what?” Mr. T said. “We plan to have wrestling at Field Day this year.”

“Really?!” I said.

“Yup.”

Awesome! First we had Snow Hill Carnival, then Field Day, then graduation, and then a wedding. This was going to be the best finish ever. The thought of finishing made me wonder—again—what I was going to do without Mr. T next year. All along I’d been telling myself I needed to fail so I could stick around and look out for him, but the truth was I needed him more than he needed me.

My mother is a powerful lady. She’s always in charge and people don’t question her. But I did that night she showed up at wrestling. I don’t know where my courage came from, but I told her how I felt and that I didn’t want to go to Riverway. She didn’t like that, and was about to lose it when Mr. T stepped in and put an end to our standoff.