THE MOMENT
"Rerun?" Mrs. Langley called the student's name as the kids began to leave her classroom. "Please stay after class for a moment. I'd like to talk to you about your report." A short, brown-haired boy sighed and lingered behind as the rest of the students broke out in laughter.
"Rerun, again!?" several students repeated the phrase that had become a sort of running joke. It wasn't the first time he was asked to stay behind, but the students had taken to using it any time he repeated anything. He was brand new to the school and it had only been three weeks; but, he wouldn't call any of the students a 'friend'. Not that anyone was overtly mean to him. But, the constant teasing of his name didn't help him feel welcome. And, he wished that just once he'd feel welcome somewhere.
"Thank you for staying," Mrs. Langley closed the door after the last student. Then, she returned to her desk and sat down as Rerun stood in front of her.
"I have to say...," she shook her head with mild disappointment. "I don't know what to do about your report." Rerun expected to have a talk with her as soon as he turned it in and, he wanted to help the process along so he could get home.
"Was something wrong with it?" he asked. He knew there was and wanted her to get to the point.
"No," she shook her head. "That's what makes it difficult. Your paper was very well-written. Almost perfect in a technical sense; you definitely have a talent for writing. However, the sticking point is that your conclusion essentially boils down to, 'there is no theme'. By the time I got to the end, it became quite clear that you did not put any effort into the assignment and wrote it simply to waste my time. Did you even read the assigned book?"
"Yes, Ma'am," Rerun nodded. It would have only complicated things if he tried to explain that he wrote the book. Short, direct answers always helped him get through social situations faster.
"And instead of giving it any thought, you decided to turn in a smart-ass response?" Rerun hung his head and faintly nodded. It wasn't worth the effort to correct.
"Yes, Ma'am," he replied. Though, he had a notable sadness in his voice that even Mrs. Langley noticed. She narrowed her eyes curiously at him, but he did not notice. He was focused on the ground.
"I'm going to have to give you a zero for your attitude," she said.
"Yes, Ma'am," he repeated. Then, there was an extended moment of silence. He expected her to speak up, but that was all she said. He tentatively looked up. "May I leave now?" he asked.
"No...," Mrs. Langley said. She considered herself a good teacher, even if the students tended to disagree. She tried her best to keep an eye on the students that she thought might need a little extra help. Ever since the beginning of the school year, Rerun had been relatively anti-social. She watched his interactions and made a few educated guesses about his personality. He never said more than he needed to, and sometimes not even that much. "I'll believe that you've read the book. So, if you can walk me through your reasoning, I'll change your grade to 100," she said.
"The zero is fine," Sprocket shrugged. "May I leave?" Again, Mrs. Langley shook her head. She was about to make a gamble that could backfire. But, she hoped that he didn't think about her threats enough to see through them; he was still 14 years old after all.
"No, it's not fine," she said. "It just became a major grade. If you don't explain your thoughts on this, you will fail this class," she added.
"Fine...," Rerun sighed. She thought that he was willing to take the failure until he looked up at her. ".... what do you think the theme is?" he asked.
"What?" Mrs. Langley was surprised for a moment; but, she willingly answered the question. The fact that he asked a question at all was progress. "Well, I think it's quite obviously a coming-of-age story. We see the main character go through different phases of their life throughout the book." Rerun nodded.
"Did you already grade everyone else's paper?" he asked. Mrs. Langley nodded and Rerun followed up with another question. "Did they all identify the same theme?" She shook her head, but she smiled. This was extraordinary progress for him, and she was starting to see his point. But, she wasn't going to let him go just yet.
"Of course not," she said. "It's subjective, different people see different things."
"So, why do I have to see anything?" he asked. "Why can't that be my answer?" he nodded at his paper on her desk.
"Because this is school," she replied with a warm smile. "This is where you're supposed to learn how to think about things. How to form your own opinions and put them into words. You're telling me you read this wonderful, well-regarded book and nothing jumped out at you?" Rerun shrugged and nodded.
"Yes, Ma'am," he said. Mrs. Langley was honestly willing to accept that explanation. She didn't want to pull him too far out of his comfort zone, and his voice did sound more comfortable around her than before. But, she still found that hard to believe.
"This book is over 100 years old and millions of readers all found a theme that resonated with them. And, yet, you found nothing of interest?" Something about her gushing struck a chord with him.
"I didn't sit down and plan any themes, I just wanted to write an adventure book," he said. His voice carried traces of annoyance. But, his eyes went wide and he clapped his hand over his mouth as soon as he was done speaking.
"What was that?" Mrs. Langley asked.
"Nothing," Rerun shook his head. But, she nodded.
"Yes.. you said... you wrote this book?" she asked. In any other school, that might have been hard to believe. But, at that moment, her only thought was disbelief. How could she have missed that? It was one of her favorite books in the whole world and his report had a similar writing style.
"Yes, Ma'am, that's what I said," Rerun nodded with a sigh.
"What's your favorite number?" she asked.
"14!" he said. After a moment of surprise that he answered the question, he tacked on some respect at the end. "..Ma'am."
"Why haven't you met with counselor Mundo yet?" Mrs. Langley asked. Rerun was surprised that she knew that somehow and wondered why she wasn't concerned with the fact that he authored a 100-year-old book. All students were supposed to meet with counselor Mundo.
"There was a line every time I went the first week," Rerun shrugged. "I didn't feel like staying. Then, I forgot about it...," he said. Mrs. Langley smiled and shook her head.
"I need you to go see him right now," she said. "But, first, I have a favor to ask." She turned and pulled her purse out of the desk drawer.
"Okay...," Rerun was happy that he was done with this current situation, but he had a lot more questions than he was used to. "...what's that?" he asked. She put an old, worn copy of the book on the desk and slid it to him.
"Will you sign my book please?"