The Burn Journals by Brent Runyon

Author:Brent Runyon
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780307276957
Publisher: Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group
Published: 2005-10-10T16:00:00+00:00

After Dr. Foust leaves, Rose takes me upstairs to the school. It's on the fourth floor, but it's not really a school at all. It's just a little room with a bunch of computers and some kids in wheelchairs. One girl has her face pressed right up against the screen even though the letters are as big as her head. She must be blind or something.

The teacher comes over to introduce himself. “Hi, Brent, I'm Tom Sicoli. I'm the teacher at duPont. Welcome to our humble classroom.”

“Thanks.”

“Have a seat here at this table next to Elaine. Elaine, this is Brent. Brent, this is Elaine.”

“Hi.”

“Hello.” Wow, she's beautiful. She's about my age, maybe a little older, with dark hair and big beautiful eyes. The most amazing thing is that she doesn't seem to have anything wrong with her. She's not in a wheelchair. She doesn't have any artificial limbs that I can see. The only thing I can see is a small scar right in the middle of her forehead about as big as a quarter. I sit down next to her.

I say, “So what are you in for?”

“What?” She looks at me as if I'm speaking Latin.

“What are you in for?”

“What?”

“Why are you here?”

“Where?”

“Here.”

“Where am I?” What's wrong with this girl?

“At duPont.”

“Where is that?”

“Here.”

“Where?” God, I feel like I'm in an Abbott and Costello routine.

“Why are you here at the hospital?”

“I'm in a hospital?”

“Yes, you didn't know that?”

“No. Oh, wait, yes, I did.”

“So, why are you here?”

“To get better?”

“Okay. What are you getting better from?” This girl is really frustrating.

“I was in a car accident and I hit my head.” Boy, did you ever.

“How are you two getting along?” It's Tom.

I say, “Fine.”

She says, “What?”

“So, Brent,” says Tom, “we're going to go through a couple of tests to see where to place you in relation to your grade.”

“Okay.”

“You were in eighth grade, correct?”

“Yes.”

“All right, I'll get the proper tests and be back in a moment.” Elaine looks at me again and smiles.

Tom comes back with a bunch of forms and sits down next to me. He explains that he's going to say some words and I have to write them down. I guess it's a kind of spelling test. I'm okay at spelling, but it's not my best subject. Spelling and handwriting, those have always been my weak areas. Everything else I've always been pretty good at, at least until last year.

My parents worked something out with the school system so that I only have to finish two subjects to be able to pass eighth grade. Science and English. That's it. Even though those were the classes I was having so much trouble with before, I don't think it should be that hard.

When we finish with the tests, Tom gives me a copy of Tom Sawyer and says my homework is to read the first ten pages by tomorrow.

“Ten pages?”

“Yes.”

“I can't read ten pages in one night.”

“Try.”

“Okay.” I'm not going to tell him I already read it when I was in fourth grade.

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