I was glad Caryn, my dad, and Megan were taking care of all this because I had no time for it right now. I was proud of what they’d done with Mary and Granny and was sure it would be a success.
◊◊◊
It was a gorgeous day outside, and I really wanted to go see Zoe, as had become my Sunday routine, but I also needed to study. I’d never wanted to sign up for AP classes. Uncle John was right about many things, one of which was that you didn’t need to grow up too fast. Taking AP, or Advanced Placement, classes gave you college equivalency. This meant that I would have college credit towards my graduation.
Something I figured out by reading the college websites was that I was taking way too many AP classes. Students only received credit for two AP classes per subject. That meant that only two of my three AP math classes counted for college credit.
I hadn’t bitched too much, though, because the classes were more of a challenge. My inner nerd got bored if he wasn’t pushed.
Additionally, and more importantly to me, AP classes boosted your class standing. Our grade point average (GPA) was calculated on a 4.0 scale, with each AP course receiving a .22225 bonus added to the grade earned. Currently, I was in third place in our class behind Gina and Alan. I had faith that Alan would do something stupid and knock himself out of the running. I just had to hope that Gina faltered.
That was why I stayed in instead of going horseback riding with Zoe.
◊◊◊ Thursday May 12
Finals had been hard, but I’d been up to the task. With Alan banned from the school computers, Lily had to do more work. She’d sent all the coaches reports on how their charges had done. Once again, the athletes involved in the study program had done better than the previous average. I was heartened to see that over half the school had joined us this semester.
Coach Hope and Moose had identified a couple of junior football and baseball players who were not on track to meet NCAA academic guidelines. With the new system in place, they could nip any problems in the bud, before it was too late. There were also six sophomore boys who were borderline. Cassidy told me that her dad planned to have all the guys who were having academic issues meet with Ms. Jaroslav, our guidance counselor. And they had to bring a parent to the meeting. That didn’t sound like much fun.
I looked up our class ranking, which was on the school’s website. It showed the Top 5, but individual students could log in and see where they ranked. Alan was nowhere in the top five. He must have decided to tank his finals because he was grounded. That was so like him, to think he would punish us all by hurting himself. Gina and I were first and second. The difference was she’d taken more AP classes than I had. Unfortunately, my art classes didn’t have that designation. Zoe and Brook were fourth and fifth on the list, with a girl I didn’t know well in the third slot.
Today was an abbreviated day, where we only spent twenty minutes in each class. We turned our books in and said our goodbyes for the summer. We were let out before lunch; I guess they didn’t want to feed us one more time. Cassidy and I were asked to visit Moose before we left.
“Hey, Moose. You wanted to see us?” I asked as we walked in.
He pointed to two large duffle bags with ‘Lincoln High Baseball’ on the side and ‘Range Sports’ on the end.
“Devin Range sent these for you. I told him what you needed for both Cuba and your trip to baseball camp. However, you need to bring it back to the school in the fall. Devin didn’t want to mess up your eligibility by giving you a gift,” Moose clarified.
I wasn’t sure if it was a problem or not, but I damn well preferred to be cautious. I didn’t want to give the NCAA any excuse to give me a hard time. When I opened the first bag, I found it full of catcher’s gear.
“I think this is yours,” I said as I slid it over to Cassidy.
She pulled out a cup and gave me a dirty look.
“You get hit with a wild pitch, and you’ll be glad you have one,” I said with a straight face.
She just shrugged and put it back in. Mine had everything I would need, from cleats to baseball caps. I even had a first baseman’s glove.
“What’s this for?” I asked Moose.
“Who knows? Better to have it and not need it.”
Of course, Cassidy made me carry everything to the car.
◊◊◊
When we got home, I invited Cassidy and Fritz in for lunch. Everyone else was gone. I was surprised Duke had been left free; he usually was in his crate when we weren’t home. I made us sandwiches and a salad.
Cassidy looked at the food and then at me.
“Don’t you have any chips?” she asked.
“Salad is better for you,” I urged.
“I could go for some chips,” Fritz agreed.
Mom kept them for everyone else, but I tried not to eat them very often. I’d been addicted when I was younger. I walked over to the pantry and came back with a bag. They gave me their salads.
“How are you going to manage both LA and our trip to Cuba?” I asked Fritz.
