Ladies and Gentlemen, let me introduce myself. My name is Carl Samson, and I just might be the smartest kid in Rocky Creek Middle School. How could that be, you wonder? Well, this story will hopefully explain it. So [[here we go.]]It was a warm day in fall. Me and my best buddy Devin were out in the [[scrapyard]], where we were working on our Project.The scrapyard was the place we always went right after school got out. It was the first day of school, so most people probably just headed on home after the last bell rang to contemplate how life had abruptly gone from just fine to quite shit, but not me and Devin. The Project was the reason I was probably one of the few people who was actually looking forward to the first day of school. See, we usually worked on it over the summer too, but that year Devin and his family had decided to go on a trip to Germany, so I had pretty much stayed inside bored the entire time he was gone. And the first day of school was when I finally got to see him again! Anyway, I was a little worried that Devin wouldn’t be waiting outside for me after the last bell since I hadn’t seen him in homeroom, but when I exited the building, [[there he was]].As soon as he saw me, his face lit up. I walked over to him slowly, not trying to look too excited, so it wouldn’t be obvious as to how much I missed him.
“What’s up, Dev? I didn’t see you in homeroom,” I said. “You have a good summer?”
He was smiling so big that even though he was trying his damndest to speak no words seemed to be coming out! After about 5 minutes of him squirming and grinning passed before he managed to spit out: “Scrapyard?”
“Yep,” I said. “We’re going to the scrapyard.”
Now, if you haven’t figured it out by my description of Devin trying to ask if we were going to the scrapyard or not, let me say it real clearly: Devin is dumb. Heck, he’s probably the dumbest in all of Rocky Creek Middle School. He doesn’t look it – brown hair, blue eyes, quite handsome – but you can ask him the simplest of questions and he’ll have a hard time answering. Now, you might be asking yourself, what’s the smartest person in Rocky Creek Middle School doing hanging out with the dumbest? Well, let me remind you, I wasn’t the smartest yet. Or if I was, nobody knew it, not even me. And another thing is that me and Dev are best buds! Friendship is about two people genuinely enjoying each other’s company, not comparing their smartness levels. So the fact that he’s the dumbest and I’m the smartest doesn’t really matter. Anyway, [[back to the story.]] The walk from school to the scrapyard takes about ten minutes, so I figured I would just let Dev tell me all about how little fun he had without me over the summer. And he yammered the entire way there, so I was kinda glad when we finally arrived.
I hadn’t been to the scrapyard in a while, but it was just as I remembered it. Sunlight reflecting off all sorts of junk – cars, refrigerators, sofas, cabinets – nothing quite fitting in with each other but everything seeming to belong.
“Damn,” I breathed.
“Mhm,” I heard Devin say from next to me.
“Well, let’s go!” I said, shaking myself out of my momentary reverie. “You remember where it is?”
He nodded in reply.
“Well, [[lead the way!]]”I followed Devin footstep for footstep as he traversed the piles of scraps. Before long, we were there. The Project. And, the place where I meant to start [[this story.]]So, like I said, it was a warm fall day, and we were working on our Project. After an hour or so of hard labor and extensive calculations, I decided to do a test trial. I stepped inside The Project, waited for a few moments, then stepped back out.
“What day is it?” I asked, looking at Devin. He put down a pile of scrap metal.
“Monday, August 28th,” was his prompt reply.
“Damn,” I said. I let out a long sigh and stared into the distance, muttering about some extremely complicated mathematical stuff.
“Two hundred and twenty-five,” Devin said. I glanced at him.
“Two hundred and twenty-five what?” I asked, chuckling a little. Was he really trying to do math?
“Two hundred and twenty-five nails. We need… twenty-five more.”
I thought about it for a second or two, and realized he was right.
“Damn, Dev!” I exclaimed. “When’d you learn to do math like that?”
He shrugged in reply, and looked down at his feet, blushing a little. I stared at him, mind whirling. Guess what popped into my mind? [[An idea.]]
“Hey, you could be winning those math exercise things [[Ms. Christine]] has been giving every morning since the 6th grade! In fact, [[why aren’t you?]]”(Ms. Christine is me and Devin’s homeroom teacher, and has been giving us these math exercises that the whole class has to do every morning. Whoever finishes first gets candy, and it’s always the same person: Mary-Kate. But more on her later.)
Anyway, I'm pretty sure I was asking Dev: [[why aren’t you?]] Dev shrugged again and bent down to pick up a few pieces of scrap metal from the pile.
“Uh-uh,” I said, slapping his hand away. “We’re exploring this newfound talent of yours. This is how we get candy every single morning!”
He stared at me, a confused look on his face.
“Okay, okay,” I said to myself, thinking up some math problems I could test him with. “What’s twenty-four plus thirty-six?”
He kept staring at me with that same damn confused look.
“Well? C’mon, you know this!” I was getting a little frustrated, and Dev could probably tell ‘cause he had some tears welling up in his eyes.
“It’s nothing!” he blurted out, and I could tell in his voice he was about to cry.
“Hey it’s okay, it’s okay,” I said, trying to keep him from crying, although I really wanted to yell at him about what a dummy he was being. I put my hands on his shoulders and stared right at him, hoping to figure out what was going on inside his head. Suddenly, it [[dawned on me.]]
“Devin,” I said, as solemnly as I possibly could. “What is twenty-four nails plus thirty-six nails?”
“Sixty nails,” he said, with absolutely no hesitation. My mind just about exploded.
“Holy shit. Holy shit. Okay, okay, what about multiplication? What’s thirteen nails times nine nails?”
“One hundred and seventeen nails,” he answered, with, once again, absolutely no hesitation.
I swear I started jumping up and down with excitement. Devin started jumping too for some reason, a big smile on his face, and the two of us probably jumped around all over that scrapyard for about ten minutes, laughing like fools. Then I realized I still had more work to do if Devin was going to be first to finish Ms. Christine’s math exercise tomorrow morning. I stopped jumping and got real serious.
“Dev, I got to go to Ms. Christine’s house and talk to her about those math exercises. You head on home and be sure to come to homeroom on time tomorrow. Got it?”
He nodded, then looked at The Project. “But…?”
I saw what he was looking at. “Don’t worry about that. We’ll work on it twice as hard tomorrow, after Mary-Kate finds out you’re better at math than she is!”
He nodded again. I grabbed my stuff and... wait. Should I [[run]] or [[walk]] over to Ms Christine's house?I grabbed my stuff and ran out of the scrapyard over towards Ms. Christine’s house. You might be thinking it’s kinda weird that I know where my homeroom teacher lives, but don’t forget about how small Rocky Creek is! Plus, my mom is pretty good friends with her, so we’ve had dinner at her place a couple of times. It’s probably about a twenty-minute walk from the scrapyard to Ms. Christine’s house, but since I was sprinting it only took me about ten. Unfortunately, I was so out of breath when I arrived that I just lay down on her porch panting after ringing her doorbell. Her door opened after a few seconds, and I could see her [[looking around]]. I grabbed my stuff and walked out of the scrapyard over towards Ms. Christine’s house. You might be thinking it’s kinda weird that I know where my homeroom teacher lives, but don’t forget about how small Rocky Creek is! Plus, my mom is pretty good friends with her, so we’ve had dinner at her place a couple of times. It’s probably about a twenty-minute walk from the scrapyard to Ms. Christine’s house. I got there and rang the doorbell. Nobody answered. I knocked a few times, and rang the doorbell again. Where the heck could she be? I tried to open the door. It wasn't locked. Should I [[go inside]], or just [[head home]]?“Down here,” I managed to say, pulling myself up into a sitting position.
“Carl?” she gasped, looking down at me. “Oh God, are you okay?”
I nodded and mimicked drinking a glass of water, still panting too heavily to get out a full sentence.
“You need something to drink? Oh of course, wait right here!” She hurried back into her house, returning shortly with a glass of water. I gulped it down.
“What brings you here?” she asked after I finished drinking. “Are your parents okay?”
“Yes ma’am, they’re fine,” I answered. “But I just made the most amazing discovery. Devin isn’t as dumb as everyone thinks!”
She stared at me for a second, then sat down on the porch next to me.
“Well, everyone has their own talents. I’m sure Devin is smart about a lot of things.”
Damn, isn’t that the most adult-like answer you ever heard? It impressed me so much, I almost lost my [[train of thought]].
“Uhhh, yes, well that’s exactly what I mean!” I said, recovering quickly. “And he’s smart about math!”
“Is that so?” she said. “But he’s never done well on our daily math exercises.”
I looked at her and nodded. “That’s because he’s only good at doing math with nails!”
“Nails,” she said, sounding pretty bewildered. “Like, fingernails?”
“No ma’am,” I said, chuckling a little. “Like the ones you hammer into things. And if you just put the word ‘nails’ after each number in your math exercise tomorrow, I guarantee Dev will finish faster than everyone in the class, even Mary-Kate!”
“Really,” she said. I bobbed my head up and down convincingly.
“Well…. I guess there’s no harm in changing it up a bit,” she said. I smiled from ear to ear.
“Thanks, Ms. Christine! You won’t regret it!” I handed her my empty glass and got to my feet. “I’ll see you in homeroom tomorrow,” I added, then turned to leave.
“Yes, see you then, Carl! Tell your mother I said hello!”
“Yes ma’am!”
That night in bed, I barely got any sleep, anticipating the look on everyone’s faces when they got outsmarted by Devin.
[[The next day]]The next day in homeroom, Ms. Christine handed out the math exercises as usual. She gave them to us face down so nobody cheated. Should I sneak a look, to make sure she did what I asked?
[[sneak]]
[[don't sneak]] I snuck a look at the problems when Ms. Christine wasn’t looking. Sure enough, behind every number was the word nails. I gave Devin, who was sitting next to me, a big wink. He did his best to wink back at me, but it was definitely more of a [[blink.]]I decided not to sneak a look at problems, afraid of being caught. But, I still gave Devin, who was sitting next to me, a big wink. He did his best to wink back at me, but it was definitely more of a [[blink.]] “Okay class,” I heard Ms. Christine say. “Today, as a change of pace, we’ll be adding and multiplying nails. As usual, whoever finishes their problems first should bring them to me and I’ll look them over. If they’re all correct, they’ll get this bag of skittles.” (She held up a bag of skittles as she said that.)
I looked at Devin again, and there he was, pencil ready, waiting for the go-ahead to turn over his paper.
“Okay, begin!” said Ms. Christine. For a few moments, everything was silent except for the scribbling of pencils and tapping of fingers. Then, I heard Devin get up from next to me. I swear the entire class moved their heads at the same time to look at him. He walked slowly, almost majestically, over to Ms. Christine.
“There’s no way he got them right,” I heart Mary-Kate say from somewhere behind me. I turned around and gave her a glare, but she didn’t [[notice.]]
Devin handed over his paper, and everyone held their breath while Ms. Christine graded it. After what seemed like an eternity, she looked up.
“All correct, Devin. Very good.” And she handed him the skittles.
Everyone was silent.
Should I stand up and do a small victory speech? Or should I be silent, and congratulate Devin later?
[[victory speech]]
[[later]]I stood up, a big smile on my face.
“Ladies and Gentlemen, the reign of Mary-Kate is over,” I said. “All hail our new math genius, Devin!”
I walked over to him, grabbed his hand, and thrust it into the air victoriously. Judging by their faces, I’m pretty sure most of the class was too mind-blown to applaud, but luckily Ms. Christine started clapping right away, and before too long, so was everyone else. Except for Mary-Kate, who was staring daggers at us, her face bright red. I smiled back at her. Then the bell for first period rang, and everyone grabbed their stuff and headed out. And that’s when shit started going [[sideways.]]
I decided to let Devin enjoy his victory. In the few other classes I had with him, I realized everyone was treating Devin with a newfound respect. I tried to tell them that it was me who had figured out he was good at math, but they were all acting like he was the smart one, not me! Damn! I wonder what I did wrong?
[[Start]] I was heading down the hall when I heard Mary-Kate’s obnoxious voice say, “That’s him! That’s the guy who grabbed me!”
I looked around, wondering who she was talking about. I spotted her, and my blood ran cold when I realized she was pointing right at Devin. Standing next to her was her older brother Ben, who’s probably the biggest, meanest eighth grader in all of America.
Should I run over and intervene? Or should I yell, "There's nothing to grab!"
[[intervene]]
[[there's nothing to grab]]I ran over to get between Devin and Ben, but I somehow managed to trip over myself and ended up falling flat on my face with a loud smack. Everyone in the hallway lost interest in Mary-Kate and looked over at me, pointing and laughing. My face turned bright red.
"Help me up, Dev!" I shouted at Devin, hoping he could get away from Ben before he got punched, or worse.
Devin rushed over and helped me to my feet.
"Thanks," I muttered. "We better get to class."
I grabbed him by the wrist and started speed-walking away.
"Hey! Get back here!" I heard Mary-Kate shout. Should I keep walking, or turn around and confront her about what she accused Devin of?
[[Confront her]]
[[keep walking]]“There’s nothing to grab!” I tried to shout, but before I could do anything, Ben’s giant fist smashed into Devin’s face. Blood spurted everywhere, and he fell to the ground.
“Oh, shit!” I shouted. “Stop it! STOP!” I tried to get over to him, but it was hopeless. A mass of kids had already surrounded them, jeering and laughing. I could hear Ben pounding Devin, over and over again.
“Hey. HEY!” I heard a teacher shout. “Break it up! Get to class!” Everyone scattered, and I rushed over to Devin. His face had been beat to a pulp; I could barely recognize him. The bag of skittles was in his hand, unopened.
“Dev,” I whispered, trying not to cry. “You okay?”
His eyes fluttered open. I got on my knees next to him. His mouth kept opening and closing, trying to say something.
“What? What is it?” I asked, voice trembling.
“Scr…scra…” he stuttered.
The teacher was next to me now. He said something, but I didn’t hear it. I was too focused on Devin.
“Scrapyard?” Devin croaked, coughing up blood.
I let out a sob. “No, Dev. We can’t…”
And then I realized he was right. The scrapyard was where The Project was. And The Project could make all this go away.
But... should I stay with my friend to make sure he gets help? Or should I rush over to the scrapyard?
[[stay]]
[[rush to the scrapyard]]I decided to stay with Devin, ignoring his mumblings.
"Hey," the teacher said. "Get to class. I'll take him to the nurse."
"Can't I go with you?" I asked.
"Class, or the Principal's office," the teacher said.
Screw that. I might as well [[rush to the scrapyard]] “The scrapyard,” I whispered. I got up and ran, faster than I ever had, right out of the building. Oh, shit... should I stop and grab some nails? Or is there no time for that?
[[grab some nails]]
[[no time]]I stopped to grab some nails from the arts and crafts classroom. Then I kept running until I was standing in front of The Project. And then I worked. I calculated, I built, I hammered; it was like my mind and body had been taken over by some inhuman force of intelligence and strength. The sun went down, and I kept working. It started raining, thundering, and lightninging, and I kept working. Until finally, I knew I was done. My body was soaked. My hands were bloody. My brain felt ready to burst, but I stepped inside The Project and hoped it worked. I don’t know how long I stood there, but eventually I heard the rain stop and I realized I was no longer wet. Heart beating like crazy, I stepped outside. The sun was shining, and there was Devin, right in front of me, unharmed. I didn’t know what to do. I wanted to cry, to laugh, to hug him, but instead I simply asked, “What day is it?”
“Monday, August 28th,” was his prompt reply.
“Damn,” I choked out. I let out a long sigh and stared into the distance, hoping Devin couldn’t see the tears pouring down my face.
“Two hundred and twenty-five,” Devin said. I glanced at him.
“Two hundred and twenty-five what?” I asked, sniffling a little.
“Two hundred and twenty-five nails. We need… twenty-five more.”
Then I remembered. He was right, of course. Should I tell him my idea? Maybe if I do things differently we can have a happy ending and people won't think he's so dumb anymore. But it probably doesn't matter... He's been thought of as the dumbest kid for so long; people like Mary-Kate won't let that change. What should I do? I have to decide quickly; already my memories of the future are fading...
Should tell him what popped into my mind last time? [[An idea.]]
Or should I just [[let things be]]? Devin will be safe, he'll still be my best bud, but he'll also still be thought of as the dumbest.What do you mean, there's no time? Of course I have to [[grab some nails]]!“Let me handle the math,” I said, reaching out and mussing up his hair a bit. He smiled at [[me]].So, I’m pretty sure being a damn time traveler makes me the smartest kid in Rocky Creek Middle School. Right?
The EndI opened the door and walked inside the house.
"Ms. Christine?" I called. There was no answer, but a bunch of noise was coming from the kitchen. I headed over there. An odd smell hung in the air, and for some reason, I felt more and more uneasy the further inside I walk. I gulped. Should I [[turn around]], or [[keep going]]?I went home.
The next day, I went to school extra early. I found Ms. Christine in homeroom, and approached her.
"Ms. Christine," I said. “Devin is good at math!”
“Is that so?” she said, confused. “But he’s never done well on our daily math exercises.”
I looked at her and nodded. “That’s because he’s only good at doing math with nails!”
“Nails,” she said, sounding pretty bewildered. “Like, fingernails?”
“No ma’am,” I said, chuckling a little. “Like the ones you hammer into things. And if you just put the word ‘nails’ after each number in your math exercises today, I guarantee Dev will finish faster than everyone in the class, even Mary-Kate!”
“Really,” she said. I bobbed my head up and down convincingly.
“Well…. I guess there’s no harm in changing it up a bit,” she said. I smiled from ear to ear.
“Thanks, Ms. Christine! You won’t regret it!” I sat down, and watched her typing at her computer. A few minutes later, the printer started going, and she got up and the math exercises were ready to be handed out.
Once everyone got here, Ms. Christine handed out the math exercises as usual. She gave them to us face down so nobody cheated. Should I sneak a look, to make sure she did what I asked?
[[sneak]]
[[don't sneak]]I turned around, and walked straight into a huge, smelly man wearing a gas mask. I let out yelp.
"Uhh....." I said. "I was just leaving!"
He sighed, and then punched me in the face, knocking me out cold.
I woke up a little while later. A handsome fellow with a beard was standing over me. He looked familiar... oh no!
"Are you Jesus?" I asked.
"Yep!" he replied.
I gulped. "Am I dead?"
"Yep!"
Crap!
[[Start]] I kept walking, ignoring my fears. What could I possibly have to worry about, anyway?
I entered the kitchen, and my mouth fell open. There were a bunch of pots, and pans, and plastic bottles everywhere. It looked like some sort of lab... a meth lab maybe?
There were two people in gas masks. One was clearly Ms. Christine, and the other was this big burly man. The man approached me menacingly. I wanted to run, but I was frozen in place, too scared to move.
"Carl?" Ms. Christine asked. The man stopped walking.
"Yes ma'am, it's me," I said, finding my voice. "I... I had a favor to ask."
"Carl," she said, "I will do whatever you want, as long as you never breathe a word of what you saw here to anyone."
"Yes ma'am!" I said happily. I opened my mouth to explain that Devin was good at math with nails, but Ms. Christine still had stuff to say.
"Carl. Can you come to homeroom early tomorrow and talk to me about this?"
I nodded vigorously in reply. It was time to [[head home]]. I turned around and let Mary-Kate and her brother walk up to us.
"Mary-Kate," I said, "You know damn well that Devin never grabbed you. Why are you always spreading nasty rumours?"
She glared at me. I glared right back at her, doing my best not to blink. I didn't even notice Ben getting ready to punch me. His fist just hit my stomach, and I was on the ground, gasping for air. And then he started hitting Devin.
“Oh, shit!” I tried to shout. “Stop it! STOP!” I tried to get up to him, but it was hopeless. I was in too much pain. A mass of kids had surrounded them, jeering and laughing. I could hear Ben pounding Devin, over and over again.
“Hey. HEY!” I heard a teacher shout. “Break it up! Get to class!” Everyone scattered, and I rushed over to Devin. His face had been beat to a pulp; I could barely recognize him. The bag of skittles was in his hand, unopened.
“Dev,” I whispered, trying not to cry. “You okay?”
His eyes fluttered open. I got on my knees next to him. His mouth kept opening and closing, trying to say something.
“What? What is it?” I asked, voice trembling.
“Scr…scra…” he stuttered.
The teacher was next to me now. He said something, but I didn’t hear it. I was too focused on Devin.
“Scrapyard?” Devin croaked, coughing up blood.
I let out a sob. “No, Dev. We can’t…”
And then I realized he was right. The scrapyard was where The Project was. And The Project could make all this go away.
But... should I stay with my friend to make sure he gets help? Or should I rush over to the scrapyard?
[[stay]]
[[rush to the scrapyard]]I kept walking, speeding up a little more. After taking Devin to his class, I headed over to mine, being careful to check the hallway for Ben and Mary-Kate. There was no sign of them, and the rest of the day passed uneventfully.
After school, I waited for Devin as usual so we could walk to the scrapyard together. After about ten minutes, he still hadn't walked out of the building. Feeling worried, I decided to walk over to his house to see if he had gone home.
After a few minutes of walking, I arrived at his house and rang the doorbell. His mother answered.
"Is Devin okay?" I asked her.
She looked at me and sighed. "Are you one of his friends from school?" she asked.
I nodded, and decided not to mention that I was probably his only friend.
"A girl today accused him of touching her... or something," she said, shaking her head. "I know my Devin would never do that."
"Yeah, that was Mary-Kate!" I said. "She lies all the time!"
She smiled at me, sort of sadly. "Well, Principal Merton doesn't know that. Anyway, I've decided to switch schools. I found one that is more friendly towards kids that are special, like Devin."
"What, he can't switch schools!" I exclaimed. "He... we..." For some reason, I couldn't explain how important it was for Devin to stay at Rocky Creek Middle School.
"I've already decided," she replied, frowning a little. "Have a nice evening." And then she shut the door.
Damn. I don't feel smart at all right now! I wonder what I did wrong?
[[Start]]