Zach's Secret by Grant Matthew W

Author:Grant, Matthew W. [Grant, Matthew W.]
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Tags: Gay & Lesbian
Publisher: Granite Gate Media
Published: 2013-01-13T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter 17

Key and I were REALLY late by the time we arrived in English class. "Well gentlemen, how nice of you to join us. I don't suppose you have passes to indicate why you're late?" Mrs. Trevott said. She must have seen the unusual looks on our faces because she didn't pursue it further. She told us to take our seats and be quick about it.

The desks had been rearranged into what Mrs. Trevott called a discussion circle. We joined the final class discussion about The Scarlet Letter before the essay test the following week.

I took notes on some of the more interesting things my classmates thought.

"Dimmesdale's sin was the worst because it was concealed. He didn't have the guts to stand on the scaffold with Hester and Pearl in broad daylight and tell the world what he had done. He brought on his own problems because of his weak character." That was Brandon's contribution.

"No way," Anna disagreed. "Chillingworth set out to hurt people on purpose. That's the ultimate sin."

"What about punishment and atonement?" Mrs. Trevott asked.

Kristen offered, "Hester's the one who got stuck wearing that stupid scarlet letter A. Plus, she had the baby, a living daily reminder of her so-called sin. I say she got the worst punishment of all."

"Nope. That was Chillingworth too. In trying to destroy the other characters, he destroyed his own humanity. I can't think of a worse punishment than that," Anna concluded.

"What do you think, Mrs. Trevott?" I asked.

"I think in their zest to punish Hester for the breaking of their strict moral code or, what they called sins against society, the Puritans sinned in their own actions and attitudes." Mrs. Trevott checked her watch and announced, "That's it for today, people. Remember, in life, you can't have your cake, eat it too, and then expect a side plate of brownies. Make your choices and live with the consequences. Now - go think about it!"

I worked in the newspaper office alone after school that day, like I had been doing every day for a while. Without Phillip, Meghan, Gwen, and their talent, things were pretty quiet. There were a few other kids who wrote occasional articles, but it was the same every year by this time. The initial interest in writing for the paper wore off and as it became a weekly chore, many kids just gave up.

For fun, I wrote an article about the next day's planned demonstration even though I knew it would never see the light of day or the printer's ink so I deleted it myself.

I tried to send Miss Tellsini the latest issue, but the computer wouldn't cooperate as usual. It had been going slow for the past hour and then the entire network froze. I slapped the side of the monitor more for effect than anything else.

I grabbed the hard copy that I printed earlier and headed for the main office to leave it in Miss Tellsini's mailbox.

As I approached her door, I heard another voice that I couldn't make out and I heard her laugh.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.