His Girlfriend

The Thursday before Thanksgiving, sixth period. Creative writing. 

(I saved all my subbing stories from before the break until I was at work again.)

The kiddos were supposed to be working on their "capstone" assignment. As it happened, this was NaNo, but only 18,000 words. (Wow, Wikipedia says National Novel Writing Month is no more. Very sad. The end of an era.) 

Mr. C warned me the class could be talkative, but that sort of thing doesn't bother me so long as they get their work done. And so long as they aren't being crazy. If they're just chatting while working, they tend to have the most interesting conversations. 

Somehow, we got on the topic of glasses. 

I make no secret of the fact that my vision is terrible. I've worn contact lenses since I was 14. (The kiddos are weirded out by contacts, so I try to normalize them. I tell the glasses wearers how much easier my life is wearing them rather than wearing glasses.) 

Kinsley complained that she needed glasses, but there was a holdup in getting them. She said she'd finally asked one of her teachers if she could move closer to the board so she could see. The teacher, naturally, wondered why she hadn't spoken up sooner. 

However, the move ended up being a problem. She was seated next to this boy, and now the boy was sure Kinsley was into him. 

She explained that she had befriended the boy, and they texted back and forth. They got along great. But the befriending did have an ulterior motive...

Kinsley was into his girlfriend.

She heard a rumor the girlfriend was bi, and she's hoping if things go south for that relationship, she can swoop in and charm the girlfriend. 

I mean, as long as she isn't actively sabotaging the relationship... 

After that, Kinsley and her friend in class swapped horror stories that they had written a while back. (The other girl said she wrote her story at age 11.) And gave each other feedback. 

And I listened in. It's fascinating to listen to teenagers talk.