The Mealworm Diaries by Anna Kerz

Author:Anna Kerz
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: ebook, JUV000000
Publisher: Orca Book Publishers
Published: 2009-04-01T00:00:00+00:00

FIFTEEN

Loud talk and excited laughter filled the hallway beside the change-room door as the line of kids jostled back and forth. They were dressed in the new blue shorts and white T-shirts as they waited to perform the skipping routine Jeremy and Mr. Collins had helped them put together for the morning assembly. It was Horace who noticed that Jeremy was missing.

“C’mon, Jer,” he called into the change room. “What’s taking you so long?”

Jeremy jumped when he heard his name; then he sighed and stood up. He had been slumped on the bench, trying to gather his courage to take off his trackpants.

It’s not pretty, but it’s not ugly either, Milly had said.

He hoped she knew what she was talking about.

On the floor in front of him, Aaron sat, struggling to make the loops on his shoelaces come out even. He looked up in time to see Jeremy shuck off his pants, so he was the first to see the red line that zigzagged down Jeremy’s leg.

“Oh man! Oh man! OH MAN!” he said, his voice rising with each word. Everybody heard.

A tight band snapped across Jeremy’s chest, and he sagged to the bench as boys drifted back into the room and girls clustered in the open doorway. He glanced down. The scar seemed redder and longer and uglier than ever. Gross! Gross! Gross! The words screamed in his head. He looked up at their faces. Saw their surprise. Heard their exclamations.

“Holy cow!”

“Man, that had to hurt!”

Then the questions started.

“What happened?”

“Was it a car accident?”

“How many stitches did you have?”

He hated the questions. Hated the thought of answering them. Hated what they made him remember.

He felt the blood drain from his face. Felt himself sway. He gripped the bench. A hand came to rest on his shoulder. Horace’s hand.

“You okay, man?”

Jeremy took a breath. Nodded. The room fell silent, and in that silence everybody heard Aaron say, “Can I touch it?”

“No!” Jeremy said, pulling back. Then again, more softly, “No.” He shivered at the thought and let his arm drop in an effort to hide the scar.

He was so wrapped up in thinking about himself that he barely noticed Tufan stride toward Aaron and snarl, “Creep!” Tufan jerked Aaron to his feet and shoved him, hard enough to make Aaron stumble backward until he hit the opposite wall with a thud. Some of the girls gasped, but no comforting hand reached for him as he slid down the wall to sit in a heap on the floor.

The room stayed silent until Horace offered, “My uncle has two scars. One here”—he pointed at his shoulder—“and one here.” He pointed to his right buttock.

There was a burst of uncomfortable laughter.

“It’s not funny,” Horace said. “They’re from real bullets.”

The laughter stopped. Feet shuffled, eyes dropped.

“How’d he get shot?” Tufan asked. “Was it some kind of gang fight or something?”

“You don’t know anything,” Horace snapped. “He was in Tiananmen Square. In China. Soldiers shot him. People died there.”

There was more uncomfortable shuffling, and Jeremy was surprised to hear Aaron say, “My…my father has a scar from here to here.

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