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Chapter Four: When the World Conspires
“Have a good day, sweetheart. Call me when you get home, I’m going to pick your father up at the airport.” Alicia Dawson said with a smile. “Alex, Jace, say goodbye to your sister.”
Kate looked at her twin siblings and smiled as they waved. “Bye Kat.” Alex said and Kate waved back.
“I’ll see you two brats when I get home.” Kate threatened and Jace stuck his tongue out.
Opening the door to their new car, the most recent proof that life was getting better, Kate stepped onto the sidewalk and began walking towards the school. It was her first day at Ellison High and she was a little scared.
Looking down at her schedule that she had already memorized, Kate went through the list in her mind. Math first, creative writing second, college prep English third, and history… what a day.
Walking up the large staircase to the front entrance of the school, Kate tried not to look like the new kid, but looking around, she realized that that was impossible. She was the only person within one hundred feet who was wearing any shade of blue let alone in the form of a sweatshirt and it seemed that her shoes, which were the coolest in Baja, were not recognized.
During her long walk through the hallways to find the office, Kate got many odd stares and many hostile glares. People here weren’t really very friendly. People in California were very laid back and accepting but these people… they were looking at her like she broke some kind of written law.
Entering the small room with an office sign above it, Kate walked to the front desk and waited patiently to be helped. A few minutes passed and a bell rang. Tapping her fingers nervously on the desktop, Kate prayed the receptionist would hurry. She didn’t want to be late on her first day. She was drawing more than enough attention to herself already.
“Hello M’ Dear, what can I do you for?” Asked a pleasant, round woman as she exited a small staff room off to the left and saw Kate.
“I’m transferring and I need a slip. I was told this was to be my first stop.” Kate explained and the woman nodded.
“Do you have your papers with you?” She asked and Kate nodded, rummaging through her bag.
“Here.” She said, handing over her forms.
“All righty then… we just have to file these. Go ahead and have a seat, this’ll only take a few minutes then I’ll send you off on your merry way to your first class.” The woman said with a kind smile and Kate was grateful.
Ten minutes and another bell later, Kate was on her way to room 120. The halls were empty except for a few stragglers who were late and once she reached the correct room, everything was silent.
Calming her nerves, Kate twisted the doorknob and entered the classroom. The teacher, a man that couldn’t be far out of high school himself stood at the front of the classroom. Kate could tell he had been speaking and regretted interrupting.
“Ah, and you must be miss Kate.” He said with a smile, holding his hand out for her slip. Kate readily handed it to him. “Go ahead and take that seat right there in the back.” He offered. “Now, to finish my train of thought before we humiliate our new guest, I just want to reiterate the fact that your test scores are plain unacceptable. I give you the material and the tools to understand it, what you do with it is your choice and it’s the difference between those of you who are going somewhere and those of you who will be serving me lunch at McDonald’s.” He said, looking into the eyes of every student in the room intensely.
“I expect to see improvement and soon. We’re halfway through the semester and some of you are floundering. I suggest those of you who are struggling and care, come see me after school and we can talk but it’s your initiative, not mine, just like it’s your education, not mine. I’m sure as hell not going to waste my time or effort if your greatest ambition is to get a job at the grocery store down the street. I have a family and I have a life.” Upon finishing his little speech, the class was silent.
“Now if I could have our newest addition, come up to the front please.” Kate held still for just a second before she obeyed and stood, walking slowly to the front, not meeting anyone’s eyes. “Please state your name, place of origin, occupation, and ambition.”
“I’m Catherine Dawson, I was… born in Pennsylvania but have lived previously in California, Massachusetts, Oregon, which is where I just moved from. I am currently unemployed but when I get out of college, I want to become a writer.” Kate said this all very quickly and looked around the room.
“See, and Kate here just told me she was going places. Did you hear her?” He asked and there were shrugs around the room. “She said, when I get out of college, not if I go to college and not if I graduate college. She’s doing it. Kate, I would like to introduce myself. I am Eric Canton, and I am your advanced algebra teacher.”
Kate smiled and nodded. Pointing to her seat, Mr. Canton nodded, dismissing her.
“Well, play time is over. Pull out your books and turn them to chapter three. Looks like we need to brush up on the basic order of operations.” Kate opened her book along with everyone else and surprisingly, she felt secure.
“Can anyone tell me, without looking or reading from the text, what the order of operations is?” Mr. Canton asked, walking to the chalkboard.
Kate raised her hand along with three others and waited patiently to be called upon. “Yes, Miss Dawson?”
“Parenthesis, exponents, multiplication, division, addition, then subtraction.” She recited. All through junior high she had been drilled on this stuff and for once, she was glad she had been nothing less than a vigilant hard worker.
“Exactly right. And easy way to remember it is by remembering the phrase ‘PEMDAS.’ It looks like a crazy word but it gives you the whole thing and it’s not too hard to remember.” He said. “You may also remember the stupid little sentence please excuse my dear aunt sally, but I prefer PEMDAS… less words.” Mr. Canton said with a smile and there were scattered laughs around the room.
“So, Kate, since you shared with us the answer I would ask you to come up to the front and write an equation with each of these components. Then I would like you to solve it.” Kate stood and walked to the board. He handed her his orange chalk and she started. The equation she chose was four times parenthesis three squared plus three end parenthesis minus six times seven divided by two.
“And your answer is?” He asked and she stepped away from the board.
“Three.” She said confidently.
“Prove it.” Mr. Canton said and she looked surprised. She had just done it in front of the whole class. Wasn’t that proof enough?
“What?” She asked.
“I want to know why it turned out the way it did. I want a step by step explanation, an analysis if you will.” He said, motioning towards the board and Kate did as she was told. She went through the equation step by step, explaining even the math she did. “And what if I told you the answer was seven?”
“I would say you’re wrong.” She said and there were gasps around the room.
“And I would be, seeing as how you’ve just proven me wrong to a fault. You may have a seat, Kate, and I thank you for being my guinea pig.” He said and Kate shrugged, walking back to her seat. “I see how unsettled you all are when challenged. For a second when I asked her if the answer could be seven, I am sure Kate questioned herself and went through the process again in her head. This is how our brains work and in life, this process of second-guessing can be a good or bad thing. In math though, not only is it inefficient, but it’s flat out unnecessary. Confidence in math is essential, that is what I am trying to teach you. To be confident in your skills so that you will be able to practically apply everything that I’m teaching you. But I’ll leave that psycho-babble to the professionals…”
Kate left the math classroom in absolute awe. How in hell had she never ever had a teacher so good with words and explanations? His way of speaking was not only inspiring, but it was helpful in every aspect. He wasn’t standing at the front showing them abstract equations and making them all memorize them. He explained why they were there, how they could help them all, and why they’re important. He even handed out word problems after the lesson that gave a practical application for everything they learned in class…
But upon getting into her locker, Kate found herself once again with a feeling of fear in the pit of her stomach. She had a theory of universal balance. Because of the great class she had just had, the next would be a completely terrible experience. Even though it was the one she had looked forward to most, it was inevitable that it would suck.
And it was with this mindset that she entered her creative writing class. Upon looking around, she was strangely reminded of a scene from a Harry Potter book she had read. It looked like the description of the divination room classroom without the teacups and crystal balls. There were purple, pink, blue, and green scarves draped all around the room and for a second, she had the urge to walk back out. But before she could act on the impulse, the bell rang and more students began filtering in through the door.
Not wanting to be the only student out of a seat, Kate sat down in a random spot. What she hadn’t considered was that someone else was actually assigned to sit there, and someone was.
“Ian, why aren’t you sitting?” Came a soft voice from the corner of the room and Kate’s eyes shot up. It was Ian… Ian Clark.
“Someone’s in my seat.” He replied and Kate stood.
“Oh, yes, the new student, come on up here young lady.” The small woman who was now at the front of the classroom said.
As Kate walked to the front, she was struck with the hope that she wouldn’t be shown on display in every class.
“Now, what kind of writer are you and why did you choose to take this class?” The teacher asked and Kate found it odd she hadn’t asked for her name.
“Um… I like to write. I’m not just one specific type of writer but I do like journalism. I actually want to take journalism and apply to be on the school paper’s staff.” Kate said. “I took this class to get experience. I have difficulty staying focused and organized and that’s what the course description for this class said it helps with.”
“And your name dear?” The teacher asked.
“Kate, Kate Dawson.” She replied, holding the strap to her backpack, which was still slung over her shoulder, tighter.
“Well, Kate, I am Mrs. Emerson. Welcome to creative writing. Where is it exactly that you came from?”
“Baja… Baja California.” Kate replied.
“That explains a lot.” Mrs. Emerson stated and motioned for Kate to have a seat in the back. There were chuckles around the room and Kate felt her cheeks burning. Her theory had just been proven. “No, not all the way back there, Kate. Sit there behind Mr. Clark. He’ll be able to help you catch up.”
Kate sighed. It was worse than she thought. The world was openly conspiring against her. Laying her head down on her desk, Kate listened as their teacher droned about colors being the womb of creativity and so on…