Seemed Like a Good Idea
Back at that particular moment, the idea of skipping school and hitting the road for some fun and subterfuge appealed to Brian McFadden on several levels.
First, Christmas break for the teenager had long passed and Spring break, though eagerly anticipated, felt impossibly far away. Brian had been invited to join his friend Derek Carruth in Sacramento for the entire week of spring break, and after speaking with Derek's dad, his brother/ guardian Adam had already agreed to the plan. Derek's folks had divorced years earlier and Mr. Carruth moved to the Capital. Every other vacation Derek would join his father there in Sacramento and he had regaled Brian with the multitude of activities available for teens within the city. Brian had been to Sacramento before, of course, but had never stayed the amount of time necessary to genuinely experience it.
But Spring break wouldn't hit the calendar for two more weeks.
So when the group that formed the nucleus of Brian's clique first began entertaining ideas of skipping school, the tenth grader masterminded most of the logistics.
That first day Brian and his girlfriend Karly Reid, along with his friend Bransen Elliott, Bransen's girlfriend Ila, Derek, and Derek's girlfriend Sophie managed to slide right out of school after homeroom ended. They spent the morning and early afternoon staked out at an abandoned store about twenty miles from Murphys before returning to school in time to make their last period study hall.
That way potential witnesses would confirm seeing all of them at the beginning of the school day as well as the end if the need arose.
Thrilled with the success of the first day, the teens decided to aim higher the next day. So Bransen steered his car to Lockeford, about an hour away, as his passengers debated whether to hang out around town or head for the river.
The heady feeling of outwitting the high school and slipping past adult supervision invigorated the six.
The sun shone so brightly and the weather felt so deliciously warm that the kids opted for the river. They pooled allowances and pocket money and Bransen pulled into the parking lot of a convenience store on the outskirts of Lockeford. There the teens hurriedly spilled from the car to stock up on Cokes and snacks and to use the store's restroom.
It barely took five minutes.
All six burst out of the doorway laughing and racing to see who would make it to the car first. Brian and Karly clasped hands and swung their arms, jumped off the curb, and sideswiped Derek as they fell against the car door.
At that point a disturbingly familiar voice called an exuberant greeting. "Well, my goodness! The district cancelled school today and I failed to realize it. I could have saved myself giving up a sick day."
Brian froze in place and felt Karly yank her hand from his. He glanced across the car's roof and saw looks of horror reflected on the faces of Bransen and Derek. The three boys had plenty of familiarity with that voice since it belonged to none other than their football coach, Coach Stephen.
Though caught off guard, the girls recovered some equilibrium and valiantly attempted to brazen out the encounter. Ila clapped her hands together and plastered on an ingratiating smile. "Coach, wonderful to see you here! What in the world brings you into our universe?"
Coach Stephen bit the inside of his cheek to keep from smiling himself and responded with a serious expression on his face. "My folks live in Lockeford and I took the day off from school to carry my dad to a cardiologist appointment. Just imagine finding all of you here." He jangled his keys and feigned surprise. "On a school day. Or rather, during the school day."
Brian's stomach clenched and he pretended interest with the car tire nearest him.
Derek and Bransen followed suit.
Very deliberately Sophie slid the sack of goodies they'd bought from the store in back of her. She hoped Coach Stephen would miss the fact that they had plotted quite a picnic.
Several agonizing moments passed before Ila courageously commandeered the lead. "Well, lovely to see you Coach but we had really better hurry along now."
Karly and Ila snapped open car doors and slid across the upholstered seats. Sophie covertly motioned the boys to follow.
Catching the cue, Bransen fumbled his keys from his pocket.
Derek sputtered, "Yeah, we do need to go." He nodded at Brian and Bransen. "Don't we, Boys?"
They agreed that they did.
"Wait," Coach ordered, moving his arm to consult his wristwatch. "What time is it?"
"Uhm, somewhere around ten," Derek replied.
"Great news. I'll call the school and alert them that you should be back in the parking lot by quarter after eleven or so. Sound helpful to you?"
Brian clenched his jaw. "Yes sir, Coach."
"Yes sir, very helpful," Derek nodded.
"Drive safely, Bransen," Coach Stephen added.
Bransen managed a strained smile. "Will do, Coach."
The teens travelled the first half of the return trip in utter silence with the exception of soft, intermittent weeping from Sophie. As the distance to the high school closed to the halfway point, though, the six miscreants began to panic.
"You and your stupid ideas, Derek," Bransen accused. "Look at what you've done!"
Derek contradicted, "Don't you dare blame me! Whose car is this? Not mine!"
Ila's voice shook. "Focus on the future instead of ripping each other to shreds at the moment. What's gonna happen when we get to school?"
"Maybe nothing," Karly suggested hopefully. "Let's think on the positive side and maybe Coach Stephen just called our bluffs and …"
Brian's rested his suddenly throbbing head against the upholstered seat back and interrupted with a moan, "Busted, Karly. Forget it. Coach Stephen toyed with us like we were in a cat and mouse game. Not only will the principal rip us to shreds, but Coach…." He leaned forward and pointed at Bransen and Derek. "Coach will take it out on our hides. Slowly. So no, I know better than to think positively. My vote goes with doom and gloom."
With that observation, Brian closed his eyes and leaned back again, then slowly rolled his head from side to side.
Ila ran a hand nervously through her hair. "But football season finished months ago, so really Coach Stephen has no clout at this point. Karly's right. Let's hang on to positive speculation."
Bransen nearly swerved off the road as he responded, "Do you live under a rock?"
"Coach will skin us alive," Derek stressed. "That sweet façade back there was a cruel joke. He's spitting mad!"
Brian stopped moving his head side to side to add, "Oh yeah. This man owns us body and soul for as long as we commit to playing football and the three of us have zilch plans to quit. Zilch, zilch, zilch. We had hoped to continue on the team for junior and senior years."
Ila frowned. "Oh."
"Ok, can we at least figure out our story?" Karly asked hopefully.
"What story? We skipped school today. Coach caught us. The faculty will hear that, remember yesterday, put two and two together, and discover we skipped two days- not one." Brian summarized. "That's our story."
Karly pursed her lips. "No doubt the faculty will extrapolate all right and…."
"Ex what?" Ila demanded.
"Extrapolate," Karly defined, "You know, infer or derive."
"Why do you even know that?" Derek probed.
Karly defended herself. "SATs. It's never too early to build a vocabulary base. Remember the counselor said the higher our SAT scores the greater our chances of colleges accepting us?"
Brian laughed grimly. "We might not make it out of high school at this point. I'd say it's probably safe to table thoughts of college at the moment."
Bransen whistled. "Time's up, folks. School's right there," he pulled into the parking lot and slid the car into an available space. "And the gallows awaits us right inside those doors."
"That's not funny," Ila whispered.
Ila's comment proved prophetic. Their principal considered hustling two days off of school practically a personal slap in his face. Thus, he threw the proverbial book at all six teens. After a scathing lecture concerning taking their educations for granted, their dishonesty, and their lack of leadership potential he assigned all of them to two agonizing weeks of In-School Suspension, otherwise known as ISS.
The principal sent for the ISS teacher to join them in the office.
An ISS tenure meant that the teens would spend every period of every day in silence confined to the ISS classroom while they completed assignments sent from their teachers. At lunch they would march to the cafeteria, pick up their lunch trays, march back to the ISS classroom, and eat the meal in silence. Even one talking infraction would lead to an additional day tacked on to the end of the suspension.
The high school's ISS supervisor ruled the ISS room with a firm hand and took great delight in relaying the terms of the punishment as they related to the ISS domain.
Brian also proved prophetic. Coach Stephen sent Derek, Bransen, and Brian a message that at the end of all ten of their ISS days he expected them at the school's track running laps until time for buses.
The children left the office in a huddled group of despair clutching discipline referrals designated for parental signatures in their hands.
"My car will be gone," Bransen moaned, folding his paper. "That's the first thing my folks will snatch."
Ila's lashes dripped tears and commiserated, "No television, no…."
"Phone," Derek interrupted, clenching his jaw.
Sophie sniffed. "An early bedtime."
"Plus anything else to drive home the misery," Karly concluded, slipping her paper into her pocketbook. She slid against Brian. "What are you thinking, Honey?"
Brian smiled ruefully. "I'm thinking that when Adam sees this he'll go ballistic. Nothing sends him over the edge faster than a bad school report. I'm trying to figure out a way to save myself and spin it in such a way that I can bamboozle him."
Brian meant what he said.
On the bus ride home Brian ignored his usual bus buddies and threw himself into a seat by himself to think. He leaned against the window and pulled out the discipline documentation from his bookbag. As he read through the summary of infractions he groaned out loud.
He knew his brother well. Adam's immediate explosive reaction would precede a lecture which would precede an unwelcome punishment Adam tailored to fit the crime.
Brian squirmed in his seat. Really, he already had an absolutely horrible two weeks of school coming to him. Why did he have to get disciplined again at home? That made no sense.
Brian felt sorry for himself.
This double jeopardy business was so unfair. It had always been unfair, all of his school life.
Brian admitted to himself that in all honesty, the origins didn't stem from Adam. His parents had lectured again and again that causing trouble at school meant automatic trouble at home as a consequence.
His stop appeared and Brian hastily stuffed the papers out of sight in the furthest depths of his bookbag, still nursing his feelings of being victimized.
Thus, Brian failed to apprise Adam of the papers as soon as he got home. He skipped the opportunity to come clean at supper. Nor did he simply yank out the documents and present them during the family's homework time.
Instead, he seethed with indignation as he conjugated verbs and solved four step equations.
He fumed as Adam wrote checks for their school lunches while supervising their schoolwork.
Brian snapped at Evan and reacted nastily to any questions for academic help from Crane and Daniel.
Adam corrected him twice concerning his attitude but the third time Brian's behavior came to his attention his raised his eyebrows and ordered firmly. "The second you finish that last problem head upstairs to your room."
Brian accepted the banishment to his room with a roll of his eyes. "Gladly. I'm wasting time as it is. I've been finished a long time but have to wait on you to simply write a check so that I can have something to eat at school this month!"
Crane and Daniel swiveled in their seats. Their eyes widened in shock with the blatant disrespect.
Adam pushed Brian's check across the table and kept his voice controlled, though his jaw clenched. "Here you go, Brian, all the lunch money you will need. Now let me modify sending you to your room for your behavior. Instead, just go ahead and take your shower and head to bed. I'll check on you in a bit."
Brian had not counted on finishing his miserable day with an early bedtime. He opened his mouth to respond but glancing at Adam's expression, wisely decided against it.
The younger boys still regarded him in horrified disbelief and confusion. How could Brian get himself sent to bed earlier than the time when they went to bed? He was a teenager!
Brian gathered his books and the check and felt a twinge of remorse. "Night then, everyone, and Adam I apologize for backtalking."
He located his bookbag by the front door and as he packed his materials back into its cavernous space a cunning idea popped into his head. He glanced at the check, then dug down and grabbed hold of his ISS papers. Brian stealthily leaned back to check if anyone could see him from the kitchen.
No, in fact they had all returned to their activities.
No one watched him.
Brian yanked the papers to him, snatched the check, and slipped to the desk to grab a notepad and pen before jogging upstairs. Then he thrust everything under his pillow for safekeeping and hurried to bathe.