Week 7: Top of her class
Peril County High School sat in the middle of downtown Black Grass, the county seat. The old school was built through the WPA program in the 30s and sat across the street from the state-of-the-art facility the county built a few years ago. Five hundred odd students walked these halls August thru May and had access to AP, dual credit and vocational training. The cafeteria featured a full coffee bar and offers vegetarian options every day. The academic team’s quick recall squad had won the Regional Championship for six years in a row. And most Friday nights, the Fighting Panthers could be found either on the football field or the basketball court.
This year’s graduating class had several bright students with promising futures. Tanner Hoskins won a scholarship to attend a computer science program in Chicago. Juliana Bowers will be attending Morehead State and participating in their aerospace program next fall. But none shone as brightly as Brittany Burns, the class valedictorian and cheer captain. Brittany is a bit of a Renaissance woman: she received perfect marks on her ACT test, led her Panther Cheer Squad to the state finals and volunteers most weekends in the pediatric ward over at the Hazard Hospital. But her true talents lie in her writing. She started writing short stories and poems in the 2nd grade and hasn’t stopped since. Her first published piece was in a literary journal featuring the works of Appalachian teens over three years ago. Since then, she’s been featured on several web sites, blogs and even the local news on WEKT.
It was her love of writing that led Brittany to apply to some of the most prestigious creative writing programs in the world. Her top choices, Brown and Columbia, were both extreme long shots, at least in her mind. But her mom encouraged her to apply and the initial interview with the director of the Writing Department at Columbia went well. No word from Brown as of yet, but it is still early in the semester.
“What are we gonna do when you’re a famous writer?” her boyfriend Graham asked her one unseasonably warm day as they sat side by side on two swings in City Park. Graham was a year younger than Brittany, but tall for his age. He was the quarterback for the Panther team and was touted as one of the best players in the mountains. “‘Cause the way I see it, I ain’t gotta worry about football, college or nothin’! I’m gonna be a kept man, livin’ at home and takin’ care a the kids while you’re a big-time writer, earnin’ millions.” A broad grin spread across his face as he teased Brittany.
She gave him a playful shove on the shoulder. “I see several issues in your plan, Mr. Carter. First, to assume that I’ll be anything more than a newspaper reporter or high school English teacher is a tad optimistic. Two, you assume that I will even want kids, much less have them with you. And three, you assume I would want to spend time with someone who’s sole ambition is to be a kept man; uneducated and unemployed while I bring home the bacon. That is a lot of assumptions, sir.” Her smile matched his.
Graham raised one eyebrow. “Well, Ms. Asher did tell us that when you assume, you make an ass out of ‘u’ and me.”
“Well, you’re definitely an ass!” she said with a giggle as she leaned into him and rested her head in the nape of his neck.
He leaned into her and took a deep breath of her hair. “But seriously, you’re gonna be in New York or Boston or Lord knows where next year. And I’ll be stuck right here in Black Grass. You’re gonna find some hot shit writer boy from a city who talks all proper and stuff. You’re gonna forget all about Peril County, and all about me.” His voice had lost that playful tone.
“You’re still making assumptions,” she said, trying to keep it playful, but failing. “I’ve not been accepted to any colleges yet, much less Brown or Columbia. And you’re the starting quarterback for the district champion Panther football team. How could I ever forget about you?”
Graham scrunched up his face and frowned down at her. “I’m bein’ serious, Brit,” he said a little more tersely than he had probably meant.
“So am I. We’ve been dating for about two years now, and we love each other. I’m not saying to go and get a ring or anything. But, we’re in this together. I want get out and see the world, just like you. I’m gonna go to a school with a great writing program. You’re gonna get a football scholarship, hopefully at the same school or somewhere close by. And it’s going to be wonderful.” She wrapped her arm around his back and pulled him closer.
The quarterback leaned in and kissed the top of her head. “Yeah, that don’t sound half bad, now does it.” The two continued to hold each other as they sat on the swings, watching the sun set over the hills.
The next morning, as Brittany walked into school, Ms. Nox, the guidance councilor and resident busy-body, darted in her direction as soon as the young lady arrived. “Ms. Burns, I’m going to need you to accompany me to my office at once,” she said curtly.
“Is something wrong, Ms. Nox?” Brittany asked as she walked behind her elder. Ms. Nox was a statuesque woman, slim with shoulder-length red hair and bright red lipstick. Her high heels made her even taller than most of the men in the building.
Her keys jangled a shrill, trilling noise and Ms. Nox unlocked her door and shoved it open. “Have a seat, Brittany,” she said, motioning to the two office chairs in front of her desk. Brittany had been in this office a few times before, and the student artwork on the walls always disturbed her. Ms. Nox was an art teacher before she took over the Guidance Councilor position and liked to use art therapy with her students whenever she could. “Brittany, what is the deal with Brown?” she asked, exasperated, as she sat at her desk.
Brittany furrowed her brow as she tried to understand what Ms. Nox was saying. “I’ve not heard from Brown, Ms. Nox. I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Well, I’ve heard from Brown, and they say you missed your deadline to apply. If you didn’t want to attend that school, I wish you would have let me know. I really stuck my neck out for you on this. I’m trying to develop a relationship with their admissions office and you’ve embarrassed me.” Ms. Nox was doing a poor job of hiding her rage behind a calm and sweet voice.
“I don’t understand,” Brittany said, a hint of panic in her voice. “I submitted everything digitally and included samples of my work. I even have an email saying they received my application.”
Ms. Nox turned to her computer and typed in something. “And it seems you have let your grades slip in AP English and Calculus as well. If you are wanting to self sabotage, you are doing a good job of it.”
Brittany’s head was spinning. She had no idea her grades were down. She thought everything was going great until this morning. “I don’t understand…” She drifted into her own mind, trying to find any sort of answer to why her academic life was spiraling down.
“Honestly, I expect more from you, Brittany. You’re top of your class and captain of the cheerleaders. How can you be so irresponsible?”
Tears started to well up in Brittany’s eyes.
“I suggest you do some deep reflections on where you are and where you want to be going, Brittany,” Ms. Nox said with an exasperated tone in her voice. “You’ve seriously jeopardized your place at the top of your class with these recent events. I’ve contacted your mother this morning and made her aware of your falling grades and failure to see the application process thru. Now, run along so you’re not late for first period.”
The swell of emotions running through Brittany was almost more than she could stand. She took a deep breath to collect herself, stood and walked out of Ms. Nox’s office. So much of Brittany’s self-image was based on her stellar grades and attention to detail. What was her mom going to say? “She will be so disappointed,” she thought as she walked to her locker.
Brittany tried her best to hide the anguish and confusion in her face as she walked the halls of Peril County High. She could feel every eye of every student silently judging her as she shuffled by banks of green and black lockers. Even if they weren’t looking her way, Brittany somehow knew that they were judging her, that she wasn’t living up to her potential.
“Hey babe,” a voice called from behind her. “What’s the matter?” She turned to see Graham wearing his letter men’s jacket and a Peril County Football shirt. “You ok?”
A flood of tears burst from her eyes as she fell into her boyfriends arms. “I’m never getting out of here!” she found herself saying as she wrapped her arms around him.
He enveloped her in a warm, comforting embrace and patted her gently on the back. “It’s gonna be ok. Whatever it is, we can work it out, I’m sure.” Graham did his best to console her, but in his heart of hearts, in a place he probably wouldn’t even admit to having, Graham had a small sense of relief.