Eric Walters - The Rule of Three

“I understand that this is my laptop and it has a battery,” she said.

“The battery must be dead.”

“But mine went down as well,” another boy said.

“Mine, too,” a girl at the other end of the lab added. All of them were on laptops.

“Well, that’s because…” Todd turned to me. “Well, Adam?”

“How should I know?”

“Didn’t you win the science fair last year?”

“That was for designing a two-seated ultralight, not because I know everything about electricity.”

“Come on, you know everything about everything. I wouldn’t let you do my homework if you didn’t. Can we go and find Mr. Dixon and explain to him about my paper?”

I wasn’t going to do that. But I did want to see what was going on. I gave a big sigh and got to my feet.

The halls were filling with kids. The only light was coming from classroom windows and scattered emergency lights running on batteries. Classes had ended unexpectedly, and everyone was streaming out. There was a lot of laughing and loud conversation as kids enjoyed an early break.

“Can I have your attention, please!” a deep voice boomed. “Please, everybody, stop where you are!” It was our vice principal yelling through a handheld bullhorn. “We need everybody in the gym for a brief assembly!”

There were groans from the crowd.

“I say we head for the doors,” Todd said. “In this commotion there’s no way they’re going to be able to stop us from leaving.”

“What about the assembly?”

“And you wonder why I call you a suck-up?”

We headed down the stairs, only to find two teachers at the exit deflecting the river of students toward the gym.

“So much for leaving,” I said. I knew Todd was disappointed, but I really did want to hear what they had to tell us.

We went with the flow. The gym was dimly lit with just a few emergency lights. It was already crowded, and I felt a little claustrophobic as we pushed in. The bleachers were filled to capacity and we were herded onto the court, shoulder to shoulder. I was grateful to be taller than most everybody else. Did they really think they could cram fifteen hundred kids into this space?

“My phone isn’t working,” Todd said.

“You know there are lots of dead spots in this school.”

“No, I mean it’s as blank as the computer screens.” He showed it to me.

“Your battery is dead. Your phone needs that magical substance called electricity to—”

“My phone is dead, too,” a girl said.

“Same here,” somebody else added.

All around us people who had overheard were pulling out their phones. There was a chorus of disbelief and upset. It was strange how they seemed more upset about their phones not working than there being no electricity.

I pulled out my phone, just to confirm things. It was off—as per the school rules—but when I pushed the button to turn it on, it remained blank. I knew my phone was fully charged. The cell phone towers probably needed electricity to work. Is that why we weren’t even getting a screen? No, that didn’t make sense. Even without the towers there should have been power to run other apps.

“Can I have your attention!” Our principal was on the stage with a bullhorn. “Please!” he called out. “We need everybody to listen carefully… Please stop talking!”

There was a murmur of conversation that faded to a semisilence, an acceptable level of cooperation.

“As you are all aware, we have a power failure,” he started. “We’re assuming that it’s probably countywide, as there is a complete breakdown in telephone service, both landlines and cell phones, which must be related to the power failure.”

The crowd noise went up as those who hadn’t noticed previously all pulled out their cell phones to confirm what he’d said.

“Quiet down, people! The sooner we can finish here, the sooner you can all go home!”

A cheer went up from the crowd and then applause.

“Silence, please!” The noise faded. “Whatever the issue is, I’m confident it is being addressed and will be corrected shortly.”

For some reason I had a feeling it wasn’t going to be so simple. I was still thinking about why the batteries in the laptops had gone dead.

“We’ve decided to cancel final period today and let you all go home early.”

A cheer went up from the audience once again.

He raised a hand to quiet everyone. “You can stay here in the gym to wait for the buses. If you’re driving or walking, keep in mind there will probably be no functioning traffic lights, so please be careful. Dismissed.”

There was an even bigger cheer as we all started for the exits.

The flood of students spilled out through every available door of the gym. With my dad away, I guess this meant I was picking up the twins at the elementary school, as I knew my mother would be asked to stay on duty with the power out. They’d be keeping all officers on duty, and as captain of the precinct she would be tied up completely until this was resolved. And since no power meant no flying lesson, my afternoon was pretty much shot anyway.

“Do you need to get anything from your locker?” I asked Todd.

“Nope. I guess that essay for Dixon will be due tomorrow, but we have study hall beforehand to finish it up.”

“I have to give you marks for being consistent.”

“All I need is a ride home. Hey, do you see her?”

“Keep your voice down,” I hissed. “I see her.”

Just exiting the building ahead of us was Lori—holding hands with Chad. I felt myself cringe. Something that nice shouldn’t be touching something that bad. I didn’t dislike many people, but Chad was in that group. A rich, snobby, squinty-eyed lacrosse player two grades ahead, he didn’t like me either. As Todd had pointed out more than once, it didn’t take a genius to figure out I had a thing for Lori. So far she hadn’t noticed, or if she had, she pretended that she hadn’t.

“I don’t know what she sees in him,” I said.

“Let’s ask her. Hey, Lori!” Todd screamed.

Lori and Chad turned around, and I wanted to find a rock to crawl under.

“I was wondering,” Todd called out as we caught them. “We were both wondering—”

“What you got on the history test!” I exclaimed, cutting him off. Lori, Todd, and I had the same third-period class.

“An eighty-nine,” she said, and flashed us a smile. I felt my feet get mushy.

“That’s great,” Todd said, “but I was really wondering—”

“If you wanted to join our study group for the finals,” I broke in again. Todd laughed but I ignored him. “I know it’s early, but it’s important to get these things sorted out.”

“Umm, that would be great,” she said.

Chad shot me a dirty look. He was neither impressed nor deceived.

“Good. See you tomorrow. Come on, Todd, we better go now.”

“But—”

“If we don’t leave now, somebody is going to be walking home, if you understand what I’m saying.”

“I understand. Okay, then, let’s get going. See you two ladies tomorrow.”

Lori smiled, and Chad scowled but was smart enough not to say anything back. Todd was younger but bigger, and he had a well-earned reputation for being quick-tempered, tough, and willing to fight just about anybody. It wouldn’t have helped Chad’s cool to be beaten up by a guy two years younger. They walked off.

“I think that’s part of the answer to your question,” Todd said, gesturing to Chad’s BMW.

“I don’t think so. She’s got too much going for her to be impressed by somebody’s car. You’d have to be pretty shallow to let something like that influence you.”