Page 15 of My Life with the Walter Boys
“What’s up, Nate?” Alex asked without looking up from his page.
“I was just walking Jackie to class, and she happens to have anatomy with you. Mind if she shares your table?”
Alex looked up sharply when he heard my name. “Um…” he started to say. He trailed off as something caught his attention over my shoulder.
A high-pitched giggle filled the room, and I turned to see a beautiful girl with curly blond ringlets. She had a perfect button nose that crinkled up in delight as she laughed, and her blue eyes sparkled. Her arm was locked with another girl’s as they walked into class, joking.
I turned back to Alex and noticed his eyes were locked on the girl. He pressed his lips together, and for a moment I thought he was going to tell Nathan no, but then he cleared off the space next to him.
“Awesome! Thanks, Al,” Nathan said.
“No problem,” Alex said and returned to his reading.
“Well, I better get to class. Have a good first day, Jackie.”
“Bye, Nathan. I really appreciate all your help this morning.”
“It was my pleasure,” he said. “See you both later.”
When Nathan was gone, I hovered at the edge of the table. “I can move if you want to sit by one of your friends,” I told Alex quietly, and by friends I meant the girl. “I’ll be fine by myself.”
“Huh?” He looked up from his book again. “Oh no. It’s totally fine. Sit down,” he said, pulling out the chair for me.
Relief washed over me. “Okay, thanks.”
Alex’s eyes darted back to what he was reading, but then he pulled out a marker, jammed it between the pages, and shut the book.
“Don’t stop on my account,” I said, unzipping my schoolbag and pulling out a notebook.
“No, I was being rude before,” Alex said and offered me a smile. “You just caught me at my favorite part.”
“Oh, so you’ve read it before?” I asked, tilting my head to read the title. “What’s it called?”
“TheFellowshipoftheRing.”
I stared at Alex blankly.
“Tolkien?” he asked, shaking his head in disbelief. “You’re joking, right? You’ve never heard ofTheLordoftheRings?”
“Oh, like the movie?”
Alex groaned and banged his head on the table in frustration. “Why don’t girls everreadgood fantasy?”
“What are you talking about? I thoroughly enjoy fantasy. What aboutAMidsummerNight’s Dream?”
“Is that some girly crap likeTwilight? That doesn’t count as fantasy.”
“Shakespeare doesn’t write about sparkly vampires,” I scoffed.
“Oh, I know now! Isn’t he that super-old dude who wrote plays? I’ve read his stuff in English class.”
I knew he was only joking, but I scoffed and said, “You don’t know who Shakespeare is but laugh at me for not knowing Tonkin or whatever his name was?”
“Tolkien,” Alex corrected me,“and he wrote the greatest fantasy series of all time.”
“Yes, but Shakespeare could be considered the greatest literary figure of all time.”
Before Alex could respond, a young man appeared in the front of the room.
