7
I asked the teacher to move my seat.
<
I moved as far away from Amy as possible.
Now I could focus on my SATS.
I worked night and day.
Sometimes, when I looked up from my book, I
felt someone staring at me.
A gaze from my old seat, full of worry and
guilt.
But I didn’t have time for it.
A note landed on my desk.
“Tom, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean what I said. I
was just kidding with Jake.”
Lerumpled the note and tossed it in the trach
<
then told the kids next to me not to pass me
any more notes.
I built a wall around myself, shutting out the
girl who used to be so close.
Finally, the day before the SATs arrived.
Summer was in full swing, the sound of
cicadas and sweat–soaked school uniforms
marking the end of our high school years.
It was a chapter that would decide many
people’s fates.
On the blank page of my textbook, I wrote
“Harvard” in bold letters.
Amy, on the other hand, was probably still
writing “Jake.”
