Mezzanine

| 25 |

I entered the classroom designated for detention that afternoon, a dull ache still pulsing in the back of my head from when Andy slammed me against the wall. The anger and adrenaline rushing through my veins had cooled, replaced by the chill of apprehension, fear, and confusion.

Mr. Barnes, the history teacher, must have pulled the short straw, 'cause he was stuck sitting at the desk at the front of the room to babysit. When he heard me come in, he looked up from the stack of papers he was grading for long enough to nod towards the cardboard box at the front of his desk.

"Put your phone in the box and have a seat, Jay," he said.

I did as asked before taking a seat right in the middle of the empty classroom. After crossing my name off his list, Mr. Barnes went back to checking a terrible essay a sophomore had written about the differences between Mesopotamia and the Roman Empire. He read it word for word in his head, which meant this afternoon was going to suck just as much for me as it was for him.

"Is this detention?" Andy's voice stirred us from the butchering of ancient history.

"Yes, Andy," Mr. Barnes replied with a sigh as he set the essay down and crossed Andy's name off his list. "Put your phone here," he held out the box towards him, "and then you may sit anywhere you like. It will just be the two of you today."

Great, Andy thought as he made his way to the front of the room to ditch his phone. As if this could get any worse. Not only am I missing practice, but now I'm stuck with just shithead for the entire afternoon. This is going to blow.

I kept my focus on the empty chair in front of me as I listened to Andy's footsteps and thoughts. I knew where he was going to sit before he took his spot—the desk right behind mine.

Time to spend an hour and a half kicking his fucking chair.

"If you kick my chair, I will cast a curse on you," I told Andy under my breath.

Why is he so weird? Andy thought. "Kick your chair? What do you think I am, twelve?"

"You act like you are," I responded.

"If you cannot be silent, I will put on opera music," Mr. Barnes threatened.

That shut us both up.

I took my notebook and a black pen out of my backpack and started doodling a topless elven warrior-princess riding a dire wolf into battle. I did my best to tune out Mr. Barnes reading himself the history essay and Andy's thoughts as he bumbled through a crossword puzzle.

"Dive," I finally muttered when I couldn't put up with him stumbling over it anymore.

"What?" Andy said.

"Four letter word for a seedy establishment. Dive."

How did he know the question? Was I reading out loud? Andy dismissed it as he continued the puzzle, and I began working on my dire wolf's teeth.

"Jay." He kicked the leg of my chair, and my pen jerked across the wolf's face, leaving a long black scratch over its eye.

What did I tell him about curses? I clenched my pen in my fist as I turned around and glared at him. "Do you want me to turn your cereal to spiders tomorrow?"

"What about a five letter word for 'morning ice,'" he asked, ignoring my threat.

"Andy, would you prefer we listen to La Bohéme or Carmen today?" Mr. Barnes cut in.

"Sorry, being quiet," he muttered.

He tapped my shoulder, and I turned and took a piece of paper from him. I unfolded it on my desk and read the note he'd written.