Chapter 13

"Here are last week's exams," Mrs. Kwan announced as she walked from row to row handing her students their exams. "I was very pleased with a good bit of them," she replied with a small smile as she handed Liberty and Emma their papers. "It's a good way to start off the school year." She paused for a moment and frowned as she continued to hand out the exams. "There were other scores I was very disappointed in seeing," she added as she placed Sean's exam in front of him face down on his desk. "For those of you who did not do well, I will be more than happy to discuss what you need to work on after class."

Sean glanced up at Mrs. Kwan, then looked down at the paper in front of him. He closed his eyes briefly, took a deep breath to prepare himself for what he was going to see, then slowly turned over his exam. He felt his stomach churn over and hit the floor.

At the end of class, Emma gathered up her books and scooped them into her arms. She looked over at Sean who was staring at his exam. He was very quiet and distant throughout class. "Sean?" she asked concerned. "Are you okay?"

Sean quickly folded up his paper so Emma couldn't see his grade.

"Did you want to eat lunch together?" Emma asked hopefully.

Sean sadly shook his head. "…I can't," he answered coldly. Without an explanation, he got up and walked away.

Emma watched Sean walk up to Mrs. Kwan's desk and realized that Sean did not do well on the exam.

Manny walked up to Emma. "There's a spirit squad meeting during lunch," she replied. She noticed Emma was staring at Sean and not listening. She grinned. "But, I guess you weren't planning on having lunch together anyway, right?" Emma didn't hear Manny's comment. She was still focused on Sean. She didn't even notice Manny saying "bye" and walking out of the classroom.

Sean looked around and waited for all of the students to leave the room before pulling up a chair next to Mrs. Kwan's desk.

Mrs. Kwan straightened the stack of papers in front of her, then folded her hands on her lap. "What can I do for you, Sean?" she asked, although she already knew what Sean was there for.

Sean nervously cleared his throat and unfolded the exam in his hand. "I was wondering if I could talk to you about a possible extra credit assignment to help this grade."

Mrs. Kwan sighed. "Sean…you know that I don't offer extra credit--especially so early in the school year." She looked up at him. "BUT, I'm more than happy to go over the exam with you, so you can understand what questions you missed." Sean remained calm. "Mrs. Kwan, I need to pass all of my classes to keep my student welfare." He looked down at his paper and shook his head. "I also need to keep my grades up to play basketball this season." He was hoping that those explanations would be enough for Mrs. Kwan to have pity on him.

Mrs. Kwan disappointed shook her head. "I AM aware of your situation, Sean…but if anything, those two things should only encourage you MORE into doing well. They shouldn't be excuses for teachers to be willing to offer you extra credit all the time. This is just one exam. Student welfare only review your grades every quarter. I'm certain that you will pass this quarter if you work hard." She shrugged her shoulders. "As for basketball…I'm not sure how Coach Armstrong works. It's up to HIM on deciding whether you should play or not." She remained stern. "Regardless, I'm not going to reconsider offering you extra credit."

Sean felt his blood boiling.

"BUT, I will be happy to help you review your exam," she repeated pleasantly as she reached out to look at Sean's exam in his hand.

Sean rudely snatched the paper away from her. "No thanks," he snapped. He stood up. "Anyone with a HEART would at least TRY to be understanding." He turned around and stormed out of the room before Mrs. Kwan could respond. Sean was so angry and upset that his vision started to get blurry. He didn't even notice that Emma was waiting outside of the classroom for him. He just walked on by.

Devon found a spot on the front steps of the school during lunch and sat down. She opened the binder in front of her and pulled out the letter that was given to her that morning from her social worker. She blankly stared at the addressed letter to her as she took a bite of her sandwich. The letter was still sealed. She thought about the meeting she had with her social worker and realized that she only had a few weeks until the fate of her placement was to be decided. Because of her rebellious behavior, no more foster homes were willing to accept her. That fact did not upset her. She hated foster homes. She also did NOT want to go to the shelter in British Colombia. She also knew that her mother was not going to come back for her any time soon. Devon sighed as she slipped the unsealed letter back into her binder. It felt like she didn't belong anywhere. She pulled out a copy of The Grapevine from her book bag and unfolded it.

"Hey," a voice replied in front of her.

She crumpled the newspaper in her lap and squinted her eyes to look up and see who walked up to her. She smiled. "Hi!" she replied back. "It's 'Craig', right?"

Craig smiled back and sat down next to her. He continued to smile, but said nothing.

Devon nervously inched away from Craig. His perky silence was almost…creepy. "Can I help you with something?" she asked.

"I guess you haven't heard yet," Craig replied still grinning from ear to ear. He paused dramatically before continuing. "I won!!" he exclaimed as he triumphantly threw his fists in the air.

Devon started to get even more creeped out. She had no idea what this guy was rambling about.

Craig rested a hand on Devon's shoulder and shook her playfully. "I won the songwriting contest!!"

Devon's memory quickly came back to her. "Oh yeah, that's right!" she replied. She remembered running into Craig in the music room the week before. "Congratulations!" She was almost a little confused. She barely even knew Craig, yet he was sitting next to her sharing very exciting and personal news.

Craig detected Devon's confusion. "YOU should be happy, also," he explained. "You're half the reason why I won! Remember, you helped me write the song."

Devon shrugged her shoulders as if it was no big deal. "I only gave you a suggestion on how to re-organize your song, Craig. YOU wrote the lyrics! As far as I'm concerned, you deserve every bit of the credit." She smiled. "So, congratulations," she repeated.

Craig shook his head and disagreed. "I definitely owe you BIG time," he replied. "If you need ANY favors from me, let me know." He held out his hand. "Deal?"

Devon looked at Craig, then looked down at his hand. She shook her head. She still didn't understand why Craig was so convinced that she had helped him win, but she decided to go ahead and amuse him. She shook his hand. "Okay…it's a deal."

As the two shook hands, Sean walked out of the school and trudged down the school steps. He was so lost in his thoughts that he didn't even realize he past Craig and Devon.

"Hey, man!" Craig called out, but Sean did not reply back. He walked towards a nearby bench, threw his stuff on the ground, then sat down. He took out a sandwich from his backpack and adjusted the volume to his walkman as he ate his lunch by himself.

"Sean!" Craig called out even louder and started to stand up.

Devon looked over at Sean and realized how upset he looked. She quickly grabbed Craig's arm and lightly tugged it. "Now's not the time, Craig," she said. She pointed at one of her ear lobes. "Sean's got the headphones on."

Craig sat down and looked back at Devon. "What are you talking about?"

"Rule number one," Devon explained. "NEVER bother Sean when he's got the headphones on. That means he doesn't want to talk to ANYBODY. Even me." She started to get concerned. "Something must really be bothering him."

Craig was a little surprised with Devon's explanation. "How do you know that?" he asked.

Devon rested her chin on the palm of her hand. "Sean is the type of guy who just likes to be alone sometimes. He's not a 'talker.' He never says what's on his mind. Sometimes, he just likes to be left alone. He visited me in Wasaga Beach the summer before his Grade 9 year. He was telling me how people would approach him when he's sitting by himself and start talking to him as if he requested for their company. Usually, when he sits by himself, it's because he wants to be alone. It's not necessarily because he hates being around people…it's just that sometimes, he just wants to sit…and think. He told me that he wished he could find a way to 'look' busy, so people would know not to bother him. So, before he left to come back to Toronto, I bought him a walkman. That way, he could either 'look' busy listening to music…OR if someone approached him and started talking to him, he could easily drown them out by keeping his headphones on." Devon laughed lightly. "I know…it's kinda weird. But, he actually liked the idea."

Craig sighed, then stood up. "I guess I'll tell Sean my good news some other time when he DOESN'T want to be alone." He gave a quick wave as he walked off. "I'll see you later."

Devon waved back, then took another glance at Sean. He just sat on the bench with a blank look on his face. She decided to give him his space and talk to him when he was ready to talk.

She looked back down towards her lap to continue reading The Grapevine. She smoothed out the wrinkles of the front page and looked at the picture of the featured story. The picture was of Emma standing next to a man. Devon started to read the article Emma wrote. It was a story about Emma meeting her biological father, Shane. Apparently, her father was in an accident and suffered head injuries that effected his mental capabilities. As a result, he had to live in a home where he would have to be cared for and looked after for the rest of his life. Emma grew up knowing very little about her father and assumed that her father wanted nothing to do with her. However, Emma's mother withheld information regarding Shane to protect Emma. In reality, Shane had been waiting to see Emma. Devon read how Emma's reunion with her father was a life-changing experience. Devon took another glance at the picture of Emma and Shane. They were apart for most of Emma's life, but the whole time, they have been wanting to meet each other.

The only thing Devon knew about her own father was his name. She had come across her birth certificate one day and read the name of her birth father. She never tried to find him because her mother insisted that he did not want to have anything to do with her life. What if her mother was lying? What if her father has been looking for her this whole time? What if he wanted to meet her as much as she wanted to meet him? Devon stuffed the newspaper and the rest of her lunch in her book bag and stood up to walk back into the school. What if she DID find her father? Would social services be willing to let her live with him?

Emma took a long, deep breath before gathering up the courage to approach Sean. She walked up to Sean at the bench and stood in front of him. "Hey," she said nervously.

Sean looked up at Emma, then looked back down without saying anything.

Emma stood there awkwardly for a moment. Did his silence mean to leave him alone, or was it an invitation to go ahead and sit with him? She nervously bit her lip, then sat down next to Sean. She sat quietly with him for a moment, then turned to face him. "You seemed really upset since Kwan passed out the exams. Is everything okay?" she asked. Sean didn't even look back at her. Her only response was the blaring of music from Sean's headphones. "Sean," Emma replied as she gently rested her hand on his arm. "can you at least talk to me?"

Sean sighed agitatedly as he slid the headset off one of his ears. "Emma, I'm sorry," he replied quickly. "But I just need to be alone right now, okay?" Without waiting for a response, he slipped the mini speaker back over his ear and turned up the volume of his walkman.

Emma frowned, stood up, and quietly walked away.