Chapter 4
Tuesday, July 6th
“Morning everyone.” As much as I hated having to work in the summer, I loved my students. I had never met such an eager and enthusiastic bunch before.
Tuesday, July 6th
“Morning everyone.” As much as I hated having to work in the summer, I loved my students. I had never met such an eager and enthusiastic bunch before.
“So as you know, the final chapter of your story as well as your previous week’s comments are to be handed in today. I must say that I’m very impressed with the progress that I’ve seen over the past four weeks and can’t wait to see how you all wrap up your stories.”
All the kids were beaming at the praise, and although it sucked being stuck in a non-air-conditioned school at 10am on a beautiful and hot day, the donuts, cookies and pitchers of juice and water that I “illegally” brought in this morning for the kids, stupid school board and their ‘no food or drink policy’, seemed to emphasize the smile on everyone’s face.
The students were starting a new project for their novel today. This weeks’ challenge was to re-write a chapter of their choice from a different characters point of view. Again, the students would be posting it on the fan websites to see what the readers think.
“So what we’re working on today is our power of observation and the freedom of imagination. You just worked for five weeks on characterization, but let’s see how well you know every character in your story, even the most inconsequential ones. What you’ll have to do for this assignment is choose any chapter you want, and completely re-write it from a secondary characters view point. For example, Tamara, who’s reading Harry Potter, could write from Ron’s point of view, or Clara, you could re-do Romeo and Juliet from Balthasar’s, Bridget Jones’ Diary from Mark Darcy’s and even Sophie’s point of view for The Da Vince Code. It’s up to you who you choose.”
I went behind my desk and pulled out my laptop and a DVD case. The students started laughing and cheering. I knew that this activity was going to be a hit.
“So for today, your challenge is to watch this clip and re-write what you see from three different points of view. Since this is just an exercise to get you thinking differently, each point of view is to be a page MAX! Just an overview, I don’t need dialogue or anything, but I will for your actual project. You’ll actually have the rest of the day to work on the exercise and we’ll be presenting them tomorrow morning.”
I removed the cap off the projector that I had already set up, got the students to shut the curtains and turn off the lights while I hooked up the speakers and popped in “SHREK”. Everyone sat and watched animatedly, some even taking notes, as all the storybook creatures invaded Shrek’s swamp.
The students were laughing away and I could see them trying to figure out whose viewpoints they wanted to tackle. After the clip was over, the students and I decided that we were going to take the rest of the class and write outside in on the football field. All the students grabbed their bags, some staying behind and helped me by grabbing the donuts, cookies, drinks and glasses while I packed away my laptop and lead the students out into the back of the school where the large trees surrounding the far end of the field provided cooling shade.
As the kids all got settled and started writing, I walked around and collected all of their final chapters from their previous assignment. I nestled myself under a talk maple tree, placing my computer beside me, my donut and juice on my computer bag and the assignments on my lap.
The stories were so entertaining. The way the students concluded their pieces actually left me wanting more and wanting to extend their projects. Some endings actually brought tears to my eyes with their heartbreak or their happy endings. Better soak it up, there’s no happy ending for you back here in reality. I was so enthralled in the creativity of the kids stories that I didn’t even notice the time passing by.
After reading over half of the final chapters, I got up and checked on the progress of their in-class assignment. It seemed like a complete variety of viewpoints were going to be presented. Everyone from the blind mice, to the wolf from “Red Riding Hood”, to Tinkerbell, who was only in the scene for a split second, were taking the place as the story tellers. All the students that I checked on asked if I could read what they wrote so far, excited to share their ideas and looking for constant encouragement and approval. After the fifth student asked me to pre-read their activity, I decided that it was time for a motivational talk.
“Alright everyone, listen up for a sec,” I started, and then waited for everyone’s attention before continuing. “Some of you have asked for me to pre-read your stories so far. And as excited as I am about what you’ve all written, I’m not going to pre-read any of them. I want you to present them tomorrow and be proud of your work. I know that you all just want to make sure that you’re doing this right, but I have faith in you. You guys are great writers and you’ll do fine. I don’t want my opinion to stifle your creativity. In saying that, I’m also asking you not to seek others in the class to pre-read your pages either. I want everyone to be confident in their own abilities as writers and not seek your worth as a writer by other’s validation.”
Whoa, I totally just sounded like Jasper!!!! Shit, maybe there was something to what he said on Sunday.
With uplifted but humble looks on their faces, the students continued their stories for the rest of the day. By 1pm, our class was done and the students each came up one by one to hand in their written work and grabbed either a left over donut or cookie. Although I wasn’t going to read their work, I wanted to make sure that they finished their assignment in the provided time and didn’t work on it or forget it at home the next morning.
I stayed behind after all the students were gone, went around the yard and picked up any forgotten juice cups, threw them in the garbage and went back into the school and tidied up my room. It was a sad fact, but on this beautifully sunny day, I preferred to stay in this hot and stuffy classroom getting things prepared for the rest of the week. I had nothing else to do and sitting at home would just make me feel even lonelier.
After finishing the rest of the reading that I had started earlier on the final chapter of the students last project, inputting their marks into my binder and writing encouraging comments on all their work, I reluctantly locked up the classroom, walked to my truck and headed home.
It was just after 3:30 by the time I pulled into my driveway. I slowly walked up the front steps, checked to see if I had any mail, which of course was only more bills that I would have to postpone until my next paycheck and junk mail, and proceeded into my refreshingly cool home. I threw my keys in my key bowl that was on the table in the entryway, put my purse on the landing going upstairs as I pulled my cell phone out of my purse and turned it on. It immediately beeped at me, showing I had five missed calls and three messages from Alice. I slumped on my big fluffy couch and proceeded to listen to the messaged.
“Bella! I know you’re at school but please call me as soon as you get this. Leah called while I was in the shower and left a message saying there’s something wrong with the catering. Can you please give me a call as soon as you get this??? I’m kinda freaking out. The stupid wedding is on Sunday for Christ sake and they’re just telling me NOW that there’s something wrong???? How am I going to fix this in time? Between setting up the venue, and making sure that Jasper’s tux is picked up, and knowing Emmett, he’s sure to….”
Alice just kept on going. I knew that Alice was stressed and wanted my support, but I wasn’t sure how I would be able to help at all. I would help her as much as possible, but I didn’t know how much help I would be with a catering issue. I shook my head, pressed “7” to delete that message and continued onto the next.
“Hey it’s me again. So I just got off the phone with Leah and apparently the asparagus that they got in this morning’s shipment looked like shit, her words of course, so I have to decide on another vegetable option for the meal. She told me their shipment of broccoli and Brussels sprouts looks great, but who serves Brussels sprouts at their wedding??? Who even likes Brussels sprouts? I don’t know. I’m going to have to go down there tomorrow and do a new taste test. Do you think that I can just tell her to make some kind of carrot, roasted red pepper and zucchini dish thing? That should be ok with the salmon, stake and chicken right? What do you think? What about just serving a whole tomato?”
I just had to laugh at the message. Only Alice would think that serving a whole tomato would work better than broccoli or Brussels sprouts. I pressed “7” again to delete the message and went onto the final one.
“SHIT!!!!” I had to pull the phone away from my ear as Alice’s yelling literally shook the ear piece in my phone. “You have to call me right away. Do you hear me Bella, RIGHT AWAY!!! Not after you get a drink and not after you go to the bathroom, RIGHT AWAY. I totally forgot that I’m supposed to pick up our rings tomorrow from the jeweler and the cake people just called wanting me to come by in the afternoon to do one final look at their design. Can you PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE do me the biggest favor and stop by the jewelers tomorrow after work and pick up the rings for me. They said that it would be done after1:00 but I’m meeting Leah at 12:00 and am supposed have to be at bakery for 1:30. And of course Jasper and I have had a meeting booked with the justice of the peace for 3:00 and who knows how long that will take. So can you PLEASE call me and let me know if you can do that for me? SHIT!!!!”
Before I could even delete the message, my phone started ringing, showing that it was Alice calling.
“Hey Alice.”
“Bella!!!! Why didn’t you call me back?!?!?! I’ve been freaking out over here. Did you get my message…s?”
“Ya, I just got them. No problem. I can pick up the rings tomorrow.”
“Oh my God. I love you. You are the bestest friend EVER! I don’t know what I would do without you. Is there any way that you can come by the hall before you head to the jewelers so that you can pick up my ring to match it with the band?”
“No problem.” I had to chuckle at the chaos that was Alice’s life. Only she would get this frantic about picking up her rings instead of just picking them up the next day. But who was I to complain, it wasn’t me getting married. That’s right, it isn’t you and it probably never will be.
My thoughts sobered me up right away.
“K, Bella. Now listen close. This is very important. I’m trusting you here. You know what the design is supposed to look like with my ring, so I need you to make sure that it is perfect. PERFECT, Bella. And I’m trusting you with my engagement ring. If you trip and lose it, or scratch it or if one of the diamonds is missing when you get back, I will have to hurt you. And not just hitting or kicking. I’m talking permanent damage.”
“I promise Alice, I will guard your ring with my life.”
“Ok, good.” I could hear the smile back in Alice’s voice. She never was good at being angry or threatening. It just wasn’t in her personality.
We hung up after Alice ensured three more times that I would guard her ring with my life. I wish I could laugh but I couldn’t. Alice’s engagement ring was Jaspers grandmother’s wedding ring. It was antique and worth a literal fortune. I knew that Alice wouldn’t kill me if something happened to the ring, but it would kill her. It meant so much to her that Jasper gave her Granny Whitlock’s wedding ring. It wasn’t just a ring asking her to be his wife, it was a ring asking her to be part of his family too.
I got up from the couch, wondering what it would be like to join someone else’s family, to have someone love you so much that they wanted to completely join their life with yours. Making my way to the kitchen, figuring I might as well have an early dinner, I reaffirmed that that would never happen. At 28 and only 2 boyfriends in your entire life, don’t count on being anyone’s someone.
Opening my fridge, I stared into the cold emptiness. Just like my life! A jar of peanut butter, a half carton of milk, an almost empty tub of margarine, a tiny bit of cheese and some ketchup was all that greeted me. I opened the freezer to find even less. Ice cubes, frozen juice, a frozen half loaf of bread and hotdog wieners that had been in there for so long, I didn’t actually remember when I bought them, was all that was occupying my freezer. On top of that, the hotdogs were no longer wiener color, they were a nice frozen ice-white color.
After taking out the hotdogs and throwing their frostbitten asses in the garbage, I went to my final food option; the dried food cupboard. Dejectedly opening the cupboard, I was greeted by soup, tuna, instant roman noodles and Cream of Wheat. Fuck!! I need to do grocery shopping. I hope I have enough money to get some real food. I don’t know if I can take anymore soup, noodles and sandwiches. I’m out of College, I need to stop eating like a starving College student, no matter how financially restricted I am.
Pulling out the Cream of Wheat, I turned to the fridge and took out the half carton of milk I had left. I stirred the milk and salt until it boiled and slowly stirred in the wheat. Cream of Wheat for dinner? Really? At least it’s filling. I wiped a tear from my eyes and I turned off the burner and removed the thick paste from the stove, scooping it into a bowl. Putting the milk back in the fridge, I realized that I didn’t even have anything to flavor it with, no jam, no brown sugar, no honey, nothing. I shook my head at how pathetic my life was and angrily swiped at another tear.
I took my poor-man’s dinner to my beautiful 7-piece dining room set, sat at the end of the table and looked at the emptiness that was my life. Yup, there was definitely no ‘grandmother’s antique engagement ring’ coming my way.
After eating my thick wheaty dinner, I scrubbed the pot for ten minutes, trying to scrub my reality away with the left over residue my dinner had made. I poured myself a glass of water from the sink and made my way back to the living room to see what was on TV.
Soap Opera, infomercial, infomercial, Soap Opera, Soap Opera, Soap Opera in Latin. I think the TV’s trying to tell me something.
I ended up watching “Cake Boss”. Although I was craving that thick fondant icing and creamy fudge frosting, and was knowingly torturing myself throughout the entire episode, Buddy still cracked me up. It ended up being a marathon, showing back to back episodes of “Cake Boss”, ending with a bridezilla who arrogantly came into the kitchen and completely destroyed the absolutely beautiful cake that was made for her. Damn, I’m glad Alice isn’t like that.
After subjecting myself to three hours of wanting cake, I finally got up and grabbed my cell phone. A quick call to my bank told me I had some money in my account, not a lot, but enough to get some groceries. I got my keys and made my way to my truck.
Going grocery shopping was always a bitch. I didn’t always get what I wanted, but I always got what was on sale. After making a promise to myself to not fill my cart with ‘College food’ this time, I looked down into my buggy and swore. FUCK!!! Kraft Dinner, frozen pizza, spaghetti, orange juice, milk, Cheerios and a can of chocolate fudge frosting for later. I’m such a pathetic liar. I miss the days of being able to cook real food. Chicken parmesan, slow cooking a roast with fresh potatoes, carrots and broccoli, or even just making some nice fluffy pancakes for breakfast. I miss cooking, too bad it costs money to buy good food. I made my way to the check out and paid for my little lot, hoping I would be able to make it last for a while.
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