Lost Cause Diaries #8: Tricia Leaves School
CHAPTER 1: "THE MORE I LEARN, THE DUMBER I BECOME"
Friday, 7:15 AM
Tricia Reichardt was never the smartest girl in school. She was anything but. But as the years progressed, she tried harder than she did as a kid, but was still getting nowhere in her academics. Her attention span was all over the place. She would start studying but was easily distracted by the littlest, mundane thing. It also didn't help that her father still worked late nights. So she figured that if she got a job, she could help with the house funds so her father didn't work so much. But she also saw it as a way out of school, as she wasn't getting anywhere in her grades to begin with. So not too long after she turned 16, Tricia was contemplating quitting school.
So that fateful day, Marcie was trying to talk Tricia out of quitting school. Charlie Brown and Linus were watching from a distance. She had told them about it, but left it up to her to decide and supported her decision no matter what. Marcie was more upset about it and tried to reason with her.
"You're making a big mistake, sir!" argued Marcie.
"Well look at me, Marcie!" Tricia exclaimed. "I'm not getting any smarter. I'm getting dumber. The teachers don't want to help me. One of them even said I was beyond help! I am doomed to be stupid! So why should I stay in school anyway. I'm 16 now, and legally, I can quit school if I want to. It's different from when we were kids and stayed on Snoopy's doghouse thinking it was Chuck's guest cottage. Now I can leave without repercussions!"
"But what do you gain from leaving school?" Marcie reasoned. "Absolutely NOTHING! That's what!"
"I'm not gaining anything from staying, either. My dad still works late, he's just breaking even every week. I just got hired at that fast food joint, I figured I'd help bring in money to our household. You see? I'm not just quitting school to do nothing. I'm joining the workforce to help my dad. Besides that, if I stay, by the time I graduate, I'll be old enough to buy beer!"
"Okay, Patricia," said Marcie, now getting serious. "It's your choice. But know this. If you choose to quit school. You can consider our friendship over. Because I tried to help, but you wouldn't study. I tried to get you to read over the summer, but you played baseball instead. If you quit school, all of my efforts to help you would have been in vain. All I ask is that you not do it right away. Think it over until the end of the day. THEN make your decision. But I advise you to choose wisely." And Marcie left to go to class. Tricia went to hers as well. Charlie Brown and Linus, who watched but remained silent, followed suit.
Charlie Brown shared the first period with Marcie. He figured he'd try to talk to her before class started and see how she was feeling.
"I say you and Tricia arguing about her quitting school," he began with Marcie. "Just wondering if you were all right."
"Not really, Charles," said an upset Marcie. "Tricia's making a huge mistake. For as long as I can remember, I tried to get her to study, but she just kept slacking off! If she quits, all of that would have been for nothing!"
"I get it, I really do," assured Charlie Brown. "Tricia's never had the best work ethic when it came to school work. She was better on the baseball field than in the classroom."
"If she put all of that hard work into her studies like she did playing sports, she would do all right," Marcie griped. "I even said as much. Now I just think she stopped caring. She doesn't give a damn about school anymore." And it was time for class to begin. Charlie Brown focused on his work, but the two girls were not far from his mind. They have been best friends for a long time. And they both helped each other out, even though things wouldn't always work out right. But for their friendship to end in that fashion, would be devastating.
NEXT CHAPTER: PROS AND CONS
