Chapter 28

On Monday and Tuesday I took my tests in American History and Government, respectively. I studied hard, and I walked out of both classrooms happy. Lots of short answer questions, lots of multiple choice.

Wednesday was the last official day of classes, and nobody really expected to get anything done, particularly not in the senior classes, where the grades had been turned in to the office on Tuesday afternoon.

It wasn't a big surprise, then, when Ms. Carter came on the loudspeaker and asked everyone to assemble in the gymnasium. We were seated by class, the seniors and sophomores on the right, the juniors and freshmen on the left. In the middle of the gym were about fifty seats, which were occupied by the faculty, and in front of them was a makeshift stage with a podium and three folding chairs.

Mr. Peterson took the seat on the podium on the far right. When everyone had settled down, he walked up to the podium and turned on the microphone.

"Can everyone hear me?" he said with surprising enthusiasm.

"Yes," we all droned.

"Good," he said. "This is a very special assembly to celebrate both academic and athletic achievement. First of all, I would like to have Trick Sterling and Cammie Rowe join me here on stage."

Cammie and I made our way down to the floor and then up to the stage. I offered her the middle seat, the one right behind the podium, and took the left-hand one. Looking out, I noticed Ms. Carter standing at the back of the gym, next to my brother Dave and my dad, along with Aunt Ruth and Uncle Bill. I smiled and waved. Next to them were Cammie's parents.

"Who are you waving to?" Cammie hissed at me.

"Your mom and dad," I whispered back.

She leaned over toward me to look around the podium and I watched her eyes widen in surprise.

"I think your dad likes me," I said.

"I think not," she said.

"Haven't you told him you're my girlfriend?" I asked.

"I'm not your girlfriend."

"Can I have your attention again, please?" Pete was asking. "I'd like to start with two very special athletic awards. The state association is a little late on one of these, some sort of computer mistake, apparently. They, uh, asked me to apologize to you, Ms. Rowe. Nonetheless, I am very proud to announce that Cammie Rowe was selected to the All-State volleyball team for 2007. Liz?"

Liz Torianni walked up to the stage with a trophy and climbed the steps to give it to Cammie. The school photographer had them pose together for a picture, and Liz went back down to join the faculty while Cammie took her seat. We then went through the whole thing another time when I was named to the All-State baseball team. Coach came up for the picture-taking session, and then the photographer asked Cammie and I to pose together.

"Pretty special, huh?" I said through my teeth as we stood there smiling.

"What's that?" she asked.

"Us here, together, winning these awards," I said. "Look how much your parents are enjoying it."

I lifted the trophy in salute to my guests, and Cammie uncomfortably did the same.

"If I could sort of segue into the academic portion of the program..." Pete began when we were back in our seats.

Cammie and I both stood up to leave.

"No, no, no," he said as he looked around and saw us. "You guys sit back down. First of all, I'd like to announce the valedictorian and salutatorian of the class of 2007. I won't bring them up here, because you'll be hearing from them on Saturday. I am pleased to announce that the top grade point average in the class was earned by Sammy Houghtaling."

Amid the applause, there was a whoop from the junior class that had everyone laughing.

"And the salutatorian," Pete announced, "is Tommy Narburg."

Another round of applause, another whoop, this one from the sophomore class.

"The Sterling girls apparently like those brainy guys, huh?" Cammie whispered to me.

"All us Sterlings value education," I said with a grin.

Pete leaned back to the microphone.

"I would like to point out that in third place, barely out of second, was Cammie Rowe."

"See?" I told her.

She shot me a dirty look.

"Now before I get on with the most unusual part of the program," he said, "I want to tell you about something else unusual that happened today. I was coming out of my office and I heard Ms. Carter swearing. Now to tell you the truth, people, I don't think I've ever heard Ms. Carter swear."

I had to suppress a laugh. I'd be willing to bet, given the proper incentive, Rachel Carter was capable of some language that would surprise him. I lifted my head and saw Rachel standing at the back of the auditorium, turning beet red.

"So I asked her what was the matter," he continued, "and she told me a really remarkable story about the Trickster here. About how he wanted to boost his grades to get into the University of Virginia, and how he needed five A-pluses this semester to do it."

He looked at me and smiled before he turned back. I glanced to my left to see Cammie starting at me, a puzzled expression on her face.

"She was upset, you see," Pete said, "because she'd just seen his report card, and he only got four. One A, and four A-pluses."

Even though I knew it was coming it still caused a little twinge. Well, hell, it had been a good try. I gave Cammie a little half-smile.

"But I think, people, that with just a little persuasion, we can get him what he needs. Don't you?"

Ms. Carter's look had turned from one of embarrassment to one of horror. I found it a little hard to believe myself.

"Let's see, an A-plus in Government, an A-plus in History, an A-plus in the Honors English Seminar, and an A-plus in Astronomy. Mrs. Jenkins, can't we prevail on you to give Mr. Sterling an A-plus in Religion, and send this young man to the school he's dreamed about attending. What do you say, huh? What do you think, boys and girls?"

Mrs. Jenkins was in the center of the group of faculty, sitting next to Mrs. Palmer. She looked miserable. Pete had started rhythmically clapping his hands, and a good number of the students in the gym were joining him. Pretty soon small pockets of them — jocks, mostly — were starting to stand up and clap. I picked out Tanya and Rabbit, sitting next to each other. Rabbit stood up and Tanya yanked him back down by his belt. Uh-oh, their first argument. I couldn't help but smile.

"Excuse me, Mr. Peterson," I stood up and tapped him on his shoulder. "May I speak?"

"Sure, Trick!" he boomed.

I smiled and edged my way between him and the microphone.

"Sit down!" I roared.

The people who were standing quickly sat down.

"And shut up," I said in a more reasonable town of voice.

"You know," I looked around at the trophy I'd left by my chair, "that's a great award. All-state pitcher. I'm very proud of that. I'm gonna take that and put it on my shelf at home. But I have to tell you my teammates helped me, especially Tommy Narburg. In every inning of every game, Tommy told me which pitches to throw, Tommy told me where to throw 'em, and Tommy caught 'em and threw 'em back. The ones that didn't get hit, anyway."

That got the expected laugh.

"So I am proud of that award, even if I didn't do it all myself," I went on. "On the other hand, if I go home next week and get a report card with four A-pluses and one A, I'm gonna be damn proud of that. Because I will have done that all by myself. I worked hard for that A-plus in government and that A-plus in history. I worked damn hard for that A-plus in English."

Mrs. Palmer was beaming at me.

"And I worked my butt off in Astronomy," I said. Although an A-plus, to be honest, seemed a little high. I mean, what did he have left to give Cammie, who was, as she had pointed out, an actual scientist?

I turned around and gave Cammie a little shrug. Then I turned back and saw Mr. Carruthers smiling before I found Mrs. Jenkins again.

"But I messed up that final in Religion, didn't I, ma'am?" I asked. "I should have gone into a little more depth on that last essay, shouldn't I?"

She was nodding, and smiling.

"And I missed one of those short answers, too, didn't I?" I continued. "Daniel's friends, from the book of Daniel."

Mrs. Jenkins nodded again.

I snapped my fingers.

"Meschach," I yelped. "That was it — Shadrac, Meschach, and Abednego. Damn it. What did I put?"

Mrs. Jenkins had buried her head in her hands, her body shaking as if she were sobbing.

"Seriously," I asked, "what did I put?"

Mrs. Palmer tilted her head in and shared a whisper with Mrs. Jenkins. Then Mrs. Palmer leaned back and started laughing, a raucous "ha, ha, ha" that echoed off the walls of the gym.

Shit. Suddenly I could see the answer I had put down as if it were right in front of me.

"I put Rorschach, didn't I?" I asked. I had identified one of the biblical Daniel's friends as the Viennese psychiatrist who had invented the ink-blot test.

I had to admit that it was kind of interesting to see who laughed. About half of the faculty had joined Mrs. Palmer and Mrs. Jenkins. I could see Liz Torianni laughing; Coach Torianni, sitting next to her, looked a little mystified. A few students — Tanya, Rabbit, Sammy, and Tommy among them — started to laugh as well. I heard a thud behind me and turned around. Pete gave me a sort of shrug. I turned the other way, where Cammie Rowe had fallen off her chair and was holding her sides.

"Oh, just get back in your chair," I pointed to it, making her laugh even harder.

I turned back to the audience, which finally quieted down.

"I did a lot of preaching to my teammates this year about respect," I said. "About respect for the game of baseball. Its traditions, its values, and its rules. And I have to tell you, Mrs. Jenkins, that if you change my grade —"

I gave Tanya and Rabbit a little smile before I gestured at the general student body.

" — because those pinheads want you to, or because this pinhead wants you to —"

I jerked a thumb back at Pete.

"— then I'm gonna lose a good deal of the respect I have for this institution, and its traditions, and its values, and its rules. Since I've been here at John Marshall High, I've learned that you can bend some rules."

I smiled at Mrs. Palmer.

"But you can't start breaking them. And one of those rules says that you don't get an A-plus on your final unless you get everything just about perfect. I wasn't just about perfect in your class, Mrs. Jenkins. But I worked hard. I earned that A. Don't you dare take that away from me."

I walked back to my seat, and the applause started again. When I sat down and looked up, I saw that the whole faculty was now standing. Rachel was standing. Well, to be fair, she'd never actually been sitting. But she was applauding wildly, tears streaming down her face. Tanya was standing, and dragging Rabbit to his feet with her. Sammy and some of his band friends — most of his band friends, actually — were standing. I just smiled and waved. It didn't last long; the faculty and the band weren't that big.