Page 88 of Ancient History

Hutch went white as I watched him trying to figure out how to salvage his team on such short notice.

“He’s not the best student, but he’s a hard worker.”

“His work on the field isn’t translating in the classroom,” Aguilar said.

“We’ve got our big game next week. This could be our chance to be the top-ranked school in the district and make it to the regional playoffs.”

“I understand that, Hutch. I want that, too. I want to see South Rock High succeed in all areas. However, I have a firm stance on this. I won’t let athletics trump academics. Students need to know that their schoolwork is a priority.”

Silently, I made a fist in support of Aguilar. I really respected his position, which was a tough one to hold firm to.

“Well, who’s the teacher? Maybe I can talk with them.” Hutch asked.

My entire body seized up as Aguilar flipped through his folder. His usually sunny face twisted into an uncomfortable frown.

“It’s, uh…”

“It’s me.”

24

HUTCH

“Amos?”

He stood against the filing cabinet having trouble meeting my eyes.

I had the most important game of the year coming up, the one that could help ensure my place on the coaching staff next year and net our team a well-deserved victory that we’d been working toward all season. We were so close. Victory was in our sights.

“It’s me,” he said again.

“Well, I just stepped into a lover’s quarrel,” Aguilar said with a nervous laugh.

Now Amos tried to meet my eyes, and I was the one looking away. I had to figure out what the hell I was going to do with this nuclear bomb that just went off.

“Is there any recourse?” I asked Aguilar. “Can we get an exception?”

“The student can request a hearing, but he’ll need a good reason to explain why he’s failing. I know this is a surprise, but…it’s school policy.”

“Yeah, I get it.” I gritted my teeth, as my championship season turned to sand in my fist.

Aguilar gave both of us a nod and reminded us to wipe down the desk before he left. It wasn’t funny like it would’ve been a few minutes ago.

“So it’s true?” I asked Amos once it was the two of us again.

“Yeah.”

The bell rang again. We both had to get to class.

“Can we talk about this later?” I asked.

“He wasn’t doing the work, so I had no choice. I didn’t know about this rule.”

I was too wiped to say something. I needed the escape of gym class to think about what to do. Maybe I could have Tommy work with Amos on extra credit? I’d figure something out.

I kissed Amos. “We’ll talk about this later.”

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