Guard My Heart Read Online Free PDF

notice Jenna lately.
    After I'm dressed and I’ve checked my school bag, I head
downstairs. Mia and Mom are sitting at the kitchen table discussing the trip.
We leave on Friday morning. I already know Mia isn’t getting any sleep Thursday
night. Thursday is also the last day of school, and I will officially be free
from high school. Actually I was free from high school two weeks ago when I
wrote my last exam, but after Thursday I’m officially free.
    Mia kisses Mom on the cheek, and I shout a goodbye as I
walk out the front door. Jenna is already waiting for us at her car. It’s the
same thing we do every morning. When we were in junior school the three of
walked together every morning. Since Jenna got her car, she’s driven us. It’s
safe to say the first time I got into the car with her I was pretty damn
nervous. Mia didn’t share my fears; she was squealing like a cheerleader on
crack. I swear she bounced the springs in the front seat straight through the
padding.
    The trip to school is a five minute drive, and soon we are
pulling into the student parking lot.
    Mark is already waiting for me on the stairs. His head is
down and looking at his cell phone. He is probably playing another online chess
championship or something. I leave the girls at the car and walk up to him.
    “How’s it going?” I ask him.
    “Not good. This guy is always one move ahead of me. Just
when I think I have him, he changes tactics,” he says, not lifting his head
from the phone. I take a seat next to him. I don’t bother looking at the game
on his phone even if I can see his fingers moving over the screen. I don’t know
anything about chess. 
    I like more physical sports like cross country, but now
that high school is over, I will have to find another way to stay in shape. And
I always have the mixed martial arts classes at the community center twice a
week.
    I pat Mark on the back and leave for my homeroom. Mr.
Rogers is my resident teacher, so it makes it easy to pay him the money for the
trip. I’m glad I asked him for an extension. Even if I doubted I could pull it
off, I still made it.
    When I get to my class, everybody is already sitting at
their desks, and the class is filled with excited voices as the other kids talk
about the upcoming trip. Mia and Jenna are sitting in the back chatting to one
of the other girls in the class. My seat is on the other side of the room, next
to Mark’s, who is probably still sitting on the concrete stairs in front of the
school. The energy in the room wraps around me like a warm blanket. It
magnifies the little excitement I feel for the trip. Sun, a warm beach, and
just being free for a whole week. What is better than that?
    Mr. Rogers enters the class and walks to the front. The
other kids in the room see him because it’s hard not to notice his big frame.
Mr. Rogers is in his mid-fifties with a big belly and round glasses. His head
has a shiny bald spot right in the center. He is the friendliest teacher in
this school. He also runs the guidance group for the school with his wife, the
Life Orientation teacher. He is always joking about how if she did a better job
at teaching kids how to make better decisions, they wouldn’t have to work extra
hours on counselling those same kids on how to fix their mistakes.
    Mr. Rogers taps on his desk and clears his throat. Nothing
happens, the kids just keep talking. He does it a couple more times before
giving up and saying rather loudly, “Good morning, class. I trust you had a
good weekend.” Some of the kids answer him, but it comes out as a lost murmur
with everybody talking at once.
    “Carry on doing what you were doing, but just do it
quietly,” he says while pulling out a book from his drawer. He adjusts his
glasses and settles down in his chair. I take this as my chance to go speak to
him.
    “Mr. Rogers?”
    “Ah, Kyle. Mia tells me you have some good news,” he says
smiling up at me. There