|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
THIRD GRADE CLASSROOM ANNOUNCEMENT :
"Story 5L" |
|
Lost in thought, he was unprepared for the students in front of him making a path for the person making her way toward him. “Devin?†the girl said. “It’s me, Jen. How have you been?†Devin stood frozen. It seemed a long time but it was only a few seconds . . . and in those few seconds, a lot happened; his mind raced and panic reared as he registered just how beautiful she was. He noticed his classmates looking at them or, more precisely, looking at her. His palms felt clammy and he was suddenly hot. Not only did she recognize him, but she knew his name. None of his fantasies matched the current situation. Unprepared, inexperienced, and with his emotions in free-fall, he let instinct take over; the flight instinct. He looked away from her as he answered. “Uh, hi, Jen. I need to get to my next class.†And with that, he walked past her and continued down the hall, his panic mode now fully engaged and not allowing him to even think about anything other than going someplace to hide. (Disperser ) He ran into his classroom and sat down at a desk in the last row. What an idiot he had been! He still kept breathing heavily. He had the image of Jen's smile imprinted in his mind. He could not think about anything but her. He wished he could leave and stay alone for a while. He loved the little basketball court near his house. It would have been the perfect place where he could calm down. Nobody ever go there. But now he couldn't leave school. He got up from his chair and ran to the toilet to wash his face. "What's wrong with me?" he said, looking at himself in the mirror. "She will only make you feel bad". He left the bathroom and he walked quickly to the back door of the school where nobody could see him. He lit a cigarette and began to smoke it slowly. Whenever he smoked he thought about his mother's words:"smoking is no good for your health" she always said. Devin was aware of it, but he felt he was an adult now and he could do as he chose. The noise and the yelling of his mates inside brought him back were to reality. "Not, again!" he thought. Devin has always been one of those bad guys who have a different girlfriend every week . He had fallen in love only once, but he had suffered too much to fall in love again. (Giorgia C.) Sighing, Devin threw the still lit cigarette on the pavement. He ran a hand through his copper hair, something he always did when he was nervous. He had to go back inside, or his mates would start thinking something was wrong, and he couldn't let that happen. Devin was the classic boy you see in American movies, tough and handsome, the boy every girl wanted but couldn't have. Captain of the football team, the '' golden boy '' of Greenville High, a title he had worked hard to gain. But underneath all that, Devin had a good heart. Back when he had just started secondary school, his father had pressured him to join the football team so much that Devin finally gave up and accepted. Originally he had wanted to join the drama department. Of course, his father wouldn't hear about it. When he was in his teen years he had been the star of the football team, and wanted both his sons to follow in his footsteps. Devin's older brother James, who was now at uni, had done exactly that, but of course for their father it wasn't enough. Devin had now grown very close to the team, and his two best friends played alongside him. Being part of something bigger also meant you were never alone, and that whatever you did you had people to back you up. Devin loved this, this feeling of belonging and trust that was not only present on the field during matches and training, but even in the school corridors. But every now and again he had an itching feeling that maybe he didn't belong. To be '' cool'' meant you had to sneer at those who weren't, call them names and laugh behind their backs. Devin always tried to avoid those times, but sometimes he was forced to play along even when he knew it was wrong. After all, it was high school. One way or another, you had to survive.(Bianca Z.) The bell was ringing, finally that day had finished, another day like the others. Devin started to walk deep in thought, towards home. All of a sudden, he ran into Jen, she was listening to her favourite music, with her heaphones on, so she didn't see Devin that was walking right behind her. He collected all his courage and started to talk to her. When she saw him, she took off her heaphones with an astonishing smile. Devin soon blushed, his heart was beating so hard that he was scared she could hear it too. After some moments of embarassment, the two started remembering their past, and all their fun adventures. Jen started: “Do you remeber that time when we climbed your neighbours' apple tree, to steal some of their fruits?†“How could I forget it, I fell from the tree, and all you did was laughing, and then we ran away.†After a long talk, a great idea ran into Jen's mind: “Do you have anything to do now?†“Absolutely not… I mean no, I guess I don’t have anything important to do.†“Well, then come with me, I’ll take you to a special place.†After a long and devious walk, they finally arrived at the top of a hill… The view was spectacular, you could see the whole city from up there. They both sat down on an old log, Devin lit up another cigarette, and smoked it slowly. Silence ruled. They stayed sitting there, listening to their favourite music till the city wore the colours of the sunset. Jen put her hand in her pocket, and took out a leaflet and handed it to Devin. “Castings for Romeo and Juliet. We are looking for actors for our theater play†Devon was puzzled, but at the same time he had an amazed look in his eyes. “Devin, I know was your true passion is. You aren’t the boy you try to make everybody think you are at school, a tough, cool boy. You still are the boy I met when we were kids: shy, clumsy, spontaneous boy. Your dream has always been to act in a theater in front of the whole city. Now you can make this dream come true. Don’t worry nobody at school will be aware of this, why don’t you give it a try? I believe in you.â€(Federica F.) Devin was enchanted by that little leaflet Jen handed him. He thanked her a lot and after saying goodbye he rushed home. It was about 7.00 p.m. . His parents hadn’t arrived home yet, so he went upstairs holding tight in his hand the piece of paper. He went into his room and laid on his bed staring at the ceiling and thinking. He considered all the pros and the cons of the play by making a mental list. There were several pros and one big con: “his fatherâ€. Devin decided to try to make the thing work by keeping it hidden. By doing this in his mind he was winning twice: he could realize his biggest dream, and he could get back seeing Jen and talking to her everyday. (Susanna M.) After a long day at school, a beautiful long day at school, where he had talked to Jen the whole day about the play, how he had imagined it, how he was excited to make his dream come true and how grateful he was that she proposed this to him, he walked home with Jen. They were laughing like in the old days and seemed to have gone back in time. Without even realising it, they arrived his home... “Do you want to come in? We could start studying for the show?†He asked. “Oh, sorry! But, today I really can’t, my mom has invited the family for dinner. And guess who has to cook... ME!†“Well, it’ll be another time. Bye bye my Juliet!†As soon as he went in his house, with a smile on his face, he thought that nothing could ruin this wonderful day, until he entered his bedroom... His dad was there... Arms crossed, and a poker face. As son as he saw him, his father uncrossed his arms. He had something in his hand... It was the leaflet... “What is this??†His dad asked...( Federica F.) He ran to Jen house full of excitement. He felt like he could touch the sky only jumping. He felt like everything was right now, like it had never been. Once he got to Jen’s house he started screaming “JEN... Come out... JEN...†He started throwing little stones on Jen’s bedroom window, one after the other, hoping she could hear him. All of a sudden... Jen peeped out of the window with a strange look, as soon as she saw Devin, she know that something has happened, something really important. She had never seen him like that, he had a complete different look on his face, he was no more the tough, cool school boy, she saw the same look he has as a kid while running in the garden. She ran out of her room, down the stairs, out of the house, until she was face to face with him. “Jen, my dad... he, I can’t believe†“Calm down, one word after the other.†She could understand what was happening, if it was a good or bad thing. “My dad, found the leaflet...†“Oh no. I can’t believe it.†“No no no wait. We had a long talk. I finally told him how I REALLY feel. And guess what. He didn’t get angry. He instead told me to follow my dreams, well always with his same monotone voice... I can’t believe†he started mumbling for the excitement when, Jen stopped him... with a kiss.(Federica F.) |
|
FEDERICA F.
|
