The Education of Hailey Kendrick - Eileen Cook [36]
This was a great entry into what I wanted to talk about. I’d even stopped by the computer lab in our dorm to print out a few information sheets I’d found the night before. “It’s interesting you bring up the idea of reaching for more.” I motioned for Drew to sit down on the bench. “I hope you don’t think I’m sticking my nose in where it doesn’t belong.”
“I find that people who start a conversation like that are just about to stick their nose in the wrong place. It’s the same with people who say, ‘I don’t want to offend you, but . . .’”
I handed Drew the sheets of paper from my jacket pocket. He flipped through them and then looked over at me. “What’s this?”
“You’re really young, right? You’re not that much older than me.”
“I’m nineteen.”
“There you go, nineteen. That’s not too old.”
“Too old for what?”
“You seem like you work really well with your hands and you’re smart. There are a bunch of local programs where you could train to be an electrician or in another skilled trade.”
Drew chuckled. “Wow. Is this your good deed for the day?”
“I’m not being rude. I’m actually trying to help. You act like everyone who has money thinks they’re better than everyone else, and what I’m saying is that I think you can do better than what you’re doing. I meant it as a compliment.” It hadn’t occurred to me that it would offend him. Wow. It seemed I could even screw up being nice to people.
“Well, then, I’ll take it in the spirit you intended.” Drew heaved himself off the bench and plugged in the floor polisher. “Since we’re passing around advice, do you mind if I give you some?”
I could tell I wasn’t going to like anything he said, but I couldn’t very well refuse. “Are you going to tell me to keep my nose out of things?”
“Nope. One of the problems in the world is that people aren’t willing to stick their noses in more often. We all ought to look out for each other better. My advice is for you to loosen up a little. For someone who has the whole world on a silver platter, you’re wound way too tight.”
“I don’t have the world on a platter.”
“Fine. For someone who has the world on a salad plate, you’re wound way too tight. You should step out of the box more often. See what the world has to offer.”
“I stepped out of the box the night I broke the statue, and look where that got me.”
“Exactly! You had a chance to get to know me as a result. Talk about lucky. Think what could happen if you tried again.”
“No, thanks.”
“You can’t play it safe all the time.”
“I don’t play it safe all the time.”
“Are you telling me that you weren’t just calculating how much water on the floor it would take before the electrical cord for the floor polisher becomes an electrocution risk?”
I crossed my arms. He could make fun of me if he wanted. There were 550 accidental electrocution deaths in the United States last year. Most of those took place at work. Call me a fool, but water and electricity don’t mix. That’s why it isn’t advised that you blow your hair dry in the shower. I stepped forward and grabbed the handles of the polisher. Drew raised an eyebrow, but then flipped the switch on the handle. The polisher nearly shot out of my hands. It felt like trying to hold a rodeo bull in place. I spun in a couple wide circles, trying to get it under control.
“Interesting technique,” Drew yelled out over the sound of the machine.
“If you want to polish the floor, then you can do it your way.” I turned my back on him and wrestled the machine to my will. Eventually it began to behave and glided up and down the gym parquet floor in a rough approximation of rows. I would stop every so often and squirt (a safe amount) of the combination liquid wax and cleaning gel onto the floor in front of me. I shot a few glances over at Drew, but he was busy walking up and down the bleachers, using a paint scraper to clean the bottom of each bench, then starting over at the beginning of the row to sweep the trash down to the next