called out with a wave. Kelsey waved back.
“Zach, Tyler, this is Kelsey,” Ryan said, introducing them as Tyler retrieved his laptop from his backpack.
“Hi,” Zach said, and Kelsey gave him a smile. Tyler glanced at her and put his laptop on the long table in front of them.
Kelsey sighed inwardly. It was going to be a long year.
The students were seated, per the seating chart, by 10:29. Promptly at 10:30, Professor Wadsworth walked in. He said a couple of sentences to Miss Tanner, who nodded and walked off, handing him the seating chart.
“Hello, everyone,” Professor Wadsworth said, without preamble. “I’m sure that Miss Tanner has informed you that when you are in my class, you are to sit in your assigned seats. I call on students in alphabetical order, so I highly suggest that you be prepared to answer questions about the readings when it’s your turn. Miss Andrews, I will be calling on you on Wednesday, so you may have a couple of long evenings ahead of you.“
Kelsey breathed out gently. There was a benefit to having the name North, even if she had to sit next to the standoffish Mr. Olsen.
“As you know, this class is called Torts. Contrary to popular opinion, you will not be learning to bake cakes in this class.” There were a few laughs in the room. “Torts is….”
As Professor Wadsworth continued, Kelsey smiled a small smile. She finally understood something here at Darrow. Thank goodness not everyone was as confusing as Professor Dudley.
She glanced at Tyler, who was typing notes into his sleek laptop. She looked away and turned her attention back to Professor Wadsworth.
“Are there any questions?” Professor Wadsworth asked a while later. Unlike in the previous class, there was no nervous laughter.
A girl in the front asked if there would be an exam at the end of the semester.
“No,” Professor Wadsworth replied. “Your exam will be at the end of the second semester, the end of Winter term. You should have a copy of the exam schedule.”
“We didn’t get that,” the girl in the front said. Kelsey didn’t remember seeing one either.
“Must be an oversight,” Professor Wadsworth said, taking a pen out of his brown sweater-jacket and writing a note on the seating chart. Kelsey belatedly realized that Professor Wadsworth had spoken about torts for almost the entire hour, without notes. “I’ll see to it that it’s provided to you tomorrow…” He glanced at the chart, “Miss Carlson.”
“Thank you, Professor,” Miss Carlson replied.
“Any more questions? No? All right, then you’re free to go. It’s been my experience that I usually call on three to four students per class period. So I suggest that you are ready when it’s your turn. Also, don’t decide that you need to take a sick day when your day arrives. Be here, on time, and prepared to discuss the reading. Have a nice lunch, everyone.” Professor Wadsworth picked up the seating chart and left the room.
Kelsey finished typing her notes, as the boys to her right stood.
“Bye, Kelsey,” Ryan said.
“Bye,” Kelsey replied, glancing up. But the Boys had left.
“He’s awesome!” Kelsey heard a voice say. She looked up again. Ashley had appeared at her side. Ashley was wearing a red dress, which looked surprisingly professional. Kelsey had become used to Ashley’s cute style.
“It was nice to understand someone. Finally,” Kelsey added, closing her laptop.
On Tuesday, Kelsey got out of bed at 6 a.m. as quietly as she could and got into her new workout outfit. As she picked up her keys, Jessica turned over.
“Is it time for class?” Jessica asked.
“No, I’m going to work out. Go back to sleep,” Kelsey said softly. After one week at Darrow, Kelsey had realized that the only way to deal with her mounting stress was to start running again. And the only available time to do it was first thing in the morning.
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