First and Goal (Moving the Chains #1) Read Free Page B

After you choose a name, you will then sit with your new partner for the next nine weeks. I’m relying on you to be honest. You will not experience the full benefits of this course if you choose someone you are already close friends with. The purpose of this exercise is to expand your social circle and prepare you for making new friends as you all leave high school behind at the end of this year!”
    Jess gives me an encouraging look before taking her books and heading up the aisle to pick her lab partner. As she walks away, my gaze travels along the various cages in front of the massive line of windows to my left.
    Most biology teachers stock their rooms with little jars of horror, specimens of former life forever suspended in formaldehyde. They’re the instructional version of shock and awe. The freshman biology teacher actually has a human fetus. The sadist loves to make the more sensitive girls cry by thrusting it in their faces.
    Mrs. Anderson’s collection is far more subversively deceptive. A white rat, a few hamsters, one turtle, several frogs, even a canary. They’re all very much alive. Most people probably see a collection of pets. I see a simple reminder of the trappings of teenage life. We’re exactly like these caged animals: under the thumb of parents, teachers, employers…all with their own set of expectations and agendas. The great illusion is being cared for. In return for following their guidelines, we’re provided with shelter, sustenance, perhaps a friendly word or pat on the head here and there. Would these animals even know what to do with freedom should it be granted to them? More likely they’ve been handicapped to some extent in captivity just like us.
    I watch the canary on its perch as I send up a little prayer to God that I won’t get stuck with the one person in this room that could make this next quarter a living hell for me.
    My precious few moments of solitude shatter when the object of my petition pulls out the stool beside me, dropping onto it with a deep sigh. He lays his materials on the lab table in front of him without so much as a word or glance in my direction.
    Dumb fuckin’ luck.
    When I say my prayers tonight, I’m gonna ask to not be fabulously wealthy and beautiful and see what happens.
    My newly assigned partner is the freakin’ quarterback of the football team.
    That’s okay. I’m okay. I can do this. I just have to stick to the game plan.
    Keeping my gaze firmly directed at the black lab table in front of me, I notice several carvings in the old surface. Undoubtedly they’re the names of couples who have The Bio Effect to thank for their senior year romances.
    Just great.
    The next quarter is going to be an unimaginable test of my resolve.

 
    M r. Smith slams the calculus quiz down on my desk, leans over, and whispers menacingly in my face. “You have now failed the first quiz of the year, and it was mostly review. I thought you were smarter than this, Miss Papageorgiou.”
    Getting upset in front of the entire class is what he expects of me. He always goes the extra mile to get a reaction out of us. It’s only been a week, and I’ve already got this guy’s number. Maybe if he was a halfway decent teacher and not a fat bastard, I would actually understand what the hell is going on in this course. The only other F on my school record is from third grade math. Times tables were a bitch.
    I refuse to give him the satisfaction of responding in any way.
    Mr. Smith straightens himself up and scans the room quietly.
    “Falls!” He bellows, causing several of my classmates to jump.
    “Yes, sir!” The overly eager, mocking tone of my bio partner gags me, but several girls in the room bat their eyelashes and giggle at his antics.
    “You’re in need of some community service to pad your resume for the recruiters. Tutor this young lady, here, and I’ll write you a nice letter of recommendation.” He waddles toward his desk to begin the morning’s lesson, his