Story Excerpt

Hacking Monckton Prior Part 3, by Jezebel Rose

Saturday Night – Sara

Joe stared down at the exam paper in front of him. His right hand was lifting to scratch his fingers through his brown hair. He sighed as he looked at the questions on the exam. History was never his strongest subject. He had left most of those for last on his A level. Tapping his pencil on the desk, his eyes looked up at the clock on the wall. It was almost time for the class to end, and his summer vacation could start.

Glancing to his right, he could see that Nate Bowland, his long-time friend, was scribbling down answers as quickly as he could. Joe was unsure if he was fudging his answers, or he knew the subject matter. Joe felt that he knew enough of the answers to at least pass the class. His number two pencil tapped on the paper while he racked his brain for anything that could be an answer for the last few questions.

With so little time left, he scribbled out what he thought the answers might be just as the school bell rang out.

“Alright, class, that is time. Please put your pencils down and hand in your papers to me at my desk. If I see any more writing after this, you will receive a zero on the exam.” The A level exam had been assigned to their history teacher to monitor. The regular history teacher had left early on vacation. Mister Wells was another history teacher that had stepped in to fill the role. The substitute teacher was a rough-looking man with a chubby fat face, and his long brown hair drifted down to his chin. He had a beard and mustache as well. Why did so many history teachers have beards? Did it feel it gave them some legitimacy or made them look more authoritative?

The crowd of students rose from their chairs, making their way to the front of the class. Joe stood up from his desk as he glanced over at Nate. His friend gave him a gentle nudge to his shoulder.

“How do you think you did on the exam? I think I got a majority of the answers. There were a few that I was uncertain about.” Nate had slung his book bag over his shoulder as they approached the front of the room.

“Eh, I don’t think I did so hot on it. I believe I got enough to pass, which is all that matters.” He reached the teacher’s desk and put his paper down onto the growing stack of exams.

Nate set his paper down onto the stack as well as he walked out into the hallway with his friend. “As long as you pass, that is what counts, right?”

Joe laughed as he walked next to Nate down the hallway of the school. He had already gotten everything from his locker during the previous period, so there was no need to stop. The two of them walked out the front doors for the school.

“Today is the start of our summer vacations before we have to go off to university man. There is a whole new world to explore out there. Plenty of time to get lucky with the women, right?” Nate pushed his hand against Joe’s shoulder to give him a slight push.

Joe’s shoulder moved forward as he stumbled briefly. He gave a bit of a laugh at the idea of getting lucky. “You know that I have not had good luck with women. Ever since Dad died, I’ve been having a rough time coping with things. I don’t feel confident enough to talk to women.”

In a supportive gesture, Nate put his arm around Joe to hug him. His hand rested on the opposite shoulder before he gave a reassuring pat. “Cheer up! You’ve got the whole summer ahead of you. If I can get a girlfriend, so can you.”

Turning to look at Nate, Joe raised his eyebrow. “Oh, that is right. You did get a girlfriend. What was her name again?”

Nate smiled. “Helen is her name, but that is not important right now. What is important is that we have a birthday to celebrate!”

Joe had thought that Nate had forgotten today was his birthday. He smiled at his friend. “And here I thought you didn’t remember. Sure, let’s go celebrate.”

The two of them walked a short distance from the school to find a local restaurant where they could enjoy some fish and chips. Joe sat across from Nate in the booth, and they talked about their upcoming plans for the fall.

“Do you know what universities you are applying to yet? I’ve started to make a list. Thought it would be cool if we both got into the same university.” Joe took one of the chips to dip it in the sauce before biting the end off of it.

Nate shrugged his shoulders. “Not made up my mind with one hundred percent certainty yet. I figure I have some time before I start submitting applications.”

Nate reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out a small party hat. He placed the cone hat onto Joe’s head before pulling out a party whistle to blow it. The purple and pink paper unraveled as Nate blew on it and the device emitted a honking whistle noise.

Please purchase this story and support me as an author! Thank you! ~ Jezebel Rose

Scroll up and buy Hacking Monckton Prior Part 3 here on my author’s website now!

Buy on my distribution retailer’s site here!