I raised an eyebrow at him. “Want to try again, or should I be speaking with your guardian about your behavior. This would be strike two today.”
Horror flashed across his face and he deflated, shoving his hands into his pockets and glaring at the floor. “Sorry, Ms. Brooks,” he grumbled.
“Apology accepted. Now, how can I help you? Shouldn’t you be at lunch right now?”
His face twisted and I could tell he wanted to lash out again, but he seemed to think better of it, his words sharp as he did his best to maintain politeness. “I was wondering if I could see my phone. I want to check on my sister.”
Studying him for a moment, I considered his request. For most students, I wouldn’t allow it. Taking away a student’s phone was a punishment that often only happened once or twice. An entire day without their device was usually enough for them to learn their lesson. Remembering Elias’s thoughts on why Jasper was so attached to the device and on his sister’s wellbeing made me soften.
“You can call your guardian for an update on your sister, but I’ll need it back once you’re done.”
He didn’t argue for once, nodding sharply and following me back into my classroom. He sat at a chair in front of my desk, accepting his phone when I handed it to him. I wondered for a moment if he’d do something stupid like try to run off with it, but he stayed put, texting instead of calling for an update. While he waited on a reply, I finished my lunch and packed it away, turning my attention to the rest of the tests I hadn’t gotten to grading from earlier. Jasper’s coincidentally was on top, and I pulled it closer, looking over the work he’d done.
It was obvious at first glance that he was faking that he didn’t understand. He chose to pick a few questions to answer and leave the rest blank, likely to make it look like he didn’t understand the material. He didn’t seem to realize he picked the harder questions to answer instead of only answering the easier ones. Most students thought teachers put the hard questions at the end, but I mixed them in with easier ones so those who weren’t interested in trying, like Jasper, wouldn’t realize what was happening. He answered several of the harder questions, including a bonus I put in there just to test how much my students had learned thus far. He didn’t show his work on all ofit, but the answers were correct and I could tell he erased some of the notes to pretend he was just answering randomly.
A buzz drew my attention back to Jasper, who stared at his phone with an irritated scowl, shooting back a reply with extra relish like whatever Elias had sent him wasn’t what he wanted to hear.
“Is everything alright?”
“It’s fine,” he grumbled, slouching a little lower in his chair. He wouldn’t go anywhere until he got the update he wanted, which gave me the perfect opportunity to go over the test with him.
“Is there a reason you’re pretending to not understand the problems, Mr. Reed?”
His head whipped up and he looked almost panicked for a moment before glaring at me. “Who said I’m pretending?”
I could tell he was thinking his guardian sold him out, so I put that to rest before he could get too worked up, tapping my pen on the paper. “Your efforts to pretend are valiant, but maybe if you want to pretend you don’t understand, you should look at all the questions first. You answered all the difficult ones and ignored the easier ones.”
He looked confused for a moment before pulling a face. “The hard ones are supposed to be at the end.”
“Not in my classroom. I understand that you’re going through a difficult time right now, but–”
“You don’t understand shit!” he snarled, cutting me off. He shoved to his feet, his glare so dark, if looks could kill, I would be on the floor already. “You don’t know anything about me!”
Most adults would take exception to his tone and likely would shout back. I refused to sink to his level, keeping my tone even as I told him, “Lower your tone, Mr. Reed. You’ve been warned about this already.”
He made a frustrated sound, slamming his phone on the desk. “Ugh, whatever! Just expel me already! I don’t give a shit!”
“No, Mr. Reed. I’m not going to do that. Nor am I going to let you dig yourself so deep that you can’t get free either. I haven’t had to expel a single student in my career, and I’m not starting with you.”
CHAPTER NINE
ZERO
Things were supposed to be simple when I wasn’t with Jasper, right? Wasn’t there a rule out there that there could be only one problem child amongst siblings?
“Isla… Don’t…”
She ignored me and threw the screwdriver with all her might, somehow managing to send it skittering under the fridge.
“Damn it.”
While Jasper was still struggling and wasn’t comfortable letting anyone in the crew babysit, I’d been bringing Isla with me to work. So far, no one had complained and a few were delighted to play with the baby while I fixed whatever needed fixing. It made my job easier since she was being watched and I was still close enough to send Jasper updated whenever he demanded them.
Today wasn’t one of those easy days. I’d forgotten that she peed through her diaper while napping in the playpen the night prior, and hadn’t cleaned it before I left for work this morning. It wasn’t safe to have her strapped to me while I was workingwith wiring, so I figured I’d distract her by letting her play with my tools. Maybe not the smartest idea, but the customer I was working for didn’t like kids and glowered at her when I brought her inside, then ignored her completely. I had no help on that end. I probably should’ve thought my plan through because I needed that damn screw driver and I got the feeling I’d get complaints from the customer when I told him I needed to move his fridge to get it back.
Isla started crying without warning, which she’d been doing a lot lately, and I could practically hear the customer fuming the longer it lasted. Setting down my tools, I picked the baby up, bouncing her in my arms and shushing her, but nothing I was doing was making any difference. The only person who could calm her when she was like this was Jasper.
“Shh, it’s okay. No one’s mad. You didn’t mean it,” I whispered, trying and failing to get her to settle. It wasn’t working and if I didn’t want the customer to lose his shit, I needed help. I fished out my phone, stepping outside to call the one person who I figured could tell me what the hell was going on.
