The Meaning of Life (part 2)

“That’s what I thought, Jeremy.  Class will begin soon.  Go back to your seat now.”

“Yes, sir.”  I glanced at Matthew, who was looking equally frightened by the incident. He nudged his head slightly, telling me to go back.  I returned to my seat without saying a word.

During the middle of Mr. Salice’s Bible study lesson, the door suddenly opened.  In walked a boy, about my height, with brown hair, which was messed up.  His shirt was hanging out and his backpack was practically dragging on the ground.  In spite of his horrid appearance, he was in fact good-looking, even handsome.  His bangs dangled in front of his eyes, shielding them and making him look mysterious.  Everyone stared and though it was a bit funny, no one dared to laugh; we didn’t want to be put in the Box.  Instead, we just waited for Mr. Salice’s reaction.  He stood up and said, “Mr. Cohen, how nice of you to join us.  Class, this is Sean Cohen.  Please welcome him, everybody.”

We were all puzzled, to say the least.  We had a new student and Mr. Salice didn’t yell at him for being late either.  Wow.  What else was going to happen?

The class looked around and mumbled the “Hi, Sean” Mr. Salice was waiting for.  He let our feeble greeting pass and continued.

“Your seat will be over there, next to Jeremy.”  He pointed in my direction.  I looked around me, a bit surprised, and then to Sean.  He was glaring straight at me, and I had to look away to avoid his eyes.  Sean started to walk towards his desk and passed me without smiling or showing any expression whatsoever.  Meanwhile, Mr. Salice picked up where he left off and continued the lesson.  I couldn’t concentrate on his teaching and decided to gaze at Sean for a bit.  Again, his eyes were already locked on me and I pretended to glance slightly away, towards Matthew, who was writing something down on a notebook.  He finished what he was writing, flipped the pages around, and looked up at Mr. Salice.  I was wondering what he wrote when Mr. Salice suddenly called my name.

“Jeremy, can you tell me which disciple betrayed Jesus?”  I suddenly whipped my head to Mr. Salice’s direction and looked around to everyone uncertainly.  He waited for me patiently as beads of sweat began to form on my face.

“Umm… Paul?”  The words came out quietly but audible enough for Mr. Salice to sigh and hang his head.

“No, Jeremy!  It was Judas!  Weren’t you even listening to me?  Come see me after class, Jeremy. I have some chores for you.”

Normally, I would have accepted it but now I was just angry.

“I’m sorry I wasn’t paying attention, Mr. Salice, but it’s not fair!  Why do I know this anyways?  It’s stupid!  And…”

“That’s enough, Jeremy!  Who do you think you are, raising your voice to me, and especially about the Bible?!  You are going to come after school too and do double the chores!”

“But Mr. Salice…”

“Stop!  I don’t want to hear anymore from you.  I’ll see you after class.  Period.”  I shut my mouth and glared at him, furious at the injustice done.  I slouched down in my seat but quickly sat back up when Mr. Salice looked my way.

To be continued!