Just as the golden ball peaked from behind its hiding spot beyond the blue abyss, the baby leatherback sea turtle’s eye peaked from behind his eyelid. The warmth of the sun’s rays tickled his reptilian skin. This baby sea turtle awakened among his brothers and sisters on the California beach. Unmoving, they resembled the smooth black rocks along the coastline, lumped together in one patch with half-cracked shells scattered among them. Dermochelys coriacea. The species’ scientific name hints at its major characteristics. Translated literally, it means “coffin-back”. Its obsidian-colored skin feels like tough rubber. It lacks the scales possessed by other reptilian species. The body of a leatherback sea turtle is unique to other turtles; it…show more content… Juan began to fill them in on the events of his Honors Geology class, which was his least favorite class, but which he shared with his favorite person—Carmen Herrera.
From the initial class about plate tectonics, he had a hard time finding the importance of rocks and earth’s processes; he had also had a hard time paying attention with Carmen sitting two rows over from him. Despite the distraction, Juan had been trying all semester to perform decently in the class so that Carmen wouldn’t think he was unintelligent and also show that he cared about the environment as much as she did.
This particular day, Juan had gathered the courage to ask Carmen to the Spring Fling Dance. She had been asked by other boys too, so told him that she would have an answer for him after lunch. Jared and his friends were anxious to hear the verdict as well, but were giving him encouraging words as he waited.
With lunch wrapping up, Juan was eagerly awaiting a response from Carmen. He rushed from his seat as he saw her leaving the courtyard. As he threw his trash away, he noticed it had not all made it into the slot, but dismissed it because Carmen was getting further
