Fall from Grace by Charles Benoit Page A

difference does it make? I’m already accepted.”
    â€œIt’s not about the grades, son, it’s about effort. You should always give it your best.”
    Sawyer held up the evidence, a paper covered with numbers and half-finished equations.
    â€œThis is different and you know it,” his father said, that parental tone creeping into his voice.
    For a second Sawyer thought about arguing the point, telling him why it wasn’t different, why it was the kind of thing they’d always said he should do, quoting a few of his father’s favorite lines about commitment and hard work. But that wasn’t the fight to take on at midnight, ten hours before the test. So instead he said, “I’m gonna pass.”
    His father didn’t laugh, but he came close.
    â€œSeriously. I feel really, I don’t know, confident.”Sawyer did feel something, and maybe it was confidence. But he doubted it.
    â€œThat’s nice, son. But do you really think squeaking by on one test is going to make a difference?”
    â€œI was planning to do better than squeaking by.”
    â€œWhat, a C? That’s not going to change your overall grade enough to matter.”
    â€œNo, better than a C.”
    â€œSo a C-plus? B-minus, maybe? That’s still not enough.”
    His father was right and Sawyer knew it. The extra points would barely budge his average. As for getting a B-minus, he’d be lucky to get a D.
    Sawyer knew all this, and he still said, “I’m gonna ace the test.”
    His father took in a slow, deep breath. “Look, son, the best grade you got so far this year was a C, and the rest of the time you’ve been bouncing around, what, a fifty-percent average? It’s not that I don’t want you to do well, you know that. I just don’t want to see you spending time in your senior year worrying about a class you don’t need to take. Now, do I want to see you get an A? Yes. I’d love it. But is it realistic? You might do okay, but come on,we both know you’re not going to get an A on that test.”
    Sawyer smiled. Go big or go home. “Wanna bet?”
    â€œGeez, son, I just got finished explaining—”
    â€œIf I get an A on the test, you leave me alone about the class for the rest of the year,” Sawyer said, his voice different now too, relaxed and confident.
    â€œNow you’re being childish.”
    â€œIf I don’t get an A, I’ll drop the class.”
    His father smiled at that. “Is that it? Is that the bet?”
    â€œYeah,” Sawyer said. “And just so you know, if I ace the test, I’m going to apply to other schools.”
    â€œWhat’s wrong with Wembly?”
    â€œNothing’s wrong with it. I want to try other schools, that’s all. See what happens.”
    â€œYou’re setting yourself up to be embarrassed, you realize that, right?”
    â€œMaybe.”
    â€œOkay,” his father said, chuckling as he said it. “If that’s the way you want to play it. I’ll take your bet. Just so we’re clear, anything less than an A, and we’re done discussing precalculus. And if, by chance, you get an A, I’ll support your decision to at least apply to other schools.”
    â€œWhat about the application fees?”
    â€œFine, fine,” his father said, and now he was laughing. “Fees, too. But I don’t want to hear any whining about it later if things don’t go your way.”
    â€œNo. It’s cool.”
    â€œAll right, then.” His father reached out his hand and Sawyer shook it, firm but not too strong, the way his father had taught him to shake, a sucker bet still a bet.
    â€œEnough cramming for one night. If you don’t know it by now, you’ll never get it.” His father left, pulling the door shut behind him.
    Ten minutes later, as he lay in bed, Sawyer sent a text message.

CHAPTER
19
    â€œOKAY, YOU KNOW the drill.