Читать книгу Basketball and Bullies - T. K. Valentic - Страница 2

"Hey, Freak! You spilled something on your face." Chad Morgan, the Morristown Middle School bully smirked sweeping Arthur Smith's homework onto the floor with a swipe of his hand. Arthur sighed and slid out of his desk bending over to pick everything up.

Standing up again, Arthur pulled his curly red hair over his face to cover the purple-colored birthmark that started at his neck and ended below his left eye. He hid his birthmark with his hair whenever he could. Arthur hated how he looked, but there wasn't much to be done about it.

The start-of-class bell rang and Ms. Bartlett, history teacher extraordinaire, swept into the room. "Arthur Smith! Why are you always out of your seat? And get your hair out of... Oh, nevermind, just sit down!" Nervous giggles filled the room. "That's enough out of the rest of you," she barked.

In the back of the room, Lisa Farley hid behind her book feeling guilty. If she said anything to help Arthur, Chad would turn on her instead, so she kept quiet.

"Chad is such a jerk!" Lisa's best friend Alexia whispered. "Just because his Dad owns the shoe factory, he thinks he's the bomb."

"Shush, Alexia," Besty, Lisa's other best friend hissed.

"Quiet, please. Open your books to last night's reading assignment; page one hundred and sixty." Ms. Bartlett scanned the room with eagle eyes honing in on Chad who was pretending to read his book. "Mr. Martin, from your reading last night, tell me why the railroads expanded so quickly after the Civil War?"

Chad looked like a deer caught in the headlights. "Um...because trains look cool?"

Someone in the back of the room tittered, and Chad's face turned a fine shade of crimson.

"Is that what you read?" Ms. Bartlett asked mildly, "I think not." She turned and examined the faces in the rest of the class. "Let's try someone else. Someone who did read the assignment last night." Several students tentatively raised their hands, but Ms. Bartlett ignored them calling on Arthur instead. "Mr. Smith, how about you?"

Arthur had not raised his hand; he never raised his hand. He tried to remain invisible so that no one would comment on how he looked. Besides, people were often uncomfortable looking straight at him, but not Ms. Bartlett. She called on him regularly and looked him straight in the eye, as if, she didn't see the birthmark at all. In spite of himself, he liked Ms. Bartlett. Unlike the rest of the teachers, Chad was not teacher's pet in her class. Ms. Bartlett didn't seem to care who Chad's father was.

Arthur said, "The railroads expanded after the Civil War because they were a quick way to transport people, goods, and mail. Rail travel was much faster than the horses and carriages that had been previously used."

"Good answer, Mr. Smith," Ms. Bartlett said smiling. She asked a few more questions and then went on to her lecture for the day.

The end-of-period bell rang, and Ms. Bartlett wrote down the homework assignment and left the room. The students gathered up their books and papers and began filing out of the room.

"Dirty Freak!" Chad spat out as he passed by Arthur's desk and once again used his arm to sweep Arthur's books to the floor.

"Seriously Chad, again?" Jake Green groaned. "Leave the poor guy alone. He's not done anything to you. Besides, you're blocking the aisle."

Chad laughed and gave Jake the middle finger. Jake sighed and dropped to one knee. He began to help Arthur pick up the scattered books and papers.

"I'm sorry," Arthur mumbled his head hung low.

"Why are you apologizing. You didn't do anything," Jake said. "Chad is the one with issues. You should stand up to him. I would have busted him in the mouth by now."

Arthur just hung his head.

"Well...anyways, see you tomorrow," Jake said feeling sorry for embarrassing Arthur.

Arthur watched Jake leave. He was embarrassed, but there was not much he could do except take it. So, just like every other day, Arthur went to his locker and waited. He knew if he stayed after school long enough he'd miss Chad and his two buddies who inevitably waited just a block beyond the school yard to harass him and the younger kids on their way home.

Arthur opened his locker. The door inside was covered in numbers. He took out a piece of chalk and marked off the number 1262. Another disastrous day was done. There were only 1261 days of school left, 1980 if he went to college.