Part 1

“Addison, stop playing with the window!” Eliana said, rolling her eyes at the boy in the passenger seat.
“I’m just trying to measure the span from the vertices to the focal point of the glass,” Addison replied, ignoring the command.
“You can’t have vertices on a window pane, Add, it has to be a cube for that.” Eliana reached down into her purse and pulled out a cell phone. It was decorated with Strawberry Shortcake stickers and glittery rhinestones. “Give Hayden a call and tell him we’re going to be a bit late,” she said.
“But we’re only approximately 7.9 miles from the school,” Addison protested. “I would estimate that we’ll be there in another 10 minutes, given the speed limit on this road.”
“Which shows you know nothing about driving. Would you just do it? We have to stop at the Billabong to get something.”
“Can’t you do it later? The game starts in fifteen minutes!”
“Nope,” Eliana said, pulling into the shopping center. Addison dialed his brother’s number, mumbling something Eliana couldn’t hear.
“Hayden? Is that you?” he asked, his eyebrow lifted quizzically. “What’s going on? Sounds like a party. Oh, got it. Ok, we’re going to be a couple minutes late. Mkay, bye.”
Eliana and Addison arrived at the school just as the game began. They made their way through the crowd of high schoolers and over-enthusiastic parents to seats high in the bleachers. Addison disappeared after begging a dollar off of Eliana, insisting that he was dying of thirst. Eliana sat down hard on the metal bench, squinting to find Hayden among the basketball players.
Addison returned with an extra large root beer and three gigantic chocolate chip cookies.
“Where’s Hayd?” he asked, reluctantly handing Eliana a cookie.
“He’s sitting with the players over there,” Eliana replied. “See, the one with the Gatorade.”
“I thought we’d be late for sure, what with your stop at the Billabong,” Addison commented. “What’d you get there anyways?”
“A gift for Hayden,” Eliana returned. “It’s the championship game and all, so I thought I’d get him a little something,”
“But what if he looses?”
Eliana shrugged. “Who cares? He worked hard all year to get to this game, so I think he deserves something special.”
“I guess so,” Addison said, “but I hope it’s not another one of those graphing calculators. You know he stinks at math, and a calculator… oh boy, here they come.” Addison rolled his eyes and tried to slide under his bench. Eliana looked down the row and saw Colleen and Georgiana Thorndike coming towards them.
“Sit up, Add, and don’t be rude,” she said, pulling Addison up by the arm.
“Why don’t you try telling that to them?” he asked, sitting down with a sulky expression.
“Hey girlfriend!” Georgiana called, sitting her large self down next to Eliana. Colleen took a seat on the other side, next to Addison.
“Hi Georgiana,” Eliana said, trying to look pleasant.
“Oh please, call me Georgie,” the fat girl said, flinging the end of her purple and orange scarf around in a circle.
“You’re Addison, right?” Colleen asked, and the boy nodded with a grimace.
Colleen smiled widely, displaying two big front teeth. “Isn’t he just absolutely adorable, Georgie, dear? I would just love to have a little brother just like him.”
“So how come you’re here at the game?” Addison asked, trying to change the subject. Fourteen year old boys rarely like to be called “adorable”, especially by a bunch of his older brother’s friends.
“We came to see Hayden, of course!” Georgiana gave a fake laugh. “He’s the best on the team, and everyone says that if they win, it will be because of him. Everyone’s here to see Hayden.”
“I wouldn’t say everyone,” Eliana said.
“Well that’s why you’re here, isn’t it?” Colleen asked, as if that made her point.
Eliana looked confused.
“Well, we have to go, don’t we Georgie?” Colleen said, standing up and nudging her sister. “It was great talking to you! Come over and see us some time!” And with that, the two girls waddled off down the row, tripping over people and stepping on feet.
Addison relaxed visibly, letting out a sigh of relief. “I thought Colleen Thorndike was going to smother me with all that fake friendliness!”
“Sh, Add, someone will hear you,” Eliana answered, distractedly. The game had finally begun.
“Don’t particularly care if they do,” Addison retorted airily. His condescension was lost on Eliana, who had stopped listening and was concentrating on the game. A moment later, she turned to give Addison a Cheshire cat grin.
“Look who’s coming, Add. One of your friends, I believe?” Addison peered around her and saw Mrs. Cornwallis, their history teacher. He was a favorite with her, due to his good grades in that subject.
“Well hello there,” Mrs. Cornwallis said, smiling at Addison and Eliana. “Mind if I join you?” Mrs. Cornwallis sat down between the two, settling her large handbag at her feet. She was wearing a tan skirt and jacket, and probably the only person in the auditorium wearing high-heels.
“How are you, Mrs. Cornwallis?” Addison asked.
“I’m very glad to see you two!” she declared emphatically. “You’re just the two to tell me what you think of my new project. I brought it with me!” Smiling excitedly, Mrs. Cornwallis hefted her bag onto her lap. Her blonde bun bounced on her head every time she turned to one of them.
“Eliana, dear, hold this please. Oh, not that way, dear, right side up. There we are.” She adjusted the bust of Teddy Roosevelt Eliana was holding. “Now, Addison, dear, you take a look at these hand outs. Wonderful aren’t they? Now my idea is to…” Eliana turned back to the game, the bust sitting in her lap. Addison was doing his best to look attentive, but discussing history at a basketball game was not high on his list of priorities at the moment. Mrs. Cornwallis explained how the students would model their own statues of Roosevelt while she read to them from a history book.
“Actually, you should talk to Eliana about the modeling deal. Her dad is an artist, you know,” Addison interjected, eagerly seizing the opportunity.
“Is he?” Mrs. Cornwallis asked, turning to Eliana.
“I’m sorry, what Mrs. Cornwallis?” Eliana asked, confused.
“Your father, dear. An artist?”
“Oh, yes.”
“How perfectly marvelous! He can help us with the sculpting!” Mrs. Cornwallis beamed at her students.
“Well, he is more of a painter, as a matter of fact,” Eliana said, glancing back at the court as the crowd cheered. Another basket. Come on, she thought.
“Not to worry, dear. I’ll have it all taken care of! Thanks for the help, Addison, dear. I’ll see you in class,” Mrs. Cornwallis smiled again, then picked up her bag and hurried on her way. It was another five minutes before Addison remarked,
“If you’re interested in giving that thing back to Mrs. Cornwallis, I’d suggest doing it before she leaves.”
“What? Addison, did you say something?” Eliana asked.
“Yeah. You’re still holding Teddy Roosevelt.”
“Oh my goodness! I’d better go find Mrs. Cornwallis,” Eliana said, picking up the bust. “I’ll be right back.”
It took her a few moments to locate the enthusiastic history teacher, who was on the other side of the room.

To be continued...