Thursday

A warm day rolled to it’s end. The Students of Thomas Jefferson High School funneled out of the school and on to their busses and into their Cars. Just one more day, and it would be a week and a half of Spring Break. Seniors had their plans, and were ready to go have fun at the lake. Others were going to take a drive to the mountains and camp and ski, as the winter ice had yet to melt away.

Most students were leaving, but some were staying. One was Freshman John Henry. In the weight room, John was working on his cardio, running on the treadmill. John is a wrestler, and a good one to boot. As a freshman on varsity, john finished 3rd in the section at 120 pounds, compiling a record of 23-11. He was working hard to get better, and win the section next year.

As he was running, the door opened up. In walked a teacher, hair of black and emerald Green eyes. She was a tall creature. From best John could tell, she had removed her make-up, and was in workout attire. She joined two machines down from John, and jumped up, almost immediately to a nice pace. 10 minutes after this had all began, the teacher was practically doing an all out sprint. John had ran a mile and a half, and he was sweating profusely. He got off his machine, stretched his muscles and went over to the squat rack. As he packed the weight on, He prepared to begin.

As he lifted the weight up, John noticed a pair of very feminine hands under his hand. From behind him, he could feel a warmth, he was uncomfortable with, He looked, and the teacher was there.

“I figured you needed a spotter.” She said.

“Uhh- Thanks.” John said.

John worked, 7… 8…. 9…. And he was pressing, hard as he could, for ten. But at the last second, his legs gave way. However, the teacher behind him caught him. She quickly helped John back up, He fell back down quick, trying to catch his breath.

From behind him, a hand placed itself on his back. He looked up, and a water bottle from this teacher was in front of him.

“Go on, take a sip. It happens. You’re luck I was here.” She said with a smile. John took it and started to drink some water.

“Hey, you’re John Right? John Henry?” She asked.

“Yes.”

“Wow. You know I saw your semi finals match at sectionals. I was amazed, I’ve never seen such a quick shot. Timed so well. Just a few inches short.”

“Thanks.” John didn’t really feel like talking much. This woman was nice, he was just tired and bummed.

“I’m sorry. I’m Ms. Deforest. I teach Chemistry.”

“Nice to meet you.” John extended his hand to greet her. She responded in kind.

“You know John I had a meeting with Ms. Little earlier. He said he was willing to offer you some extra credit if you wanted to stay after with me.” John sighed hard. He was doing fine in Ms. Little's class, he had a solid B-, but he wanted to do better was all. He studied hard as he possibly could, but he couldn’t seem to crack an A. This offer was actually pretty good. He just had to see what it might involve.

“Ok Ms. Deforest. What would I have to do?” He asked.

“We didn’t talk about that. Tomorrow, just talk to Ms. Little.” He nodded and handed back the water. She smiled as he stood up.

“I have to get going, I have some tests to grade. It was nice to meet you John, See you tomorrow.” and she was off.

John got his things together and went home. It wasn’t a long walk from the school back home. As he walked up to the group home, John checked himself in. The home, which might as well have said orphanage on it, was ice. 37 boys and girls lived here, John was one of the oldest. He walked to the kitchen, where one of the several workers was reading the paper. His name was Frank.

“Hey John, how was school?” he asked. Frank was the closest worker in the house John could call a father. Frank had made the transition into the home a much easier one. He offered him outlets to release his frustration at the world. And he had imbued upon John one of the things that he kept in the back of his mind constantly.

“When things are down, you can always look up, and see the positives in a situation.” Frank had a way of making sayings make sense to John. Like when he started 0-9, John looked at what he did right, and made it better. Soon he was on a roll, and made it almost all the way. Frank was his favorite worker in the Home.

“It was good. I stayed and worked out.”

“Anything happen?”

“No, I did meet a teacher. I’m going to stay after school.”

“And then you’re going to stay at Sean's house right? For the Spring tournament?”

“Yeah. That’s ok?” He asked.

“Yes. I just talked with the rest of the crew, and I talked to our boss. Said good luck.”

“Thanks.” John smiled.

“Hey dinner will be ready in a little while. Go get washed up.”

“Alright Frank.” John grabbed his water and went back to his room. The house was set up a lot like a college dorm. John however was the oldest boy. In fact, he was the third oldest in the the house, just two girls who were 17, and about to go out of the system, off to college.

John grabbed a towel and showered. A bit later he ate dinner and studied. At around 10, he turned in for the night.

John slept well. Which was lucky. He was going to need it in the upcoming days.

Friday

The school day was uneventful for John. Gym with Ms. Webb, Math, lunch, Study Hall, History, Spanish, English and finally Bio with Ms. Little. Before class ended, John went to ask what he could do for his extra credit with Ms. Deforest.

“Ms. Little?” He asked.

“Yes John! What can I help you with?” Ms. Little was a gorgeous woman. She was very young, John dared to say no older than 26. She had curly blonde hair with eyes blue as the sea. He face was small, but when she smiled, it was blinding. She was beautiful.

“Ms. Deforest said yesterday I can get extra credit helping her?”

“Oh yes. I’m sorry, I meant to tell her to just give you some errands. Whatever she needs you to do.”

“Oh ok.” That was a silly mistake to make. Whatever.

“Yeah. I’ll bump up your average a third of a letter grade, and If you do a good job, I’ll think about dropping your lowest test grade too.” She smiled.

“Thanks. Ms. Little.” John sat back down. The last thirty minutes of class, Ms. Little realized how futile it was to teach anything before break. She put on some videos and sat back, watching the class. John sat in the second row, all the way on the left, closest to Ms. Littles desk. While almost everyone was watching the videos, it was some episode of Planet Earth, John was watching Ms. Little fiddle with her feet on top of her desk. They were clad in nylon, and she was playing with them, rubbing them against one another. And John was, more or less entranced, he was watching like he was hypnotized to them. Time flew and the bell rang. Shaking himself back to reality, John grabbed his things and packed up. He was the last one, and as he was leaving, Ms. Little grabbed his attention.

“Did you like the show John?” She asked.

“Yeah, it was cool.”

“What was your favorite part?” She smiled. John’s face drained. She knew he was watching, and didn’t even pay attention to the episode.

“Uhh, I liked the soundtrack. It was soothing.” He pulled out of his ass.

“I did too.” He smile grew. “Have a good break John.” And John left. God that was an embarrassment.

John regained his composure and walked down the hall to the Chem Lab. Ms. Deforest was there looking over papers. John knocked, and she looked up with a smile.

“John. Nice of you to stop by.”

“Hi Ms. Deforest. I’m here for the extra Help. Ms. Little said just put me to work. Whatever you need me to do.”

“Oh good. There are a lot of crates in the back I need you to move if you could? That would really help.”

“Ok.” John put his bag down, and got to work.

“Just be careful, they're filled with chemicals.” She reminded him. John started to move them. The crates were a good weight, and the weight wasn’t centered either, so they were a bit odd to lift.

As he got to the last one, His arms were tired. John lifted the last crate. This one was a bit larger. John couldn’t see where he was putting this one. He put it in the shelf and slid it in.

Or at least he thought he did. Because when John let go, the crate fell forward. It slammed into the ground, right in front of the shelves. The crate hit the shelves and the shelves fell forward. Dozens of chemicals and solutions fell on John.

The burning. God the burning. It was like being roasted alive. The pain was intense, worse than anything he could imagine. After what felt like an eternity of the torture, John mercifully passed out.