TheDifferenceaTeacherCanMake
佚名/Anonymous
Steve,atwelve-year-oldboywithalcoholicparents,wasabouttobelostforever,bytheU.S.educationsystem.Remarkably,hecouldread,yet,inspiteofhisreadingskills,Stevewasfailing.Hehadbeenfailingsincefirstgrade,ashewaspassedonfromgradetograde.Stevewasabigboy,lookingmorelikeateenagerthanatwelve-year-old,yet,Stevewentunnoticed…untilMissWhite.
MissWhitewasasmiling,young,beautifulredhead,andStevewasinlove!Forthefirsttimeinhisyounglife,hecouldn』ttakehiseyesoffhisteacher;yet,stillhefailed.Heneverdidhishomework,andhewasalwaysintroublewithMissWhite.Hisheartwouldbreakunderhersharpwords,andwhenhewaspunishedforfailingtoturninhishomework,hefeltjustmiserable!Still,hedidnotstudy.
Inthemiddleofthefirstsemesterofschool,theentireseventhgradewastestedforbasicskills.Stevehurriedthroughhistests,andcontinuedtodreamofotherthings,asthedayworeon.Hisheartwasnotinschool,butinthewoods,whereheoftenescapedalone,tryingtoshutoutthesights,soundsandsmellsofhisalcoholichome.Noonecheckedonhimtoseeifhewassafe.Nooneknewhewasgone,becausenoonewassoberenoughtocare.Oddly,Stevenevermissedadayofschool.
Oneday,MissWhite』simpatientvoicebrokeintohisdaydreams.
「Steve!」Startled,heturnedtolookather.
「Payattention!」
StevelockedhisgazeonMissWhitewithadolescentadoration,asshebegantogooverthetestresultsfortheseventhgrade.
「Youalldidprettywell,」shetoldtheclass,「exceptforoneboy,anditbreaksmyhearttotellyouthis,but…」Shehesitated,pinningStevetohisseatwithasharpstare,hereyessearchinghisface.
「Thesmartestboyintheseventhgradeisfailingmyclass!」
ShejuststaredatSteve,astheclassspunaroundforagoodlook.Stevedroppedhiseyesandcarefullyexaminedhisfingertips.
Afterthat,itwaswar!Stevestillwouldn』tdohishomework.Evenasthepunishmentsbecamemoresevere,heremainedstubborn.
「Justtryit!ONEWEEK!」Hewasunmoved.
「You』resmartenough!You』llseeachange!」Nothingfazedhim.
「Giveyourselfachance!Don』tgiveuponyourlife!」Nothing.
「Steve!Please!Icareaboutyou!」
Wow!Suddenly,Stevegotit!!Someonecaredabouthim?Someone,totallyunattainableandperfect,CAREDABOUTHIM?!
Stevewenthomefromschool,thoughtful,thatafternoon.Walkingintothehouse,hetookonelookaround.Bothparentswerepassedout,invariousstagesofundress,andthestenchwasoverpowering!He,quickly,gathereduphiscampinggear,ajarofpeanutbutter,aloafofbread,abottleofwater,andthistime…hisschoolbooks.Grimfacedanddetermined,heheadedforthewoods.
ThefollowingMondayhearrivedatschoolontime,andhewaitedforMissWhitetoentertheclassroom.Shewalkedin,allsparklesandsmiles!God,shewasbeautiful!Heyearnedforhersmiletoturnonhim.Itdidnot.
MissWhite,immediately,gaveaquizontheweekendhomework.Stevehurriedthroughthetest,andwasthefirsttohandinhispaper.Withalookofsurprise,MissWhitetookhispaper.Obviouslypuzzled,shebegantolookitover.Stevewalkedbacktohisdesk,hisheartpoundingwithinhischest.Ashesatdown,hecouldn』tresistanotherlookatthelovelywoman.
MissWhite』sfacewasintotalshock!SheglancedupatSteve,thendown,thenup.Suddenly,herfacebrokeintoaradiantsmile.Thesmartestboyintheseventhgradehadjustpassedhisfirsttest!