The Locker Wars

“Do you know what’s up with Bill lately?”

Adele’s ears perked up, and she pretended to stall as the two guys behind her carried on their conversation.

“I don’t know,” Jason sighed. “Yesterday he was being totally cryptic. He left us at the food court in the mall, looking like he was going to throw up.”

“Wow,” whistled Butcher. “Must be something bad.”

“He wouldn’t tell us,” Mike added in. “He’s not himself. You know what, I bet he applied for some universities out of state and isn’t planning to see us again.”

“That’s stupid, so unlike Bill,” Michael agreed sadly. Adele raised her eyebrow before closing her locker.

Adele smiled to herself as she made her way into World History class. Even though Beckett was in that class, so was Skyler and he could smile and make her feel better if Beckett decided to be nasty.

But since ending the war, Beckett had been silent. Even more silent than Adele had ever seen (or heard).

She tucked the small thought into the back of her mind and took a seat next to Skyler. He smiled at her, and she smiled back. That could cheer up her day.

* * *

William Beckett was jealous.

He was so jealous that he even considered dying his hair blond and getting blue colour-contacts, but luckily, his parents had talked him out of it. They didn’t question their son’s motives, however, because William was keeping them secret. And he was doing a pretty good job.

He sighed as he had to endure another seventy-five minutes in World History. It was almost torture, watching Adele and Skyler pass notes in the front of the room, while the teacher let it slide because they were the smartest kids in the class.

William was not. His grades were slowly slipping. Well, they were falling. Drastically.

Guidance counselors offered help, but he didn’t want it. Every quiz that he got back had marks slightly lower than the other, until the end of the week he was slipping from seventy-percents to sixty-percents.

Nobody knew what was happening. William didn’t care. He’d sacrifice the highest average in the school, just to see her smile.

He was snapped out of his world, and suddenly the teacher was standing over him. He pulled out William’s quiz and placed it on his desk, a bright red fifty-nine decorating the top right-hand corner.

“See me after class, Mr. Beckett,” the teacher grimaced coldly. William only looked up, his eyes lacking sleep, a lost eternity buried deep into the hazels.

“Sure,” it slipped out of his mouth. The teacher rolled his eyes, and William slumped down even further into his chair. He’d never disrespected a teacher in his life.

The seventy-two minutes ticked by slowly, until the bell rang. Bill had a spare last, which would be too annoying. Being yelled at by a teacher was not something that he was used to.

He brought himself to the front of the room, in front of the teacher’s desk. His posture was slouched, and didn’t at all resemble the tiniest fraction of the William Beckett who existed six months ago. His eyes met the teacher’s, and only received a disappointed look.

“Look, William,” the teacher, Mr. Callaway told him, “I see that your grades are falling rapidly. If you have any personal problems, don’t hesitate to tell me.” He leaned forward in his desk. William shrugged. He contemplated telling this teacher about his problems. Before, teachers loved to know William Beckett. It was now probably a disgrace, or for the wrong reasons.

“Sir, there’s been a lot of shi—stuff going on in my life right now,” William muttered. “I know you’ll say that you had the same problems, but sir, it’s not even like that. I can’t even trust her. I don’t know why I did in the first place.”

“If this is about a girl, Mr. Beckett, it’s quite unreasonable for it to affect your marks.”

“I know.”

“Mr. Beckett, I don’t think you know. Your grades in my class alone have slipped thirty-eight percent in the past few weeks. This is very out of character.”

“I know.”

Mr. Callaway lowered his head. “If this is your attitude towards life now because of a girl, Mr. Beckett, I wish you luck with your future.”

William shrugged and walked out of the classroom.