Chapter 2.16 - Jade

“Jade? Are you okay?”

“Not really.”

“What’s going on?”

Jade sighed. “I’m failing math.”

“Again? You know you can always ask me for help, don’t you?”

“I know, but I don’t think even you can teach me everything I’m missing. I take too long to learn the material, so we’re always moving on to the next concept before I’ve grasped the last one. I can’t keep up. I managed to pass last year by the skin of my teeth, but I don’t know about this year.”

Eve shook her head. “You should have told me about this earlier. I don’t know how much I’ll be able to help.”

“I wanted to see if I could do it myself. I thought that maybe, just maybe, if I really put in the effort this year, I could do better. Obviously I was wrong.”

“Don’t be so hard on yourself. You just have to know your limits.”

Jade wanted to smile, but she couldn't quite manage it. Yes, but why does my limit have to be something that everyone else can do so easily?

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Jade didn’t really want to be here, but at this point, she didn’t really have a choice. She had to talk to her math teacher. It was a decidedly unpleasant task.

“Jade, I really don’t understand what you’re asking me.”

“I want to know how I can get my grade up.” I don’t think I can state it any more clearly.

“Yes, but what do you mean by that?”

“Would you let me make-up some of the tests I did poorly on? Do you have any extra-credit assignments that I could do?”

He sighed. “Jade, can I be frank with you?”

“Of course.”

“I don’t understand how you expect me to give you special treatment when you’ve made it extremely obvious that you don’t care about my class.”

“What?”

“You’re failing this class for a reason.”

“Yes, because I don’t understand the material!”

He was shaking his head. “No, Jade, you’re failing this class because you don’t try. You don’t answer questions in class. You take notes sometimes, but more often you just doodle. You stare out the window. You make minimal effort on your homework, if you do it at all. It’s quite clear that you don’t really want to pass.”

“Of course I want to pass!”

“Then you’re going to have to prove to me that you are 100 percent committed. You will pay attention in class. You will come here every day after school to make up work. And if I catch you doodling, passing notes, or staring out the window, you’ll have to find some way to bring your grade up on your own.”

Jade stared at him in helpless frustration. She did try! She couldn’t help doodling or staring out the window on occasion. Her always-too-short attention span wouldn’t let her focus on just one thing for an entire class period. She always listened to him! She didn’t answer questions in class because she didn’t know the answers, and her homework looked bad because she couldn’t figure out how to do the problems. And coming in every day after school… “But I have newspaper!”

“Academics should come before extracurriculars.”

Jade wanted to cry. She wanted to scream. Instead, she gave him a tight-lipped smile and nodded. She had to pass this class. Maybe she should have asked for help when she first realized she was struggling, but that didn’t give him the right to treat her like a delinquent.

He glanced at his watch, oblivious to the hatred Jade was beaming his way. “I have to go to a meeting now, I’m afraid, but you can stay and study here if you want. You could certainly use the time to work.”

By the time he was out of the room, Jade was shaking with rage. Why did he treat her like she was doomed to failure? Maybe she wasn’t the ideal student, but it was his job to make sure that all of his students succeeded. Here she was, asking him for help, and he told her that she wasn’t doing enough and acted like she should thank him for giving her a little bit of his time. She was furious. She was also frustrated, because there was nothing she could do about it. He had complete control of her grade. If she acted “ungrateful” in any way, he would fail her without even thinking about it.

Her eyes fell on his desk. But what if he doesn't know about it? There was a paperweight sitting on the edge of the desk. Just a little blue plastic thing that said “The best kind of pie is 3.14”. It was the easiest thing imaginable for Jade to slip it into her pocket. As she left the room, she found that she was happier than she'd been all day.

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The feeling didn't last long. After she got home, she had called Ted, figuring that her boyfriend would understand her need to vent. Unfortunately, that didn't seem to be the case.

“You have to admit that he has a point.”

“I think you'll find that I don't have to do anything.”

“You can't expect him to go out of his way for someone who hasn't put in the effort. You told me yourself that everything he said was true.”

“Maybe, but it was the way he said it-”

Ted cut her off. “I am disappointed that you're failing math, though. You could have asked me for help at any time.”

“So everyone keeps reminding me. Look, I have to go.” Jade hit the end call button, almost wishing that she had an old-fashioned receiver to slam down.

A moment later, her phone rang. She picked up without looking at the caller ID, assuming that it was Ted calling her back.

“What do you want now?”

“Um… is something wrong?”

Jade sighed. “Hey, Marc. Sorry, I thought you were someone else. It's been a long day.”

“Do you want to tell me about it?”

“Depends. Are you going to give me unwanted advice?”

“My lips are sealed, promise. You have the floor.”

Jade laughed in spite of herself, then began to tell her story. Marc never said a word.

Author's Note: I feel like I'm so close to being done with this generation, but we've still got a little while to go. I think  should be able to get it done by the end of April, but who knows what might come up between now and then. 

I am going to miss these kids when two of them have to leave, though. I really do love all three of them, and I do not envy you all who have to pick between them.