knew it. Slowly, all heads turned toward me.
“So, what’s in your lap?” Bodmer asked, in that flippant way that made it clear she already knew the answer.
“My phone,” I said, “but I wasn’t ...”
She put out her hand. “Give it to me.”
“But I wasn’t ...”
“You know the rules, Logan. Just hand it over. And the rest of you had better be smart enough to have yours put away. If you don’t, I’ll have to take them too.”
The rest of class was a blur. I just knew that Jeremy was texting me back, and I had no way of knowing. No way of even getting back to him.
I waited after class and finally approached Bodmer at the door.
“Sorry about what happened today,” she said, before I could speak. “By the way, don’t ever take up poker. Your face gives you away.”
“I’ve never tried to text in your class before,” I told her. “If so, you would have caught me.”
“That’s for sure.” She shoved a mass of curls behind her ear, and I saw a large dangling earring that was as out there as the leopard print glasses on her head.
That reminded me again that, although she gave some of the hardest tests I’d ever taken, she wasn’t a by-the-rules teacher.
“Since I’ve never done it before, could you give me a second chance?” I asked.
She shook her head. “I’m required to take away phones from kids who use them inappropriately. You know that.”
“You’re not going to send it to the SRC, are you?”
“Of course not,” she said.
“Thank you.”
“You messed up,” she said, “but you only messed up once. I’ll just keep it in my drawer while you have time to think about why you should not text in class.”
“But I need it,” I told her. “Please, could you make an exception, just this time?”
“I already made one, and a big one, at that. I’m not turning it over to the vice principal.” She returned to her desk, opened the drawer and put my phone inside. “It will be waiting for you here next Monday.”
Monday? “Please,” I said. “I can’t be without a phone that long. It’s really important.”
“It’s really important that you pay attention in class, and you can’t do that if you’re only pretending to listen.” She sat on the edge of her desk and gave me a friendly grin as if trying to make me understand that she was helping instead of destroying me. “I know you have a lot going on right now with your magazine internship, and that’s okay. What you did today is not.”
“I know that, but I have to be in San Francisco Friday morning. I can’t go without my phone. What if I got in an accident or something? What if I got sick and had to call home?”
“I get your point.” She stood up, and for a moment, I thought she was going to reach for the drawer, and give it
back to me. “I’ve been known to break a rule now and then,” she said. “Tell you what. Stop by Thursday afternoon, and I’ll let you have it.” She glanced up at the clock. “Anything else I can do for you today, Logan?”
NOTES TO SELF
I had been brave enough to text Jeremy and demand the truth. Now, I won’t be able to read his answer. If there is an answer. If he cares enough to text back.
Later that day, Dina’s heart-shaped, over-glossed smile was bigger than ever when she greeted me in the hall with “Hiiii, Logan.” Translated: Wait till Kat hears how you blew it in Bodmer’s class. I don’t care about Kat, though. I care about Jeremy. And I care about the phone I’m not going to have back until Thursday night.
WHERE’S YOUR MERCURY?
By Logan McRae
The location of Mercury in your chart determines your communication style. Mercury, the messenger of the zodiac, also affects intellect, short trips, and everyday learning. In Greek mythology, he was Hermes, son of Zeus, who on the day of his
birth stole cattle from his brother, Apollo. When the Greek astronomers were choosing names for the planets, they named the fastest one for Mercury. The ruler of
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