Unforgettable by Loretta Ellsworth Read Free Book Online Page A

of breath, and sweat drips down my face from running up two flights of stairs, I decide that today is a good day. I wipe my forehead on my shirt sleeve.
    Halle leans over and whispers, “It’s not that hot out. Besides, I’d think you’d be used to the heat after living in California.”
    â€œRunning. I overslept,” I whisper between pants. That isn’t technically a lie. I did oversleep. I was running.
    â€œYou weren’t here yesterday,” I add after I’ve caught my breath.
    Her slim eyebrows shoot up. “Surprised you noticed. I switched from sixth period.”
    Mrs. Ball is calling for yesterday’s homework. Halle passes hers up to the guy in front of her.
    Crap. My backpack is on the bathroom floor three stories down. I’m not about to go back and get it. I think of the books and notebooks, the new pens and pencils, the calculator Mom bought me with an extended warranty. Will any of it still be there later?
    I raise my hand. “I don’t have my homework with me.”
    Mrs. Ball clicks her tongue. “You lose five points each day it’s late.” Double crap.
    The rest of the class copy notes from the board. Halle hands me paper and a pencil.
    â€œThanks.”
    She nods like it’s no big deal. She probably thinks I’m a slacker. First I need a tutor. Now I don’t even have the basic supplies and my assignment is late.
    It’s hard to pay attention to Mrs. Ball the rest of the period with Halle sitting next to me. I steal glances at the pink stitching that runs down the sides of her jeans, the way a piece of hair sticks out of her brown barrette, and the way she squints when she’s looking at the board. I pretend to take notes but watch her instead. Her handwriting is big and loopy and she makes little circles above her i’s instead of dots.
    After class, I duck and move in front of two other guys so I can walk out the door at the same time as her. Then I turn with her down the hallway, even though it’s the opposite direction of my next class.
    â€œDon’t you hate Mrs. Ball?” Halle asks, as though it’s perfectly natural for me to be there.
    â€œUh, I don’t really know her.”
    â€œConsider yourself lucky. I’ve been badgering her for an Environmental Science class for two years, even when I was in junior high. She says it doesn’t fit into the curriculum. How crazy is that? We live in a town run by the taconite industry, our families are dying of mesothelioma, and our school doesn’t care about environmental issues.”
    â€œYeah, crazy,” I agree. “At least your science books are newer. They were published in 1998.”
    She stops. “How do you know that? You don’t even have yours with you.”
    I shouldn’t have opened the book at all. Shouldn’t have read a word of it. Then all this junk wouldn’t be stuck in my head. I let out a nervous laugh. “I looked at it yesterday. Wanted to compare it to our books back in California.”
    â€œOh. How do we compare?”
    â€œYour books are newer.”
    â€œWell, there’s that, I guess. But she still stinks as a teacher. Honestly, I could miss a whole year and just read the book and be ahead.”
    Funny, that’s pretty much what I did for three years.
    â€œWhat’s mesothelioma?” I ask.
    â€œIt’s a cancer caused by asbestos. My grandpa died of it last year. Lots of the mine workers here get it. It’s found in taconite tailings, a waste product from extracting iron ore.”
    She stops in front of a classroom and lets out a small breath. “Thanks for listening to me rant. I’m done now. Promise. At least until next Science class. See you during homeroom.”
    I watch her disappear into the room and then I continue to stand at the door until the bell rings. That’s how hopelessly, utterly mesmerized I am by her.
    My next two classes are a blur. I