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Chapter 8: Jake’s Dilemma
Jake walked along in the late afternoon sun, head down, hands jammed in his pockets, his pace slower than usual. He was lost in his thoughts and did not notice Manuel falling in step with him. “Hey, buddy,” said Manuel. “What’s happening? You look like you’re a million miles away.” “Oh hi, Manuel. I didn’t hear you.”
“Say, that was some math test, today, wasn’t it? I wonder how I did? I was guessing at a couple of my answers. Hope I guessed right! I really need to get my grades up, or my dad won’t let me play baseball this spring.” “Yeah, it was a hard test,” said Jake. But he said nothing more. “Hey, I guess that Giving Tree activity we organized was a great success. We collected Page 2 of 5 © RCL Benziger
over 300 gifts! I heard at Mass that it was the best Christmas gift collection ever in the parish.” Manuel pumped Jake on the shoulder. “The Explorers rock!” he said, laughing. “Yeah, I guess it was.” Jake smiled weakly, but without much enthusiasm. “Hey,” he said as they reached the corner, “I have to pick up a few things at the store for my mom. See you later.” And with that he turned and walked away. Manuel looked after him, frowning. “I wonder what’s the matter with him!” he said under his breath.
Jake knew what the problem was, but he didn’t want to talk about it. That morning in math class, he had been staring off into space thinking through one of the problems when the boy in the desk next to him dropped his test paper on the floor. It slipped halfway under Jake’s desk. As Jake had reached down to slide it back toward the other boy, he noticed the answer to one of the questions. He had looked away quickly. “That’s it,” thought Jake. “That’s the right answer—I know it is!” It all came to him clearly. But would it be fair to use the answer? Page 3 of 5 © RCL Benziger
He wasn’t sure. He stared down at his paper, trying to think it through. He didn’t know what to do. He went ahead and finished the other problems, but then came back to the one he had seen the answer to. About that time the teacher called out, “Two more minutes, everyone.”
Jake poised his pencil over the line and then, quickly, he wrote the correct answer on the line. When the teacher announced that time was up, he turned his paper over and waited for Mr. Duncan to collect everyone’s work. Jake was still thinking about what he had done when he got home, a sack of groceries in his hand.
“Hi, Jake,” said his mom cheerfully has he came in. “Thanks for remembering these things,” she said, taking the bag. “Dinner will be ready in half an hour. Do you want some apple slices and cheese to tide you over until then?” “No thanks, Mom,” said Jake. He trudged on upstairs.
His mom looked after him quizzically. “Well, that’s a first!” she said to herself. Jake had a dilemma, and he knew it. Page 4 of 5 © RCL Benziger
He had never, ever cheated on a test. But was it really cheating? He was usually pretty good in math, but this question had stumped him. Would he have figured out the answer in time? It was hard to know. He didn’t want his grade to drop, or his spring sports plans to be in jeopardy too. Jake’s dad would not allow him to participate if he got anything lower than a “B” average. He needed a good grade. But he never intended to cheat. Wasn’t that the main thing? Or was the main thing that he wrote down an answer he hadn’t figured out for himself? Jake was still thinking about what he should do when he finally fell asleep that night. The next morning, he woke up and knew what to do about the math test.
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