Josefer Martin - A Day in the Life - Chapter 1

"Josefer to the office please," said the shrill voice over the classroom speaker.

Not again, I thought, as I began to quickly clean up my desk. I glanced up at Mr. Fornby, he looked mad. He was just in the middle of a lecture on using integrals to find the instantaneous velocity of the planets. This was the third time this week that I'd been called down to the office, and the second time during his Physics period.

"Is there a problem Mr. Martin?" he asked, trying to guild trip me into staying until the end of the period. He tried this last time, and the time before that, a month ago, and before that too. It never worked, but I guess what little ego he had as a high school teacher demanded that he at least try.

"I hope not, but you know the drill," I hastily explained as I hefted my backpack onto my left shoulder and began to walk to the front.

"It's a good thing you're acing all of your tests, Mr. Martin, or I'd have to have a talk with the principal about this," Mr. Fornby countered. He knew it was a lost cause. Ms. Studney, the principal, had explained to the teachers at the beginning of the year what was what, but they still didn't like their classes being interrupted.

"Hey, well, see you tomorrow, there's a test, right?" I asked as he reached the door to his classroom, turning to at least give him that courtesy.

"Yeah, tomorrow," he admitted with defeat. It's not like he could have won. Ms. Studney had to answer to the school board, and then the county after that. There's no way she'd let me, or Mr. Fornby, off the hook if I stayed. No, this was the way it had to be, and that way it had been since 7th grade.

I thought back on that last six years as I rushed down the hall, towards the office. I tried not to go too fast, but just fast enough to make up for lost time.

I had missed ten hours of school in 7th grade, including one day where it was four hours plus two hours after school. That was the first year I ever got straight A's. Eighth grade wasn't much different, that by then I was up to twenty hours a semester, and I missed the Junior High Spring Formal, not that my date was there either.

As I turned the corner from the Science hall to the Main hall, I thought back to my first year here, twenty-five hours a semester, and I even missed one full day. I also missed almost every single prep rally, so it's not exactly a big loss. Sophomore year was more of the same, except for an errant French teacher who decided that she'd penalize me for all my missed time. Last I heard she was working as a private tutor in Tokyo, harsh, but she broke the rules.

Last year, my Junior year, I missed fifty-three hours of school over both semesters. I even missed my junior prom. That sucked, but, such is life. Luckily, my girlfriend had understood since we got together in the summer before seventh grade, we'd been going steady ever since.

I finally made it to the office, and saw that Mr. Fornby had delayed me enough to make it here last. Already waiting with Ms. Studney was Jessica, my girlfriend, James, a large African-American who was a year behind me, could have player for the varsity football team, if he hadn't have missed the first game last year. Lastly, there was Melissa, James' girlfriend. They'd been steady since seventh grade as well.

"Good, now that Mr. Martin's here, we can get this over with," sneered Ms. Studney. He opened her office door, and followed us in. We sat down in the four seats in front of her desk as she walked around to face us.

"Now, to why I called you all here," she began, pressing a small button hidden under the edge of his desk. As she explained the situation, the room quickly descended three stories.

She finished just after the room stopped, adding a , "Good Luck," as we made our way out her office door. The room beyond looked like a locker room, and in a way it was, but it only had eight lockers, and there wasn't separate rooms for the girls and the guys. As Melissa and Jessica began to take off their clothes, I nodded my head at James.

Sometimes, being a teenage super hero has it perks.