Reality Lies, D.F. Downey [books for students to read TXT] 📗

 

Jay was depressed. He saw the world in grays so everyone had to pack an umbrella. He was determined to find Amy. How hard could it be? She went to his school. She was beautiful. But then again, he had never noticed her before. ‘No, think positive. You’ll find her or you’ll find the car. After all, her sister works down the road from the mall.’

 

Jay didn’t want to go to school the next morning. He burrowed his head under the pillow but to no avail. His mom was in the doorway, gently urging him to get moving, at least at first. She gave him a few minutes and then started yelling for him to get a move on. Reluctantly, he sat up, got out of bed and drowsily padded down the hall to the bathroom, absently scratching his ass.

 

“Jay!”

 

“Okay, I’m up!” He yelled back.

 

“Don’t forget to take back the permission slip.”

 

“Is it in my backpack?”

 

“Did you put it in there?” his mother asked.

 

“Yeah, I guess.”

 

“If you put it in there than it should be there, it’s important, it’s due today.”

 

“Okay.”

 

She took his backpack and went through it.

 

“Ma, don’t be going through my stuff. I’m not a baby.”

 

“If you took care of things I wouldn’t need to look.” She searched awhile longer. “It isn’t in here.”

 

Jay grabbed the backpack back from her. “I know it’s in here. Yes! I put it in my history book. Here it is.” he stated triumphantly as he held it aloft. “Just like I said, see mom, I’m not a baby. I took care of it.”

 

“That’s good honey.” she said resignedly as she kissed him out the door. “Better hurry, the bus will leave without you.”

 

“But I got five minutes.”

 

She knew from experience that no matter what time it really was, if Jay thought he had five minutes, he had five minutes.

 

“Don’t dawdle after school. Remember, you have to go to the dentist.”

 

“But me and the guys were going to go out and cruise the neighborhood.”

 

“You have a dental appointment at three-thirty. Be there on time or your cruising days are over.”

 

“Okay, I’ll be there.” he said with finality.

 

As she turned from the door she caught sight of the “missing” permission slip. She took the piece of paper off the refrigerator, ripped it into little pieces and threw it away. “In his backpack, right.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Chapter 16

 

Jay was determined to find Amy. He decided to cut class to speed up his search. Several times he thought he saw her but although the girls looked just like her they were invariably someone else.

 

“God, Amy must have a lot of cousins.” he muttered after the last of several polite corrections.

 

A voice behind him startled him. “Mr. Noll, shouldn’t you be in class.” Ms. O’Riordan, his math teacher, stated firmly.

 

“Uh, no, Ms. O’Riordan I have a free period.”

 

“That’s funny, I could have sworn you should be in my class.”

 

“Oh… wait a minute, what time is it?”

 

“It’s ten-thirty.”

 

“You’re right! Good thing I ran into you or I would have missed it.”

 

“We better get moving.” She paused a minute then asked, “Jay have you been in class at all today?” He started to answer but she spoke first, “Before you say anything just tell me the truth because…”

 

Her bluff worked. “No, I haven’t.” He hung his head down.

 

“That’s not like you Jay. Could you tell me why?”

 

He hesitated for a moment. He liked Ms. O’Riordan, truth be told he had a crush on her. “I met this girl last night and I didn’t get her full name or phone number, anything. . . And I may have said or did something to upset her and I want to tell her I’m sorry.”

 

She looked at him like he was a lost puppy. He didn’t see it. “She looks like you, only you know, she’s my age.” he added. He was telling the truth but he also hoped it would get him over.

 

“Okay, get to class. I’ll see what I can do about the other cuts.” He started to walk away. “What was her name?”

 

“Amy!”

 

“I’ll see if I can find any Amys that look like me at you know, your age.”

 

“Thanks Ms. O, you’re the best!”

 

“Hormones!” She smiled as she briefly revisited the roller coaster of adolescence. “Talk about your dangerous drugs. Kids shouldn’t be allowed near them.” She clip-clopped down the hallway, then turned the doorknob to her classroom. “Now to face a raging sea of them.”

 

***

 

After class true to her word, Ms. O’Riordan checked for any girls named Amy in the student body. There were four all together, two in the sophomore class. None had the remotest resemblance to her, at least from the pictures on file. She decided it was safe to give Jay their last name. She debated giving out their homerooms and then decided that was better than having him roaming the halls. Beyond that she would be enabling him to stalk the young woman. Any more info was out of the question. Besides, who knew if any of them would prove to be the right one? She figured she’d tell him after class. She had forgotten about the relentlessness of youth.

 

“So did you find her?” The voice grew coming breathless down the hall.

 

“Slow down Jay. I’m not going anywhere.”

 

“Sorry Ms. O’Riordan.” he waited a second then asked, “Well did you?”

 

“I found four girls in the student body named Amy. But before I give you anything you have to promise me you won’t harass her. If you find her and she tells you she’s not interested, you’ll leave her alone.”

 

“Sure,” he tossed off without a moment’s reflection, “so what’s their names?”

“Jay, I’m serious. I could get in a lot of trouble if I set you on the young woman and you wound up harassing her.”

 

“I swear, she says no and I’m gone, never to bother her again. Unless we wind up in the same class and we like get an assignment or something together, you know? That’s all right, right?”

 

“Yes Jay that would be fine. I just mean I don’t want you stalking her. You know…”

 

“Creeping her out?”

 

“Right! Exactly! I don’t want you creeping her out.”

 

“Don’t worry, I won’t. I have too much respect for her. I would never do that to her.”

 

Ms. O’Riordan sighed. “And how long did you see her.”

 

“Counting the car ride?”

 

“Yes, counting the car ride.” she answered.

 

“About forty-five minutes, maybe an hour.”

 

“And you have too much. . . ? Never mind. Okay, here’s the last names.” If only someone in her target audience had the same passion.

 

He grabbed a pen. “Okay.”

 

“Harris.”

“Harris.” he noted.

 

“Schwartz.”

 

“Schwartz.” he repeated.

 

“Gangemi.”

 

“Ganjemi, is that with a j?”

 

“G-A-N-G-E-M-I”

 

“G-A-N-G-E-M-I, got it.” he repeated.

 

“And finally Murphy, the last two are sophomores.”

 

“Do you have their addresses?”

 

“Jay, didn’t you hear me before. The best I can do is their homerooms. I’ll give you the sophomores first and if they aren’t your Amy, I’ll give you the other two.”

 

“Okay.”

 

“Gangemi is 2B and Murphy is in 2F.”

 

“Well I know it’s not Murphy.”

 

“Oh you do?”

 

“Yeah, I’m in 2F and there’s nobody who looks like my Amy.”

 

“I guess you’ll start with Amy Gangemi then.”

“Yeah, thanks teach.” He was already moving. “Did I ever tell you, you’re my favorite teacher?”

 

“Yes, several times” she shouted after him laughing.

 

“You’re my favorite teacher!” he screamed at the top of his lungs. “Ms.O’Riordan is the best teacher at Brookdale!”

 

She blushed as heads poked from the classroom doors. Principal Giordano made an appearance. “In the future could you tell your fan club to keep it down.”

 

“Yes sir, I will.” she said in heightened embarrassment.

 

He ducked back in his office closing his door behind him.

 

“Yeah Denise, you’re making the rest of us feel bad.”

 

“Stop it Carole. I can’t help it if my students think I’m cool.”

 

“Don’t hate me because I’m beautiful. “Carole said in an exaggerated tone, and then broke up in laughter.

 

“You.” Denise made a feint towards Carole who jumped back in her classroom closing the door behind her.

 

Ms. O’Riordan was suddenly alone in the hall. “Denise, what have you done.” she whispered almost prayer like.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Chapter 17

 

Jay wasted no time hunting down Amy Gangemi. He was able to track her to Miss Fischer’s class, through a variety of friends and acquaintances. He raced from his English class to meet her class as it exited. He didn’t see his Amy so he asked one of the last to leave, a short, cute, curly haired girl. “Anyone else in there?”

 

“No, not now anyway.” as the remnants passed by.

 

“Is anyone out today?”

 

“Not that I know. Who are you looking for?”

 

“Amy Gangemi.” he said.

 

“That’s me?” she said questioningly, “What do you want with me? Do I know you?”

 

“I’m sorry. I thought you might be the girl I met last night. Her name is Amy and she goes to school here.”

 

“Well obviously it wasn’t me. There is another Amy I know of. . .”

“Murphy?”

 

“Right, Murphy. So you already checked her out?”

 

“She’s in my homeroom. It wasn’t her.”

 

“What does she look like?” She asked.

 

“About five feet, nine, beautiful, light brown hair, blue eyes, great body.”

 

“Amy Murphy basically fits that description except…”

 

“She isn’t beautiful.”

 

“I was going to say except you say it isn’t her. God, guys can be so nasty.”

 

“I’m sorry that didn’t come out right. The girl at the mall was drop dead gorgeous. The Amy Murphy I remember, well she’s rather average. It’s just by comparison she falls short. I’m sure she’s very nice.”

 

“You ever talk to her?”

 

“Uh, no.”

 

“Would you ever talk to her?”

 

“Um, sure.”

 

She gave him a hard look. “Really?”

 

“Probably not.” he said suddenly ashamed at his shallowness.

 

She let him off the hook. “Don’t be too hard on yourself. You’re a guy. You can’t help being that way.”

 

“Thanks a lot.” She giggled at his discomfort.

 

“You’re right though, I can’t really say I’ve ever really noticed the Amy under my nose. I’ll try to be better.”

 

“You do that!” They lingered awkwardly in the hall way. She spoke first. “I really got to get going, is there’s nothing else?”

 

“No. Thanks, I’ll see you around. It’s been nice talking to you.”

 

“Same here.”