“Marlina, we’ve been waiting for you. Please, take a seat,” the counselor said, gesturing to the empty chair. Marlina did what she was told, cautiously taking a seat across the room from Eddie. He smiled at her, prompting the knot… Continue Reading
“A class ring is a great reminder of all the memories you made in school,” the man in the too-small suit said to me, holding out the gold ring. On it was the school crest: a shield and two striking… Continue Reading
My spaceship lands in Australia and I come out with a big gun, to shoot lions. Mommy won’t let me have a gun. Mommy asked me where I wanted to go on vacation. I said somewhere where there’s no relatives.… Continue Reading
“Twenty lines! By tomorrow!” the Latin teacher shrieked. The class gave out a collective groan. Translating twenty lines of Ovid’s Metamorphoses seemed impossible, even with one hundred nights to work on them. I glanced down at my paper to see… Continue Reading
Back in Auburndale Elementary, Ms. Ponte was my first-grade homeroom teacher. She was so elderly she had probably crossed the Red Sea with Moses. The problem with her was she was falling apart right before my eyes. If you’ve ever… Continue Reading
Listen up, children. You too, Shannon. Derrick, no pushing. Class, we only get one field trip to the space elevator. Don’t ruin it with misbehavior. Leon, grab Susan before she floats back up the hatch. Maintenance is working on the… Continue Reading
I sat at my desk in Miss Austin’s class, engrossed in yet another book. We’d just been assigned Where the Red Fern Grows yesterday, and I was already halfway through it. I forced myself to detach from the fictional world… Continue Reading
Two hundred and seventy-four days. That was how long Samantha had been waiting. Seconds slowly ticked away as Samantha re-checked the clock. Days felt even longer in school. She tried listening to her algebra teacher talk about theorems and equations,… Continue Reading
As soon as Miss Kate left detention class for the toilet, Edelle scrambled over to Leah. “Flippidy books,” Edelle said, and flung Leah’s hardbacks from her desk, spreading them on the ground. Jaryd sat cowering in his seat, drawing squiggly… Continue Reading
“Welcome to the Academy,” the Chancellor announced. His voice was echoed by the crowd’s applause, whose eclipsing thunder reduced his volume to that of a whisper. I was in that crowd, but clapping softly. When asked by the admissions officer… Continue Reading