As the temperature got colder and the air less humid, the leaves on the trees started to change from dark green to a rosy red. The acorns fell and the squirrels collected them in hopes of surviving through the winter. Summer was over and a new school year was about to commence. The tension in the Montiero household was rising as John and his sister Cathy were getting ready for school.
Both Cathy and John were very nervous about returning to school. Cathy was worried about her grades. Last year she got straight D's, which didn't make her parents to happy. They didn't care that she tried her hardest, because to them effort doesn't matter, it's only the end result that counts. The only thing that she was looking forward to this year was hanging out with all of her friends.
John on the other hand had good grades. Mostly A's and B's with a C or two thrown in a long the way. He never tried very hard, the material just came easy to him. So it wasn't his grades that worried him, it was his social life. Last year he had constantly been made fun of by both his few friends and total strangers. He was ridiculed for the way he dressed and talked, but mostly because of his outrageous political statements. He would always be found listening to Rush Limbaugh during his free periods, yelling about the topic of the day. He was a ridiculous human being, that gave no lee-way to the rules. If you didn't follow them to a T, then you deserved to be punished.
This is where the rivalry between John and Cathy comes from. John is jealous that Cathy has so many friends, and Cathy is jealous of John because he gets good grades so easily. Before school got started, John and Cathy each had a serious conversation with themselves. John told himself that he was going to get into the "social" scene, and Cathy told herself that she was going to get good grades and show her parents up.
On the way to the first day of class" Mr.
