Silent Heroes: Wildcat

Chapter 1: Eve

"Eve, will you please pay attention?"

"Huh?  What?" I gave a slight jerk and swivelled my head around.  The whole class, more than thirty students, were all turned in my direction.  Mr. Bruckner stood with one hand flat on his desk, legs crossed at the ankles, staring at me with his eyebrows raised expectantly.

"Umm, I'm sorry.  What did you say?"

A few muffled giggles circulated the room.  Mr. Bruckner waved his long, slender arm at the whiteboard.  "The equation.  Have you solved it yet?"

Is that what I was supposed to be doing?  I glanced down at the sheet of paper on my desk.  I had some vague recollection of getting about halfway through the problem before my attention had been drawn by something outside the window.  A bird, I think or... maybe a squirrel.  I couldn't remember now.

"Eve?"

"Yes sir!"

"If you've finished the equation, would you kindly tell us the answer?"

"Umm," I glanced down at the paper and seized on the final number I had arrived at before losing interest.  "One point seven one nine?"

Mr. Bruckner let out a tiny sigh.  "No, Eve.  Try again."

"Negative three point four five?"

"No."

"Seven?"

"No."

"Eight?"

Another laugh circulated the room.  I lowered my head, feigning embarrassment to hide the fact that my lips were turning up at the corners.  Hey, was it my fault this class was so dull and tedious?  We had been learning how to do these same equations for over a month.  Surely everyone understood it by now.

"Would anyone else care to try?"   Mr. Bruckner asked, admitting defeat.

A girl near the front of the room promptly raised her hand.

"Yes, Samantha?"

I never heard the answer Samantha was so eager to share.  The moment I was out of the spotlight, my eyes were drawn back out the window.  The view was dominated by a huge maple tree, alive with leaves of yellow, orange and red.  Golden afternoon sunlight struck the tree from behind, causing the whole thing to glow as if it were on fire.  I could practically smell the fresh air from here.  I could almost feel the wind on my face and the grass underneath my feet.

I hardly realized I was bouncing my foot rapidly up and down or that my fingers were beating out a senseless rhythm on my desk until the guy in front of me threw a nasty look back over his shoulder.

I forced my leg to go still and my hands to stop moving, but then immediately began to shift and squirm in my seat.

What the heck was up with me today?  School nearly always made me a little bit restless--so much sitting!  It isn't healthy, I tell you!--but today it was almost beyond my control.  My veins seemed to be charged with pure electricity.  I felt like had swallowed down a whole pot of coffee, followed by two cans of red bull. I felt like I could run a mile, climb a mountain, swim across the Great Lakes and still have plenty of energy left over for a marathon afterward.

I began tapping my fingers and bouncing my leg again, earning another dirty look from the guy in front of me.

"All right, everyone," Mr. Bruckner had erased the previous equation and was swiftly writing out another one.  "We'll do one more.  Copy this down and come and see me when you have the answer.  If you get it right, I'll let you go early."

The moment he said those words, my scattered energy became focused like a laser.  I snatched up my number 2 pencil, shoved my mane of stupid, thick, curly hair out of my face, crouched over my notebook and got to work.

Having something to motivate me and focus my thoughts seemed to calm my fidgeting.  My leg went still and my hand was now busy writing out numbers and calculations.  The electricity surging through my body seemed to channel itself into my mind.  My thoughts became sharp and quick.  My eyes jumped across the page, quickly and easily following every step of the equation.  I just felt so damn good.  I had never felt this good in my life.  Why, I had no idea.  Maybe it was something I ate.

Just for good measure, I finished up the first equation as well, so Mr. Bruckner would have no excuse to keep me here.  Of course, the answer was zero.  I should have guessed that: It's always zero.

Notebook in hand, I bounded up to the front of the class and handed it over to Mr. Bruckner.

"Finished already, Eve?"

He accepted the notebook and checked over my work, the end of his pencil lightly tracing across the numbers, his lips moving soundlessly.

"Excellent.  Perfect.  See you know this stuff, Eve.  If you would just focus.."

"I know, I know," I said, bouncing up and down on the balls of my feet.  "So, am I good? Can I go now?"

Mr. Bruckner handed my notebook over with a long-suffering sigh, but I could have sworn his mouth twitched at the corners.  "Go on then.  Get outta here."

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All the awesome character drawings are by  @ItsThayd