The Act of Falling by Tayla Alexandra

Author:Tayla Alexandra [Alexandra, Tayla]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Tayla Alexandra
Published: 2019-10-14T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter 20 — Ezekiel

The lunch bell rang, and Ezekiel sighed with relief. The morning had been incredibly long with the kids talking about nothing but drama class and trying out for the play. Every student in his class, except for Jack, had turned in a permission slip.

The boy certainly had a right to not participate, but with his flair for the dramatic, Ezekiel was surprised that Jack hadn’t been the first to sign up.

“Jack,” Ezekiel called as the kids gathered their lunches and headed out.

“Yes, Mr. Gaines?” Jack looked up. Once again, there was no lunch in his hands.

“Jack, I’d like to talk to you about the new elective.”

“Drama is for girls, Mr. Gaines.”

Did his father tell him that? “Peter Pan is hardly a girl’s play. There are probably more boy roles than girls. There’s Peter Pan and Captain Hook, and then all the other pirates. There are the lost boys and―”

“I’m not interested.” Jack looked away, longing in his eyes.

“No lunch again today?” Ezekiel decided not to press the issue, but something told him that Jack was putting up a front. It irked him that he couldn't figure out why.

“It’s okay. I had a really big breakfast this morning. Dad made pancakes and eggs and bacon. I don’t think I’ll eat again until dinner.”

Something about the way the boy wouldn’t look him in the eye and shuffled on his feet told Ezekiel that he was not telling the truth about that either. “Okay, then. I hope you’ll reconsider taking drama class. I think you’d really be an asset.”

“I’ll think about it. Thanks. I better go now.” Jack rushed out of the classroom, nearly running Bekah over as she came through the door.

“Are we all set to head over to the hardware store?” Ezekiel asked as Bekah ducked out of Jack’s way. “I have a good feeling―”

“Yes. But there’s something I wanted to talk to you about first.”

“Sure.” Ezekiel watched her sway into the room. How had he not seen how beautiful she was from the start? That was an easy answer. Bekah hadn't appealed to him then because she had been dressed so provocatively that he hadn't gotten the chance to see the part of her that really counted — her heart.

Bekah held out a piece of paper to him.

“What’s this?”

“Take a look.” She nodded to the paper. “It’s Ruby’s permission slip.”

Ezekiel looked it over, noticing Jack’s blocky handwriting at the bottom immediately. “Jack forged his father’s signature?”

“So it seems. And not very well, I might add. And Ruby told me today that Jack forbade her to try out for the play.”

“Since when does an eleven-year-old hold so much power over his little sister?”

“I don’t know, but something’s not right about this. I’m worried that ― do you think their father is working too much to know what’s going on in his children's lives? When I was working in the cafeteria, I noticed that neither of them had brought lunch all week.”

“That has been a bit of an ongoing issue.

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