Children of the Elements: Book 2, Children of the Sun ©

Eggplanting
1
Jared

Jared Jenkins sat alone at lunch everyday. He was, as one might say, a stereotypical “nerd”. What, with the brown hair the color of milk chocolate, eyes to match, and glasses to boot, it wasn't hard to make that assumption.
Without looking on the inside, one might say that he “wasn't the best looking guy”, but without his glasses, he could be. Everyone generally ignored him for this fact, and the girls usually laughed at him. “Sometimes,” he murmured, “I just wish they could see the real me,”

“So Jared,” Emily LeRocca said, her glossy pink lips curving into a smile. She reached into her lilac metallic purple purse, and pulled out cherry red lip stick. She then reached back in, and pulled out her pink lip gloss. “Which color do you want? Pink? Or red?” She then burst into an uncontrollable fit of giggles.
Jared's blood boiled. He tried to control his anger by taking a deep breath before replying. “I'm not gay, Emily,” he said through gritted teeth. “So just stop.”
Emily stopped laughing, and lifted her eyebrows. She smirked. “Yeah? Or what? You gonna tell on me, Jenkins?” She taunted. “Because really, what will that do?”
Jared frowned. Gosh why did she have to be so cute? If she were anyone, anyone other than Emily, he would've popped her right in the mouth. But no. He had to fall in love with Emily, he had to be the one who had to put up with her the most. He didn't care, though. That just meant it was another five minutes he got to spend with her, and her gorgeous blonde hair.
Emily suddenly frowned, and furrowed her brow, disgusted. “Why are you staring at me?” She demanded, placing one small, delicate hand on her perfect hip. “Freak!” She exclaimed, before scurrying ahead of him, about seven of her friends tagging along behind her.
Jared sighed, clutching his books to his chest, and staring out the second floor window. Ah, Emily, he thought to himself. What, with her long, layered, silky blonde hair, piercing sky blue eyes, and perfect white smile, how could he not like her? How could anyone not like her? And yet
. . . With his smooth, chocolate brown hair, and eyes the color of Hershey's, how could anyone like him?
Wham! Not looking where he was going, Jared ran face first into a locker. He fell onto his bottom, his books and binder flying in every direction. Groaning, he blinked open his eyes, only to find that his eyes had been knocked off in the collision.
Blindly, he began groping the floor in desperate search of his glasses. As his hand found the thin square frame, he quickly wiped off the smudges on his shirt, ignoring the laughter from the jocks behind him.
“I knew that Jared couldn't do gym,” Hunter Eblin, the schools' quarterback taunted, “but I didn't know that he couldn't even walk straight!” A bunch of the other guys from the football team chimed in his laughter, and Jared blushed.
“Hey, don't listen to them,” a hushed voice murmured from behind him. Jared puffed out a sigh of relief, as his only friend, Paige, shouldered her way through the crowd of laughing teenagers.
Putting his glasses back on, Jared stared at Paige. Her frizzy, brown, shoulder length hair was pulled back into a messy ponytail, and her brow was furrowed with worry. She wore a light blue t-shirt revealing her biceps, and ripped jeans. Her sea-blue eyes sparkled with worry as she took in Jared's mess hair, and probably bruised elbows. They'd met in second grade, and, though they were now in eighth, Paige magically hadn't found something wrong with him. She'd taken him right under her wing.
Before he knew what she was going to do, Paige grabbed him by the front of the shirt, dragged him through the crowd, and pulled him into a stray classroom. “Paige,” Jared stuttered, “m-my books!”
Paige winked, and slipped her baby blue book bag off of her shoulder. Wordlessly, she reached inside and clawed through, frowning from time to time, until she pulled out all of Jared's school books, except for one.
Jared groaned, and halfheartedly retrieved his books from Paige's hand. “Thanks, I guess.” He muttered.
Paige frowned. “What's wrong, Jared?”
Jared sighed. “Well, it's just that . . . Never mind. I should just be thanking you for getting all of my books. How did you get them, by the way?”
“When you were looking for your glasses, I just scooped them up and put them in my bag. But . . . You're missing something, aren't you?” Paige guessed.
Jared didn't meet Paige's eyes. “Um, yeah. It's . . . It's my G/T book. Aw, dang. Ms. Vega's going to go nuts! Oh, man, Paige, what am I going to do?” He wailed. “G/T is today! Crap, this is bad. Very, very bad.”
“I'm sorry.” Paige said in a small voice. “I should probably mention that it's partly my fault . . . I saw the book on the ground Jared, I really did-”
“So why didn't you get it?” Jared snapped. Seeing the hurt on Paige's face, Jared sighed. “Oh, I'm sorry Paige. I . . . I know I'm being unfair, but this was my first week being in it, and now my perfect streak of good luck is gone!” He wailed.
Paige frowned. “Look, Jared, why don't you just go back to the hallway to get it, if it means so much to you?” Paige reasoned. She then smiled happily, crossing her arms.
Jared snorted, and laughed bitterly. “I'm the school nerd, Paige,” he reminded her. “If those 'jocks' don't mess with my book, than it's a miracle. You know this, Paige,” he said sadly.
“So?” Paige said. “Then I'll just go ask for it back. They're more likely to -no offense- give the book to me, then they are you. Er, you know what I mean, right?” She said quickly, making sure not to offend Jared.
“I guess,” Jared said glumly. He shuffled his feet, and looked towards the door, where several kids were scurrying quickly to their classes. “Well,” he said, gripping his books tighter, “if you're going to do it, you might as well do it now. But, would you even know who took it?”
Paige considered this. “Well,” she said at last, “we don't know for sure that someone even took the book,” she reasoned. “But, I think I have my suspicions. Now you're better get to your class, Jay.” Paige said, grinning.
Even Jared couldn't help but cracking a smile. Jared gave Paige one last smile, before pulling open the door, (before Paige told him to push the door, and not pull) and moseying on to his math class.


As soon as Jared left, Paige backtracked the way the she had come, and came to the scene where Jared had fallen. Sure enough, his G/T book was gone.
Silently cursing under her breath, Paige tried to remember who exactly would've taken it. She tried to remember who would have taken his book, but as much as she didn't want to admit it, she couldn't avoid the truth: That there were a lot of people who'd love the opportunity to mess with Jared by taking his book like this. But, there was one person who'd probably love to more than anyone. Paige wracked her brains, looking for the kid's name, until it came to her: Hunter.
“But where's his next class?” She muttered to herself.
It shouldn't be hard to figure out, she thought to herself. Classes at their school, Hood Junior High, were based on how smart you were. If you were really smart in math, you had that first. If you were horrible at math, you had it last, and so on. It was kinda cool, but at times, really embarrassing.\
Anyways, Paige thought, Hunter is a pretty smart kid. He'd be in an honors math class . . . Paige's breath caught in her throat. Hunter would be in Jared's math class! But how will I get in there, Paige thought to herself.
Well, she reasoned, if Hunter really is in Jared's math class, then he'll probably be smart enough to get it back, right? No. Another voice in Paige's head said, he's too shy to actually do it. He'd just observe from afar, silently wishing he had the guts to do it . . . That's it! She thought. Her plan was risky, definitely risky . . . But she'd do it for her Jared.

He has it! It's right there! The voice inside of Jared's head shrieked. The book was sandwiched between Hunter's huge black binder, and his thick novel, that looked suspiciously like an encyclopedia on the letter “W”.
It's right there, and it's yours! Now go and get it! He thought, madly. But
. . . it's Hunter. He'll never let you get it! A small part of him screamed. One thing was for sure (or as Paige might have said, “Fo' sho'!”), he needed to get that book back. Soon. G/T was next period, for crying out loud!
“Mr. Jenkins?” Mr. Chrome said expectantly. “Your answer?” He asked patiently.
“Um . . .” Jared said uncomfortably, shifting in his seat in the front row. It was unlike him to not know the answer, let alone not know the answer. “Er, could you repeat the question, Mr. Chrome?”
A few kids snickered, and rolled their eyes, but Mr. Chrome gestured patiently at the bored, where an unfinished math problem was laid out. “If X x 12 equals 48, than what is X?” Mr. Chrome asked.
“Easy,” Jared said, “the answer would be four. Four times twelve equals forty equals forty-eight,” Jared said happily.
Mr. Chrome smiled. “Very nice, Jared.” He said.
Phew, Jared thought. Breathing a sigh of relief, he leaned comfortably back in his chair, tipping back slightly. The kid behind him, Gretchen Greene, hooked her foot around the corner of his chair, and tugged back, causing Jared to fly backwards, smacking his head of of Gretchen's desk. “Ow!” Jared exclaimed, rubbing his swollen head and getting clumsily back into his chair.
Mr. Chrome cleared his throat. “Mr. Jenkins,” he said, “if you are quite through with your . . . nonsense, I'd like to get back to my lesson. Is that alright with you?”
Gretchen snickered. “Um . . .” Jason stammered. “I-it wasn't my fault, Mr. Chrome. Honestly!” He exclaimed.
“Well, whatever the matter, are you quite through?” Mr. Chrome demanded.
“But-!” Jared said. He sighed. “Oh, never mind. Why do I even bother?” He muttered.
Behind him, Gretchen was laughing up a silent storm. “Oh, shut it!” He said in a hushed tone. “I will not get another detention because of you!” He vowed.
Gretchen snickered, her piercing emerald green eyes sparkling with laughter and mischief. She brushed a piece of silky brown hair behind her ear. “Oh yeah? Try me. I've got tons of things up my sleeve, Jenkins. Oh, and, if you didn't already know, Eblin's got your book. I dunno what he's going to do to it, but getting it back's not going to be easy. Good luck!” She said cheerfully.
Why me? Jared wailed silently. Really, why me? What have I done that's deserved this?
It may seem bad now, an unknown voice inside of his head chided, but soon, you'll rise above all others. I'm almost there, Jared. Soon, your life won't seem so bad compared to what's to come. There's no way to prevent your future, Jared. But that does not mean to fear your future. Now pay attention, while you can. I'm almost here.

Paige inhaled, and closed her eyes, brushing a stray piece of frizzy hair out of her face. It's now or never, she reminded herself. Whether she liked it or not, she was too far in now. She'd already told her teacher that she was delivering a message, and he expected a reply.
It was a risky plan, but she could make it work. Paige was a smart, semi-pretty kid, and this wasn't even her worse stunt. She smiled as she remembered the time with the eggplant. Before she knew it, she was drifting off into one of her favorite memories . . .

“I really,” Jared said stubbornly, slamming his locker shut, “really, don't like Ms. Gates. I mean, what is her problem? Giving kids an automatic failing grade on a test just because they didn't write their name in cursive. Have you ever even heard of that?” He demanded.
Paige smiled. “I can't say that I have. But, really Jared, I don't mind the sixty. It'll just bring my grade down by a,” she gulped, “at least a whole letter grade.” Her voice faltered, “But at least I'll still have a C in English, right?” Her tone didn't sound convincing, even to herself.
Jared frowned. “Aw, I'm sorry, Pay Day. This . . . This pretty much wipes out your only chance of getting honors, doesn't it?”
Paige smiled sadly, and nodded. “Eh, pretty much,” she admitted. “But I'll survive. Even if we can't see each other for a month, we'll still see each other during school, right?”
“No, we won't, Paige,” Jared reminded her. “Don't you remember?” He pressed.
Paige shook her head.
Jared sighed. “My family's finally taking up on their promise to take me to Florida. I won't be at school for at least three weeks . . .”
“Then we wouldn't have seen each other anyway,” Paige reasoned. “Because you would've gone to Disney, and I would've been left here. So, really, it doesn't matter, right?”
Jared shook his head. “Actually, we were going to surprise you by taking us with us, but . . .” Jared trailed off. He figured Paige already knew what he was going to say. That, because of Ms. Gates, they wouldn't have their vacation together . . . All of their plans since they were wee kids, gone. It wasn't fair. It just wasn't.
“I wish,” Jared sighed, “there was some way to get back at her. Like, a really good way, and not just an angry anonymous letter, either . . .”
“We could egg her house,” Paige suggested, with a small smile.
Jared shook his head again. “Well, I mean, we could, but that's a little risky . . . Egg? Nah, but I like you thinking, though. Maybe-”
“What about we eggplant her house?” Paige said, a little more eagerly. “Y'know, I'm sure that she doesn't like eggplants. Who does? And they might not necessarily break her house. And-” Her eyes lit up. “Ooh, ooh! Since the eggplants won't break, we should right rude/crude notes on them! Aw, and she'd never know!”
Jared smiled. “Eh, I guess. But, there are a couple of details that we're missing,” Jared reasoned. “For one: We're planning this in school!”
“That's easy to solve. We can just-” She stopped, sighing. “I guess planning it together outside of school is pretty much out of the question, so . . . So . . .” She trailed off. Gosh, she thought, there really isn't anyway around this issue, is there?
“Exactly, Paige. But, I think you're right about the whole 'eggplanting' thing. So, how about we get our parents to write the notes, so Gates doesn't know the handwriting. We can just tell out parents this is for a bullying project or something.” Paige said, giving a satisfied smile.
“There's only one big problem that you're missing, Paige,” Jared said. “How are we gonna meet up, if you're grounded for failing English?”
“Easy,” Paige smirked. “We sneak out.”
“But Paige,” Jared said, “if we're going to sneak out to meet each other, than what's the point of even doing this scheme if all we're going to do is break the rules to see each other anyway?”
Paige snorted. “Because, if this plan works, Gates might bump my grade up to a ninety -or at least a passing grade- and we won't even have to sneak out anymore. Gosh, cowboy. For someone who's an 'honor student', you're pretty dumb sometimes.”
Sometimes, with Paige's tone, Jared couldn't tell if she were joking or not. But it was her eyes that gave her away, always her eyes. They sparkled with amusement, or love . . . Love, Jared thought. He was almost positive that Paige loved him . . . But he knew that somehow, he could never love her. He was one of those “cursed souls”, as Paige liked to say. In the world of Paige, it meant that he was a boy destined to only fall in love with the popular girlies. Though Paige still didn't know about Jared's liking Emily, he was positive that she suspected something was going on between them. Whether it was good or bad, it was something.
“So, we sneak out just this once to eggplant a teacher's house?” Jared asked, blinking, resisting the urge to crack a smile.
Paige smirked. “Um, yeah, I guess. Should I text you the details later, or shall we ditch class, and settle the details now?” She asked. Seeing Jared's grimace, she sighed. “Oh, right. I forgot that you don't to ditching . . .”
Jared frowned, knitting his eyebrows together. “What's that supposed to mean?” He demanded.
Paige's smirk returned. “Don't lie to me, Jared. I know you, and I know that there's no way that you would even think about ditching, unless someone planted that idea in your head . . . That's what I'm here for.” She flashed him a smile. “But seriously, what do you want to do about this plan?”
Jared looked taken back. “Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa,” He said. “We're actually doing this?” He exclaimed. “I thought we were just joking around!”
Paige snorted. “What are you, all bark and no bite? Of course we're going to do it, Jay. I don't joke around,” she said it like it was the simplest thing in the world. Why wouldn't we do it? She thought silently to herself.
“But . . . Paige, I know that we've done schemes before, but, this is . . . Well, this is really risky, Paige. It's borderline vandalism!” He got that faraway look in his eyes, like he did when he was explaining something complicated. He began muttering, “Wait, would it be vandalism? It's not eggs . . . But she -or somebody else- would have to pick the eggplants up . . . But then again, if they don't splatter everywhere-”
“Jay,”
Jared shook his head vigorously, his eyes coming back to earth. He smiled. “Right. Sorry, Paige.” He then became puzzled, as if trying to piece together the parts of a G6. “Wait.” He said, “Paige, how the heck do you know where Ms. Gates lives?”
Paige immediately blushed. “I . . . Well . . . Um . . . Ya see . . . Um, er . . . You, uh, remember how we were wondering if the 'Ms.' in Ms. Gates name meant that she was married or not, right? Well, er, it turns out that she was, married, and I . . .” Paige's blush deepened, and she let her hair fall into her face; a thick curtain of brown.
“And what?” Jared pressed.
“I developed a crush on Ms. Gates' husband!” She wailed. “I- I don't know why! He . . . He was just so . . . So-”
Paige was cut off by Jared's laughter. “Wait-” He said, but he had to stop talking, for he was laughing to hard. “Y-you liked Ms. Gates' husband?! Ha ha! That's the silliest thing I've ever heard!” He hooted.
Paige smacked his arm. Hard. “Oh yeah, Jay? I guess now would be a good time to bring up your old babysitter, Alice, wouldn't it?” She said, a small smirk creeping onto her lips.
Jared's laughter stopped short, and he blushed even redder than Paige. “You wouldn't dare,” he said, “bring that up again, if you still want your 'Jay-Jay' your best friend at the end of the day. Got it?” Jared asked tightly. Sure, it was okay when he brought up embarrassing stuff bout Paige, because, hey, she was a lot more popular than him. She even got thirty-first on the “Popularity List”, making her in the top fifty! Jared, on the other hand, scored next to last. (Emily received number two).
Paige laughed. “Sure, Jay-Jay. I can't even take your threats seriously!” She laughed a bit longer, until her face once again grew serious. “But seriously, I will text you tonight. Or, if tonight doesn't work, we can text in science, or we can plot together in English . . .”
“Um, it may be better if we just, uh, text tonight.” Jared said.
Paige frowned. “But, why? I mean, it's not like we actually learn anything in school anyway, and you're too smart to not get the homework. And, if by some tragedy that you don't get the homework, just ask your mom and dad. They're always willing to help you,” Paige reasoned.
“I know, Paige,” Jared said, “it's just . . . I don't want to risk getting my phone taken away. It's not exactly the quietest, smallest phone in the world.” To prove his point, Jared whipped around, and began doing his locker combination for a second time.
Paige cleared her throat. “Jay. I . . . I've seen your phone before. I was at your twelfth birthday party . . .” She reminded him gently.
Jared ignored her, with a smile slipping their way onto his lips. When he popped open his locker, he grabbed a bulky, black flip phone, with duct tape in multiple places. He flipped the phone open gingerly, and it made a sound worse than nails on a chalkboard.
Paige winced. “Dear God,” she said, “what happened to it?”
Jared blinked. “Y'know, I'm not entirely sure. One minute, it's in the mouth of your baby sister, then bam- it makes a horrible sound when it opens, and duct tape is needed almost everywhere.
“Yeah, but like, what happened to it?” Paige asked. “Lily couldn't have done that in a couple minutes- I mean, even for her.”
“Yeah well,” Jared said, snapping the phone shut, and jamming it back into his backpack, “she did. It's even worse when I get a text. It's a horrible high pitch noise, and . . . Blah.” Jared said with a shutter. “The sound is way worse than the sound it makes when it's opened. If you can believe it,” Jared added.
“How did that happen in such a short time?” Paige asked. “And, why didn't you get the phone from Lily? You probably could've saved it . . .” She reasoned.
“I suppose--” Began Jared, but his answer was cut of by a brring!And kids began scurrying into different classrooms.
Paige did something similar to the “pee-pee dance”, and gave Jared an apologetic smile. “I have a huge science test. So, er, even if your phone had been intact, we still wouldn't have been able to plot. I mean, because of the test. You understand, right?”
Jared laughed. “Yeah. It's fine, Paige. Seriously. I wouldn't have been able to anyway.” Paige gave Jared one last smile, and joined the stream of kids hurrying to their classes. They reminded Jared of ants in a colony.

“Are you sure this will work?” Jared asked fretfully, as Paige's elder sister, Janie, climbed into the drivers side of her cherry red convertible. Janie was pretty much a drop dead gorgeous of Paige. Minus the make-up, she'd be Paige's identical twin.
Janie popped her gum. “Everyone of Ms. Gates' students does this to her at one point or another,” Janie said. “Though, I'm pretty sure no one's ever eggplanted her house before,” she said, making a face.
“And you've done this before?” Paige asked for the hundredth time. “Mum and Dad didn't find
out, right? And no one ever knew it was you?”
“Sis,” Janie sighed, “for the billionth time, no. No one knows, 'cept me, Derek, and Sophie. 'Kay? No one knows, and no one will know about this.” Janie suddenly turned around in her seat to look at Jared in the backseat. Her eyes traveled to his feet, where a small crate, filled with purple vegetables were filled to the top. Taped to them, were notes that read things such as, “That's not fair!” and, “She should've gotten a 100!”. “Perfect,” Janie murmured. She revved the engine, and began speeding down Paige's quiet street.
Paige and Jared gripped the seats so hard that their knuckles turned white. “Jeeze, Janie!” Jared gasped, watching forest scenery whizz by him, “could you maybe, um, slow down?!”
“Sorry, kid,” Janie said, making a sharp turn that sent Jared barreling into the window. “But if you don't want anyone to notice us, we're going to have to go really fast. We're not even going to use all the eggplants, since we're just going to fly by. I probably shouldn't even have told Paige to buy a pound of egg plants,” she admitted.
“Aw, c'mon! I spent ” Paige complained. “That was my money, and you knew it! You witch!” Paige exclaimed.
Janie screeched to a stop, and whipped around in a flurry of mocha brown curls to glare at the passenger's seat. “Who're you calling 'witch'?” She demanded through clenched teeth. “If you really want to go through with this,” she said, “I'd watch my mouth. Because believe me when I say this, Paige, it is really easy to drive back home and show mom those eggplants.”
Paige seemed unfazed by her sister's threat. “So? You tell Mom about the eggplants, and I'll tell mom you T.P.'d Ms. Gates house.” With that, she crossed her thin arms around her skinny chest.
Janie laughed without humor. “Go ahead, Paige. But what proof do you have? You can't tell on me without proof. Remember, we made that rule long ago, Paige. But boy, do I have proof to what you were planning. I have a couple crate full of eggplants. Now before you go absolutely bat crap, here's my plan: We drive by several times, okay?” Janie said. Her tone was calm, but her eyes were still narrowed.
Paige gave her sister a curt nod, before setting her jaw, and staring intently out the window. “Spent twenty-five bucks on nothin',” she grumbled. “And she knows that I'm saving up for this exact car! Honestly. The nerve of some people.”
“You're saving up for a car?” Jared asked curiously.
Paige looked surprised, like he should've known this. “Er, yeah,” she said. “I'm actually surprised you don't remember . . .” She trailed off, and shook her head, as if clearing it. “Eh, anyhoo, we're almost to her house soo,” she took a dramatic pause, “assume the position!”
The caterpillars that were forming inside of Jared's stomach turned into butterflies, and flitted around, making Jared's stomach do an unpleasant twist. “I . . . I don't know about this, Paige,” Jared said, his palms becoming clammy.
Paige's nostrils flared. “Don't tell me I wasted this money for nothing, Jared. You know how hard it is for me to find money. Now,” she turned her tone sweeter, and Jared could tell it was forced. “Why don't you kindly hand me the eggplants, and we can get this over with.”
“We're on her street,” Janie called from the front seat. She slowed down ever so slightly.
“This is it!” Paige exclaimed, as Jared shakily gripped the crate of vegetables, and brought them onto the middle seat. He nervously grabbed three, and handed the crate to Paige, who took as many as she could.
To Jared and Paige's surprise, Janie took a few eggplants as well. “What?” She asked innocently. “I have some scores to settle!” Her face hardened, and she slowed down to forty MPH. “You kids better get ready! Because her house in in three … two … one!”
Paige gave a small cry as she rolled down her window, and launched an eggplant. It landing with a satisfying splat on Ms. Gates' doorstep. Luckily, her car wasn't there, but after a few eggplants landing on her yard and windows, Janie sped away, laughing madly. “What a rush!” She exclaimed. “Are there any more eggplants, Pay?” She asked greedily.
Paige frowned looking down at the crate. “Yes, a couple. Who's ready for round two?!”

Smiling to herself while thinking of the old memory, Paige gripped the gleaming silver handle of Jared's math class' door, and slipped inside. “Mr. Chrome?” Paige asked sweetly, smiling. She wasn't much to look at, but when she smiled, Paige was dazzling.
Mr. Chrome peered at Paige from above his glasses. “Yes, Paige?” He asked.
“Well,” Paige started, “Hunter is no longer needed in G/T, so Ms. Vega would like her book back,” Paige said, turning her gaze to look at Hunter, how looked surprised.
“I'm not in G/T!” He exclaimed. “Er, at least--”
“But Mr. Eblin,” Mr. Chrome said, “isn't that a G/T book under your,” he raised his eyebrows, “encyclopedia? Surely I'm not mistaken, as my daughter's in G/T, and that's the book that she's reading. If you're not in G/T, then how did you come across this book?” He asked skeptically.
Hunter looked shocked, and Piper gave him a smug smile. Ha ha! She mouthed. Hunter glared at her. “Well?” Mr. Chrome asked. “Are you going to give the book back, Hunter? Ms. Vega wants it, I presume. But, I think the real question is, how did you come across this book?”
“I-” Hunter began, but stopped. “I don't even know how it got here, Mr. Chrome.” He grumbled. He heaved himself out of his chair, and began shuffling up the isle towards Paige, who smiled again.
“Thank you.” She said as Hunter jammed the book in her hand. As she spun on her heel to exit the class, she winked at Jared. “Yes!” She called silently to herself, shutting the door behind her.
A sudden voice made her whip around. “Ms. Nez?” Asked the unmistakeable voice of Ms. Vega, “what are you doing with that book?”