DNA

When my phone buzzed in my pocket, I’d almost forgotten the results I’d been obsessively checking for days, hoping they’d be ready earlier than predicted. When my teacher turned around, I checked my notifications, hiding my phone behind my classmates thick, wavy hair.

Ancestry.com: your results are ready!

My heart skipped a beat. I’d done the dna test because my friend, Alexa, was an ethnic smoothie and curious about her roots. Her parents had gotten a 2 for 1 deal, offering me the other, since I didn’t know anything about my dad. I pretended not to care about whatever I found out about my origins, but truthfully, I was nervous. I stared at the notification for a full minute before my teacher realized my lack of attention.

“Joeie, is there something you’d like to share with the class?”

Mrs. Hoffman was the bane of my existence. She had the tendency to tattle on me to my brother, Jeremy, since they knew each other from high school. I was not about to pretend like she deserved a nice answer from me. That lady could choke on an apple for all I cared.

“There’s a lot I could share with the class. Did you know that skateboarding began in the 1950s because surfers wanted to surf on land? How’s that for a history lesson.”

My classmates sniggered, ignoring the glare Mrs. Hoffman shot me.

“It’s come a long way over time… even an Olympic sport now.”

“Is that what you’re doing on your phone? Reading skate facts?” 

“I’m not doing anything on my phone,” I argued, turning the screen so she could see. “Is it a crime to have it out on my desk while I zone out during the most boring lecture ever?”

Her eyes narrowed, about to say something but cut off by the bell and everyone packing up their stuff. I did the same, avoiding her scalding stare and hurrying out of there.

Instead of heading to my next class, I detoured by Alexa’s. “Our results came in! Let’s skip and go to the coffee shop to look at them!” My friend hesitated, but I persisted. “Cmon, you don’t have anything big next period, no one will ever know, it’s already 5th period, but we gotta hurry!”

She eyed me like I was twisting her arm before finally giving in. “Okay, let’s do it!”

We tried to look the least amount of suspicious as possible as we snuck past the security guard and off campus, with me carrying on the whole time about how much I hate Mrs. Hoffman.

When we arrived to our favorite coffee shop hang out, a couple of blocks from the skatepark, I plopped down and immediately dug out my phone, clicking on the notification.