From the Viewpoint of Mike Dotson

Well, Mrs. Bronson, I don’t pretend to know about all of this stuff. My head is full of sports trivia. For example, did you know that Michael Morgan of the Sox went to this school The only reason that I was able to get a passing grade in this class is because I was allowed to color a picture of a banana for extra credit. I thank God that a D- is still considered passing. But a guess that all I need to do is tell you what I saw.

I was late for class. But it was excused since I had a note from Coach Bull. As I was walking into the classroom, Johnny was walking out. I could tell that there was some friction between him and Mr. Gates. There’s friction between those 2 every day. I don’t know what he did, but Mr. Gates was heated.

The first part of the assignment was simply to boil some water. That was easy. An idiot can boil water. Although my aunt was able to burn water once. Don’t know how she did it. I was always told that water can’t burn. But I also thought that metal don’t burn. As it turns out, metal is in all fireworks. So, I guess that anything can burn.

The next step was to collect the boiled water, let it cool, and then electrify it with a solar panel. All my life, I was told that water and electricity don’t mix. That’s why you’re not supposed to have a radio or anything like that near a bathtub. My parents told me that.

As it turns out, that is how helium is made. Or one of those gases. I was wasn’t paying too much attention. I was paying attention to Betty Knight. I like the quiet type. On top of that, she’s cute. Have you seen her?

Betty was too deep into what Mr. Gates was saying. Even when I flexed my muscles, she didn’t even look my way. She might be cute, but she’s also one of those brainiacs. I wouldn’t have anything to say to her. So, I turned my attention to Sandy Lee. I know that she’s Johnny’s girl. So, what! Johnny was there at the time. I did get a smile from her, but just as I was about to really make my move, Johnny returned.

Right away, the friction came back. You could cut it with a knife. Mr. Gates told Johnny to open the window. I thought that he was going to push him out. As soon as he opened the window, all the papers were blown around. Gates told Johnny to clean it up, but he refused. Johnny looked at me like he wanted to kill me. I think someone told him that I was flirting with his girl. All I did was flex and the looks stopped. The girl was still smiling. I got it like that. I can get any girl. I could get you if I wanted to. Don’t worry, I don’t. Old is not my type.

When class ended, I stayed behind to get more extra credit work. It was an apple this time. Johnny and Sandy stayed behind also. I thought he was going to confront me, but he didn’t. I walked out of the room with the others behind me. Soon after there was a loud bang. The rest is history.