Unstoppable by Tim Green Read Free Book Online

didn’t know what to say about that. It was hard to think of Coach as his father because the word had come to mean something Harrison didn’t necessarily appreciate, and he already really liked Coach.
    After Mr. Sofia realized Harrison had no reply, he pointed to a door down the hall. “There’s your math class, Mrs. Zebolt, 209. If you have any problems or questions, you can stop by anytime.”
    â€œThank you, Mr. Sofia.”
    The guidance counselor smiled a big, bright smile and said, “Kids call me ‘S.’ Just ‘S.’”
    Harrison nodded and crossed the hall to 209. He opened the door and stepped inside. All eyes were on him.
    â€œYou’re late, young man.” The teacher had little round glasses and the curly brown hair of a poodle. “That’s no way to start your career with me .”
    Harrison said nothing. One empty desk remained in the front row. He sat down at it, but not before he saw Becky Smart sitting in the back. That only made Harrison’s face glow, and he hunched over in the front seat, aware that he blocked the view of the person behind him.
    â€œYour name?”
    It took Harrison a moment before he realized the teacher was talking to him.
    â€œHarrison.”
    â€œHarrison what?” she asked.
    â€œHarrison Johnson, ma’am.”
    â€œManners?” Mrs. Zebolt sniffed. “I know all about your past, Harrison.”
    Harrison nodded and felt his cheeks warm.
    Mrs. Zebolt turned back to the whiteboard, attacking it with her marker in little squeaky bursts.
    Harrison felt a pencil eraser poke him in the back. The boy behind him whispered, “Hey, you big, dumb retard. How many grades did you fail?”
    Harrison shifted in his seat, ignoring the kid. He felt the anger building up inside him, but he remembered Coach’s words only a few minutes ago. It almost seemed like Coach had set him up, to test him. That’s what Harrison thought, and he was determined to pass the test.
    After a few minutes, he felt another poke. “What are you, a retarded zombie? What’s with that bloody eye, you retard?”
    Harrison heard the boy next to him and the girl behind him snicker together under their breath and glance his way.
    Harrison saw red. He had a vision of himself turning around and punching the boy directly in the mouth, breaking his teeth, and then throwing him to the ground for a good stomping. He actually could see it happening in his mind, but he brought Coach’s words back to life in his head. He had to hold back.
    But when the next poke came, Harrison couldn’t help himself.
    He had to do something, and he spun around.

Chapter Fifteen
    INSTEAD OF FREEING THE punch that had coiled itself up inside his arm like a rattlesnake, Harrison snatched the boy’s pencil and snapped it like a matchstick in one hand. He laid the broken pieces on the desk, ignoring the look of shock on the boy’s face, and turned back toward the front.
    Mrs. Zebolt’s marker squeaked out the final line to her problem and only then did she turn to face the class. “Who can tell me how to solve this?”
    Silence greeted her. She scowled and headed for Harrison, holding out the marker. “Well, Mr. Johnson , in case you’re not the type to do your homework, it’ll be good for you to know that if no one volunteers, I choose a person to do the problem. And, if they can’t , it’s an F that gets added into their test scores for the marking period.”
    Mrs. Zebolt was two steps from Harrison. The anger burning in him from being poked and teased was already simmering beneath his skin, and now this mean teacher was going to give him an F when he’d done nothing wrong?
    The teacher took another step, then someone said, “I know the answer, Mrs. Zebolt.”
    All eyes turned toward Becky Smart. She was already up and out of her seat. She whisked past Mrs. Zebolt and stood facing the board. She