Struts & Frets Read Free Page A

“We just finished
Beowulf
, which is about some knight dude, but they call him a Thane instead, and he kills this monster called Grendel, and then Grendel’s mom gets upset and tries to kill him. So that’s kind of interesting, I guess.”
    â€œWhat about science?”
    â€œScience is just gross. We have to do these labs, right? Where we cut up plants and worms and stuff, and then we have to label all the parts on a worksheet.”
    â€œThat sounds better than just reading things in books,” said Mom.
    â€œI guess,” I said. Of course I couldn’t tell her that at least I could fake reading things in textbooks. I didn’t mind English or history, because they were about people. I felt like even Shakespeare had something to teach me about being a better songwriter. But science? Where was the poetry in cutting up slimy dead things?
    â€œI know it’s hard to see this right now, but science and math are really important. Colleges offer big scholarships for kids who excel at those subjects, and the variety of careers you can choose from is virtually endless.”
    â€œMom, I’d rather gouge my eyes out with rusty spoons than study math. It’s the lamest thing in existence. It’s like the opposite of all creativity.”
    â€œSammy, that’s just not true. There’s all sorts of amazing and wonderful things going on in math and science. Don’t forget that it’s going to be mathematicians and scientists who solve the world’s ecology problems.”
    â€œYeah, yeah.”
    â€œAnd computers. Video games. These things are made by math and science people.”
    â€œI know, I know. But it’s still just numbers. And I’m not good at that stuff.”
    â€œYou don’t know that. You’ve never really even tried.”
    â€œTrust me, Mom. I’m not.”
    There was a moment of silence, during which I could tell I’d said something over the line, though I really couldn’t see any flaw in my logic.
    â€œWell,” she said. “How was rehearsal?”
    â€œOkay, I guess,” I said.
    â€œOkay, you guess?” she said.
    â€œWe’re going to call ourselves Tragedy of Wisdom.”
    â€œOh,” she said. “That’s nice.”
    See? Even she knew it was lame.
    â€œDo you have rehearsal tomorrow after school?”
    â€œNo,” I said. “TJ can’t make it and Joe thinks that there’s no point rehearsing without the drummer.”
    â€œJoe thinks,” she said, rolling her eyes.
    â€œWhat?” I said.
    â€œNever mind,” she said. “If you don’t have too much homework tomorrow, could you spend a little time with your grandfather after school? He’s been pretty down lately.”
    â€œYeah, sure, I guess.”
    â€œYou know it always cheers him up to see you.”
    â€œSure doesn’t seem like it,” I said.
    It takes me a long time to fall asleep. I’m not sure why. I don’t really get tired like I guess a lot of people do. I mean, I wake up tired and stupid and slow, then as the day goes on, I get more and more awake until, by the time I’m supposed to go to bed, I’m totally wired. No, I don’t eat a lot of sugar and I don’t drink tons of soda or coffee. It’s just how I am.
    You know that buzzing sound you hear from old fluorescent lights? Not real obvious at first, but it kind of creeps up on you and gets really annoying after a while? Well, that’s what runs through my head every night. So I just lay in bed in the dark and stare up at the ceiling while I wait for the buzzing to fade out. It always does, but sometimes it takes hours. And I can’t close my eyes or I start to lose perspective on how big the room is and where I am in it, almost like I’m floating or sinking, and the buzzing gets so intense it feels like I’ll drown in it. I used to read or listen to music in bed, but that only made