Leaving Paradise by Simone Elkeles Page A

throw-down.”
    “Whatever, Tristan,” Drew says, “I forgot you know everything.”
    Tristan crosses his arms in front of his chest. “Damn straight.”
    I take a bite of my sandwich while Tristan and Drew are at each other’s throats. It’s just like old times, except Kendra’s not here . . . and my sister refuses to join the land of the living.
    Before that thought leaves my head, the girls minus my sister strut into the cafeteria. Sabrina, Danielle, and Brianne come in first, followed by Kendra and her best friend Hannah.
    “How’d practice go?” Tristan asks Brianne.
    Brianne reaches out and touches his shoulder. “That is so sweet that you care,” she says.
    Drew coughs. “Why don’t you guys do a cheer for us?”
    “Right here in the cafeteria?”
    “Why not?”
    Kendra winks privately at me, then says, “Sure, let’s do it, girls.”
    Kendra stands up front while Brianne, Sabrina, Danielle, and Hannah settle into a pattern behind her. Kendra gets her hands up as if she’s about to clap and says, “Ready?”
    The other girls respond, “O-kay,” then they all start clapping and jumping and chanting:
    Takedown, tilt ’em,
Or go for the pin!
Stay off the bottom,
And get that win!
You gotta ride ’em, roll ’em, get that pin!
Come on Panthers, leeeeettt’s win!
    The girls end their overly energetic cheer on a jump/kick combination.
    Drew stands up and claps. “That was in -credible! Can you do that end part again where you bounce up and down and talk about riding them?”
    “Shut up, Drew,” Kendra says.
    He holds up his hands and shrugs. “What? I was just admiring the cheer.”
    “Please,” Danielle says as she sits down next to Brian and gives Drew a disgusted look. “You were admiring something, all right. Our chests.”
    “That, too,” Drew admits. “I’m a teenage guy with raging hormones, what do you expect? I bet Caleb admired them, too, ’cause he hasn’t seen any in almost a year. Isn’t that right, CB?”
    I should have known it was just a matter of time before my jail time got thrown in my face. Great, now everyone is looking at me, waiting to hear the ex-con’s response. Including Kendra. I stand up and walk out of the cafeteria. I don’t want to deal with this crap right now.
    “I was just kidding, Caleb. Come back here!” Drew yells.
    Every week in the DOC we had rage-intervention classes. They stressed avoiding confrontation, teaching us instead to release anger in other, non-violent ways. Since punching Drew in his mouth that runs like diarrhea isn’t an option, I head to the school workout room.
    I walk right up to the punching bag and whack it until there’s a permanent dent in the side. I don’t even care that my knuckles are bleeding.
    “Caleb, take it easy on that thing.”
    It’s Coach Wenner, standing near the free weights with a cup of coffee in his hand. He’s wearing a golf shirt with Panther Wrestling embroidered on the front.
    I stop punching the bag and stuff my hands in my pockets to hide my bleeding knuckles. “They tell me this is your last year coaching.”
    “Yep. I’ll be teaching drivers’ ed as well as gym classes come next fall.”
    I shake my head in disbelief. “Drivers’ ed?” The guy lives and breathes wrestling.
    “The wife doesn’t want me to be away on the weekends after the baby is born. Above all else, you got to do what you think is best for your family. Right?”
    “I guess.”
    Wenner takes a sip of the drink and leans against the wall. “You know, what happened last year shocked the hell out of me. I would have bet my right arm a kid like you wouldn’t leave the scene of an accident.”
    “Lucky for you, you didn’t make that bet,” I counter.
    “Uh huh,” Wenner says, then adds, “go to the nurse and get those knuckles wrapped,” and casually walks out of the room.

sixteen
    Maggie
    It took Caleb a week to slide right back into his life without a hitch. I left the cafeteria this afternoon when the