AUTHOR'S NOTE: As has become a habit of sorts in some of my stories on this site, the original adult character you'll meet here was written with John Candy in mind to play him had this actually been filmed. Somehow, the films just seem to me as ones that he would have done well with a part in, even if there appears to be no obvious role for him in any of them at first glance, so this is, in a way, my way of doing so, and so unofficially continuing his career in a sense as a thanks for the delight he brought to I and countless others in his career. And so, continuing on...
SEPTEMBER 8TH
"You still sure I really have to do this?" Jesse complained to the Greenwoods as they pulled up in front of Donner Junior High.
"I believe we made it clear you do," Glen told him firmly. "And just remember like I said, Jesse, school isn't going to kill you."
"Maybe not, but I don't know if I'm really fit for school..."
"You'll do fine, Jesse, trust me," Annie told him encouragingly, handing him his bookbag and lunch, "Try to enjoy it, and don't be afraid to try and make friends. There's probably dozens of kids just as unsure about school as you are."
"Well they've had all those years to prepare..."
"Class'll be starting soon; time to get going," Annie told him with soft finality, opening the door for him. Jesse knew there was no way out. "All right, then. See you guys later," he wished the Greenwoods farewell, then hopped out and joined the throngs of middle schoolers heading in the school's doors. His previous experiences with school, when previous foster families had made him attend them, had not been pleasant, as he had spent lots of his time either getting cocky with the teachers or getting into fights with other students-all while failing every course he had taken. Back then, he'd been glad to not have to go back to class after he'd run away from each prospective family, and had hoped that, if his mother did come back for him, that she'd agree to not let him go to school anymore. Of course, he was still waiting for her, if she was even still alive, but if he had no choice in the matter at the moment, he'd at least try and give some effort, for the Greenwoods' sake, given they were clearly counting on him.
"Number 1993," he checked his assigned locker number, then scanned the sides of the hall. Judging by the numbers, it was on the right halfway towards the far end of the hall. He bustled towards it and started dialing in the combination...
"Hey, you new here?" came a new voice to his left. Jesse spun to see another boy about his height with red hair at the locker next to his, give him a quizzical look. "Yeah, I am," he said firmly, "Is there something wrong with that?"
"No, no, not at all," the new boy said, "It's nice to see a new face every now and then around here. I'm Jake Perkins," he extended a hand towards Jesse.
"I'm Jesse," he shook it in turn.
"Just Jesse?"
"Well, Jesse Richter for now, but maybe Jesse Greenwood soon. It'll depend."
"OK," Jake nodded softly, sort of perhaps comprehending, "Good to meet you, Jesse Richter and maybe Greenwood. Where're you from?"
"Around," Jesse told him, "I've been here in the city most of my life, I just never really went to school regularly before this. What's it like here?"
"Trust me, you were lucky before when you weren't going," Jake rolled his eyes, "All the teachers here are lame and the classes are boring."
"Not surprised," Jesse mused, "That's how I always remember it being."
The bell now rang, signaling the beginning of classes. "Say, you got any classes with me?" Jake asked him, having to raise his voice over the shouts of the other students running to their home rooms.
"Let me see," Jesse dug out his schedule and held it up to Jake's face. "Ninth period biology, OK," Jake nodded, "Guess I'll see you then, unless you want to sit together at lunch," he asked Jesse, who was swinging his locker quickly closed.
"If we're together then, I'll think about it," Jesse gave a partial committal.
"OK, see you later," Jake bid him farewell, then broke into a run towards his homeroom. A small smile crossed Jesse's face. Jake seemed like a nice person at first glance, someone he'd be glad to at least have an adjoining locker with. Perhaps, he reasoned, he'd end up liking school more than he'd initially thought...
"How's it going so far?" Jake greeted him nine periods later by the entrance to the classroom biology would be taught in.
"You're right, Jake, the teachers here are all lame," Jesse rolled his eyes, "Biology, though, I've kind of been looking forward to. Especially if they go into marine biology in it."
"You interested in that?"
"Lately, yeah, a lot. Have I got stories to tell about what I did over the summer with a whale I met that you wouldn't believe..."
"Well I'd love to hear about them. In fact, if it's OK with your folks, could I sleep over tonight?" Jake proposed. There was a certain tone in his voice and look in his eye that Jesse picked up on, one he knew from experience that meant someone might have an additional reason for wanting something than what they said openly. Still, something told him that Jake was being sincere about wanting to be friends at least. "Well, they're not my folks, Jake-not yet, at least," he pointed out to the other boy, "But I'm sure they'd be glad to have you over if you want to come."
"Great, great," Jake's face lit up, "OK, this is the last class of the day, so once we're done with this, we'll go..."
The bell rang, signaling the beginning of class. Both boys rushed for their seats-which, with Jesse still listed under Richter at the moment, put him in fact right behind Jake. He glanced around the room. Most of the other students were conversing with each other loudly, not ready to focus on class yet. Jesse's eyes locked in on a rather pretty blond-haired girl at the front of the row closest to the windows, who was staring ahead into space. She was apparently aware she was being watched, however, as she turned towards him and smiled. Jesse smiled back. Previously, he hadn't noticed girls before, but lately, some of the prettier ones in the Greenwoods' neighborhood had started turning his eye...
"I'm coming, I'm coming!" came a shout from the hall. Moments later, the classroom door, which had been closed by one of the students previously, swung open. "Sorry I'm late, every-OOOWWWW!" the teacher yelped as the door unexpectedly rebounded back from the force of his opening push and smacked him hard on the nose, making his students break into laughter. Clutching his nose, the teacher, a large rotund man wearing large red framed glasses and a brown suit about two sizes too small for his frame, staggered towards his desk, tossing his suitcase into the corner. "Can I have your attention, everyone," he said out loud, making the laughter quiet down, "It's very good to see all of you here in my class today. My name is Mr. Jack Banks," he wrote his name down on the blackboard, "You can of course call me Mr. Banks, and I welcome you all to the wonderful world of biology, specifically the study of the natural world, and all the plants and creatures in it..."
"Yes," Jesse mumbled softly in delight, pumping his fist; animals would be on the curriculum after all.
"Hoo boy, this guy's a fruitcake," mumbled a boy with unkempt hair sitting to Jesse's left to a friend-although not soft enough to avoid the teacher's ears. "A fruitcake, huh?" he approached the boy and gave him a stern look. He dug out a piece of paper and examined it. "Bart Mertz, I believe it is? Well Bart, I'm hoping we can get along well in this class, because there's so much I have to share with you and your classmates about the natural world in here."
"Oh yes, sir, of course sir," Bart gave him a goofy salute, making himself seem to Jesse what he himself had once been in the classroom. "Although I don't see what we have to learn about animals: we live in the cities, they live in the wild, what more do we need to know, really?"
"A good question, Mr. Mertz, a very good one to start out our time together. Now as I...OOOOOFFFFF!" Mr. Banks groaned again as he turned and accidentally walked into the side of his desk, making his students crack up again. "I'm OK!" he whimpered, "Anyway, class, I know that in your high tech worlds of electronics, the natural world may seem far away and not important. But even with the progression of technology, we share a strong bond with all living things around us. And I feel that getting you to appreciate what we live with may help you all to become better kids yourselves. Now, to begin, let us discuss the basic taxonomy of the outskirts of the city..."
He launched into a thorough lecture on the creatures that lived in the nearby woods that continued for most of the class. A number of the students eventually slouched down on their desks, bored, but Jesse kept on listening intently. While whales would now always be his favorite animal, he had started to feel a fondness for all animals, and the information Mr. Banks was dispensing was genuinely interesting to him.
In no time, the bell rang to end the school day. "OK class, I hope that was a good start for you," Mr. Banks told his students, who quickly gathered up their books and bustled for the door, "So for my first assignment, I'd like you to read pages one through twelve of your textbooks; tomorrow we'll have a discussion on the important of apex predators in an ecosystem."
"Well, we made it," Jake turned to Jesse and extended a hand for him to slap, "First day's always the hardest. Let's get out of here."
"Give me a minute, Jake; there's something I want to ask him first," Jesse pointed at Mr. Banks behind his desk.
"OK, I guess. I'll be waiting outside," Jake gathered up his belongings and followed the rest of their classmates out. Jesse rose up and approached Mr. Banks' desk, where the teacher was packing away his papers. "Um, Mr. Banks?" he spoke up, "I'm, uh, Jesse, and I'm new here..."
"Great to meet you, Jesse," Mr. Banks shook his hand jovially, "This is my first day here too, so I guess you might say we're sailing in same boat-hopefully not over a waterfall, though," he chuckled, "Is there something I can help you with?"
"Well, not with the class no, but, I was wondering," Jesse took a deep breath, "Would you happen to have any extra books or papers about whales? I'm kind of interested in them, and the more I can learn about them..."
"Say no more," Mr. Banks' face had lit up, "It so happens marine biology's my favorite area of study too, so I have loads of books on whales. Give me a couple of days, and I can get a couple together to loan you."
"Great, thanks," Jesse commended him, "I have an offer to do some work with whales when I'm not in school, and the more I know, the better I'd be able to help."
"I see," Mr. Banks lowered his glasses and stared at him, "Come to mention it, I thought you looked a bit familiar, actually. Weren't you the boy who helped get that whale out of Northwest Adventure Park when the owner tried to kill it? I saw the feature on the news right after it happened."
"Uh, yeah, that's me," Jesse admitted, "But we had no choice; Willy would have died if we didn't set him free, and he and I came to an understanding to we'd be there for each other..." he stopped, realizing how dumb that probably sounded. Mr. Banks, however, was nodding in affirmation. "Well, what you and everyone else involved did was a little extreme, yeah, but I think you did do the right thing in the end," he told the boy, "I myself don't have a problem with animals in captivity as long as they're well taken care of or were born there to begin with, but clearly that whale wasn't being cared for properly at the time you released him, so I approve of what you did. And I'm sure, wherever he is now, he's grateful too."
"I know he is," Jesse nodded, a glum look crossing his face over the mystery of where Willy was now.
"On that note, if you are going to be doing whale research in your spare time, let me know when it's official," Mr. Banks encouraged him, "That would be the perfect field trip for this class, taking them out to watch whales in action-if the people you work for would be OK with it."
"I'll ask them," Jesse agreed, "Well, see you tomorrow, I guess."
"Have a great day," Mr. Banks bade him farewell. Jesse exited the class and threaded his way through the students back to his locker. As he'd promised, Jake was waiting for him outside the school when he left the building. "Take care of everything?" he asked his new friend.
"Yep," Jesse nodded, "I live this way, about twelve blocks," he led Jake to the right down the street.
"So, tell me about the whale?" Jake asked him eagerly, "That sounds like it was really interesting."
"OK," Jesse took a deep breath, "It started back in May, when I was still living on the streets. One night, I was hanging out with a couple of other homeless kids when the cops showed up. We all scattered, and my friend Perry and I ended up in Northwest Adventure Park. While we were there, we started spraying graffiti everywhere. Well, he'd moved on, and I was still spraying when I heard a strange noise in the next room. I went to investigate, and got startled when a flash of lightning showed something in a big tank inside the room. But then I saw what it was: a whale, and the most beautiful whale I'd ever seen..."
