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EVE KNOX
Friday, December 22, 1995
8:10 a.m.
Mr. Orso barely looked at Eve when she slunk into class ten minutes late. He handed her a copy of the semester test and went back to sipping his coffee.
Eve stared down at the exam and dread filled her chest. The confrontation between Nick and Mr. Harper kept running through her head. She was mortified that Mr. Harper knew that Nick was abusing her and she couldn’t believe that Nick accused her of having sex with Mr. Harper. How was she going to face either of them?
Nick never meant to hurt her, he just got so mad sometimes. And in the beginning, she had to admit, she liked the way he hovered over her, the way he wrapped an arm around her like he owned her. No one ever loved her in that way.
Tears blurred her vision. She swiped them away with her fingers and tried to focus on the exam.
1. A phrase that uses ambiguity in service of rhetorical humor is which of the following rhetorical devices?
A. Pun
B. Metonymy
C. Synecdoche
D. Zeugma
E. Alliteration
Eve should have known the answer to this. Last week she would have known the answer, but her head was muddled and confused and it didn’t help that Nick was sitting a few rows behind her staring daggers into her back. Eve circled letter B. Metonymy. “Hey,” Eve heard and turned her head. The girl behind her shoved a folded piece of notebook paper at her. Eve looked back at Nick who was staring intently at her. Mr. Orso, oblivious, was bent over a stack of essays. Eve quickly snatched the note and covertly slid it beneath her exam.
She just needed to push Nick, Mr. Harper and her mother and Nola and even Maggie out of her mind. English was her best subject and she didn’t plan on blowing the chance for her one and only A because she had a bad few days.
A sharp poke to the back made Eve sit upright and again she spun around. The girl behind her gave her an exasperated look and held out another piece of paper. Eve wanted to ignore the offering but she knew Nick too well. He’d keep writing and passing notes until she was buried in them. She took the note and slid it beneath her test paper along with the first.
Eve looked at the clock. She had fifteen minutes before the bell rang and she was still on page one of the test. No matter how fast she wrote, she’d never finish in time. She shifted her paper and opened the first note. I’m sorry, it said and was signed with a sad face. Nick was always sorry, Eve thought as she unfolded the second note. Why are you being such a bitch? Eve abruptly stood, causing her desk to teeter precariously then right itself. The scratch of pens on paper stopped and all eyes were on her. Mr. Orso looked up with irritation. When he saw her face it was replaced with concern.
“Eve,” he said, “are you okay?”
Eve shook her head. “I don’t feel well,” she said, her voice croaking as if she had a sore throat.
Mr. Orso scribbled out a nurse’s pass for her and leaving the test and the notes from Nick behind, Eve grabbed the pass and hurried from the room. Nick would be pissed that she didn’t take the notes with her though Eve figured he would finagle a way to get to them before Mr. Orso found them.
From the classroom, she heard the scrape of a chair and heavy footsteps. “Sit down, Nick,” came Mr. Orso’s booming voice. “You can see your girlfriend later.”
In the empty corridor, she reviewed her options. She could go to the nurse’s office and feign illness though she really didn’t feel great. Her head pounded from lack of sleep and her heart hammered with worry. The nurse’s office was the first place Nick would look for her. She could go hide out in the girls’ bathroom for a while but Nick would look for her there too.
Eve approached the art room and paused in the doorway. The room was filled with several tables that sat six students each. The concrete block walls were covered in students’ artwork. There were self-portraits done in the style of Picasso and brightly colored tessellations and Neo-pop realistic pen and ink drawings. On the cluttered shelves were ceramic Faberge eggs and papier-mâché sculptures.
The room looked empty and Eve decided she could hide out here until the bell rang and then head to her next class. Nick would probably come looking for her there too.
“Eve?” A soft voice came from behind. “Are you looking for me?”
Eve turned around to find Miss Cress looking at her expectantly. Eve had taken an art class as a freshman and was hopelessly inept at drawing a straight line or any line for that matter, but it didn’t matter. Eve loved the class or rather loved Miss Cress.
“Come on in,” Miss Cress said to Eve. “You can help me set up for class.” This was another thing about Miss Cress. She seemed to know what you needed even if you didn’t. Eve followed her into the classroom. Jazz was playing in the background and the smell of paint and clay and dried flowers filled her nose.
“How about passing these out for me?” Miss Cress handed Eve a stack of heavy paper and Eve began to place one at each seat. “What brings you to my neck of the woods?” Miss Cress asked as she followed behind Eve with a box filled with jars of ink and narrow wooden skewer sticks.
Eve shrugged. What was she supposed to say? That her boyfriend could be scary? That her mother slapped her and her sister was exhausting? That she thought her neighbor was hitting on her? That her best friend was mad at her and might be involved with an older man? No way.
Eve finished passing out the papers and Miss Cress pointed to a table where jars filled with water sat. Eve picked up two jars at a time and began placing them in the center of the other tables. “Have any fun holiday plans?” Miss Cress asked.
