June

I am in Wilder’s classroom, sitting in a desk that is slightly askew from all the rest. There are people here and there chatting quietly, but for the most part the room is empty and nobody seems to be working. Wilder appears at the side of my desk and leans over, close to my face, smirking at me. I feel like I’m supposed to be asking him a question, so I ask when I should give him my extended essay so he can mail it. He tells me, with an unusual amount of sarcasm, that if I had been paying attention I would know that extended essays were due months ago, but we can’t mail them until Andrew turns his in. I am severely annoyed by Wilder’s ignorance; if he had been paying attention, he would know that Andrew is on a ski trip and won’t be back at school until next Monday. I inform Wilder of this, with less attitude than I had been aiming for, but nonetheless Andrew seems to be in a lot of trouble over this, and I’m worried.

I roll my eyes and pull an apple out of my pocket.

Suddenly Andrew bursts in the door saying “Sorry, sorry, sorry,” over and over again. He is moving briskly, but Wilder moves slowly enough to counteract Andrew’s speed. “Sorry, sorry, sorry,” Andrew keeps saying, to nobody in particular. I try to tell him that he has nothing to be sorry about but he just looks at me and tells me again and again, “Sorry, sorry, sorry.”

I grab his sleeve and pull him out the door because Wilder’s room has suddenly become unbearably crowded. The hallway is also crowded, but I just elbow my way through the brightly dressed freshmen lingering by their lockers. I am trying to talk to Andrew about Big Event, because that’s where we are trying to go. I tell him that Big Event is going to be especially warm, and I ask him why he’s wearing long sleeves. I also tell him that I’m glad it’s June and we can graduate soon. He nods his head. But he’s still apologizing repeatedly to me; at least, I can hear him telling me “sorry, sorry, sorry” but his mouth is not moving anymore. I realize that we’ve been walking forward this whole time but we haven’t moved at all.