CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE: RETURNING THE FAVOR
D11.
DANIEL
I excuse myself from Mrs. Koppel’s class to go use the restroom. While the subject of today’s lesson intrigues me, the class keeps cracking jokes about it, and it’s got me feeling oddly irritated. I’ll be honest, a month ago I would have sat there laughing and making jokes alongside them, but after everything that has happened lately, I just don’t think this subject a laughing matter.
Maybe I am being dramatic. Mrs. Koppel did say this whole soul saving ritual thing was a myth, and myths are usually told for fun, aren’t they? But I can’t help but wonder if there is any truth to it. Could it somehow be possible to save someone’s soul and bring them back to life? My thoughts naturally turn to Anna. It’s a crazy thought, but some of the world’s best discoveries have been born from crazy ideas, haven’t they?
I shake my head at myself as I walk down the hallway. It’s stupid anyway. Mrs. Koppel said you have to be able to see the ghost of the dead to make that happen and Anna’s ghost has never appeared to me. Or has she? I may have been fooled into thinking she was around thanks to Isabel using Anna’s perfume, but there was still other stuff that happened that I think was Anna, like my car suddenly taking on a life of its own when I decided I wanted to crash it. That must count for something. Yet, I didn’t actually see her. Oh, what does it matter anyway? It’s not like I’d ever get my hands on that scroll anyway, even if it was real.
I reach the bathroom and notice some cigarette butts on the floor right outside the door to the girls’ restroom. Well, someone from an earlier class believes this kind of stuff is real. I have to laugh in spite of myself.
As I exit the bathroom a few minutes later, I hear an announcement coming through on the school’s PA system.
“Will Jenna LaChapelle please report to the dean’s office immediately?” booms the voice of a female secretary. “I repeat, Jenna LaChapelle, please report to the dean’s office immediately.”
Jenna is being called to the dean’s office? I can’t help but wonder if this has something to do with my police statement. I turned her name in as the girl who was with Isabel on the side of the road the night Anna died. I also wonder if Isabel is talking, pointing fingers at anyone else she possibly could.
The news came out this morning that someone was taken in for questioning about Anna’s death. I, of course, know that this is mostly likely Isabel, though the actual news didn’t name any names. However, due to Isabel’s absence in school today and the fact that her father was spotted entering the police station this morning, people at school are starting to put two and two together.
I can see Jenna coming out of the Mrs. Koppel’s class as I make my way back towards it, a carefree smile on her face. She’s never been the smartest girl. I don’t think she’s capable of a thought that doesn’t have to do with boys or partying. She probably thinks Dean Edgar is calling her in to compliment her on her looks. I suddenly find myself wishing I could be a fly on the wall of that office and smirk at the thought of Jenna finally getting a dose of reality. She seems to mistake my smile for something nicer because she smiles back as she passes me.
“Looking hot, Wade,” she winks at me.
“Looking dumb, Janet,” I say back, flashing her a devilish smile.
The smile gets wiped off her face. “Ugh, it’s Jenna!” she exclaims, annoyed.
Too easy, I think to myself as I go back into the classroom.
***
Coach has us gather around the gym before practice to hand us the results of the eligibility exam. I’m dreading it, to say the least. In the past few weeks, I have slacked off, missed countless shots and disregarded plays to take things into my own hands. Now I’ll fail the eligibility exam and get myself ineligible for the TBA. As my coach, Coach will be furious with me, as my father, he will be beyond disappointed. I don’t know which option is worse.
We’re all sitting on the bleachers talking about how we think we did when he walks in, a stack of papers in his hands and a stern look on his face. He must have seen the results already. He knows.
“All right, settle down, settle down,” he says, beginning to pass the exams out to their owners. “I can see that some of you are looking nervous, so I’ll throw you a little spoiler. Everyone passed, except for one student…”
I look down at the floor, too ashamed to look up at his face. Behind me, I can hear Shane murmur something about wondering who it is that failed. When Coach hands me my paper, I wonder if he’s accidentally given me someone else’s. There’s no way.
“Congratulations, Wade,” he smiles at me, proudly. “You’re the only one here who got full marks!”
My teammates whoop and holler in congratulations, some fist-bump me, while others pat me on the back. Full marks? How the hell could I get full marks? I guessed on almost all of the questions! I stare at my paper and then I see it. My name. It’s not in my handwriting. I remember Radjan taking my paper and doing something with it on the day of the exam. I didn’t know what he was doing then, but I do now. He was saving my butt.
Coach sighs deeply as he hands Radjan his exam, “Sorry, Carpiniello. It looks like you’ll be sitting the TBA out.”
All at once, the room echoes with gasps and exclamations like WHAT? And NO!
“Coach, you can’t do that!” Jason exclaims.
“Seriously, Coach Wade,” says Lennard. “Radjan is our star player! Without him, we are screwed.”
That one hurts a little bit, but I can’t even be mad at Lennard. He’s right. Radjan is the most valuable player we’ve got at the moment; we can’t lose him. Not in the TBA.
“Dad,” I say quietly. Coach gives me a stern look. He doesn’t like it when I call him dad during basketball time. When we are at school or games, he’s Coach.
“I’m sorry, but rules are rules. We’re just going to have to make do without him,” he says.
“It’s okay,” say Radjan, finally speaking up. “Eeli can replace me, it’s no big deal.”
“Dude,” says Eeli.
Radjan just looks at him. I can see the sadness in his eyes, “Seriously. It’s fine.”
“Okay, now that that’s settled, go put your exams away and start getting ready for practice. We’ve got the TBA to prepare for!” says Coach, heading for his office, “We’ll regroup here in 5 minutes.”
Everyone gets up and heads for the locker room, still talking about what just happened. The disappointment runs thick through the air. Everyone was counting on Radjan to be there and now he won’t. Because of me. I can’t let this happen. I have to do something. I know it’s a long shot as my father is such a stickler for the rules, but I have to try. It’ll kill me if I don’t.
I sneak off to his office while everyone is busy getting ready for practice.
“Coach?” I say, knocking on the side of the door.
“What is it, Daniel?” he asks.
I enter the office and close the door behind me.
“You can’t do this. If Radjan doesn’t play at the TBA, we are doomed,” I say.
“Daniel, no one wants Radjan out there more than I do, believe me. But I can’t bend the rules. I don’t for you, I certainly won’t for him,” he replies.
“But Dad, did you even see his paper?” I say. “Some of his responses were E’s. There weren’t even E options on the exam!”
“So?” says Coach.
“So, that means he probably froze at some point during the exam and then just guessed everything else. Come on, at least let him retake it. I think that’s not really bending the rules. It’s not like he’s failing and still playing. He would still need to pass, but he’s a smart guy, I know he can do it. He was probably just having a bad day when we took this. Please?” I plead.
Coach looks at me for a moment, then sighs, his tough demeanor breaking a bit. After all, he knows what a disadvantage our team would be in without Radjan.
“Well, it’s not entirely up to me,” he says. “The school is the one enforcing the eligibility test, not me. I’d have to talk to Dean Edgar about it, but if he says it’s okay for Radjan to retake the exam, then I guess there is no harm in letting him play if he passes it.”
The relief I feel is insurmountable.
A few excruciating minutes later, Radjan is being called to the dean’s office. He glances at my direction before heading out of the gym. I think he knows I made a second chance for him happen.