And On The First Day... (Vignettes, part 1)
*Elsewhere at Belmont High:
>(Ishaq Farid, Tyler McKinnon, Bobby Campbell, etc.): Math Class (Honors Algebra II)
The teacher had just launched into his introductory spiel, and Ishaq was already tuning him out. Like about half of the class, he had an open laptop on his desk instead of a textbook- though in his case it was his school-issued computer, not his personal one. This one was loaded with textbooks and all kinds of school-approved ‘study material’- his own was a bit more specialized, but he didn’t want to play with it here; the WiFi network was really buggy and weird… As the teacher droned on, Ishaq looked over the syllabus and some of the early lessons, but it wasn’t really enough to hold all of his attention- math had always been easy for him, just like science and technology. So right now he had popped open another window and he was looking ahead to History class- that was going to require some work. He was well into looking over the suggested textbook list for World History I when somebody gently nudged his desk. He snapped back to the present, to the sound of snickering not-quite laughter from some of the less-serious students at the back of the room. The teacher, whatever his name was, must have noticed how little attention Ishaq was paying, and he had asked a question…
Ishaq smiled- with a single click he flipped his screen back to the Algebra II material. Then he looked up to where the teacher was standing at the whiteboard, pointing impatiently to an equation. ‘Too easy,’ he thought before reciting the correct answer. The teacher scowled just a bit, and the snickering at the back of the room stopped- not quite fast enough…
“Well, Robert, since you thought this was funny,” the teacher said coolly as he began to write out another equation. Ishaq turned around a bit in his chair to look- sure enough the next victim was a handsome boy seated in the back row. He was squirming slightly as he watched the equation go up- which gave Ishaq a moment to scan the rest of the room, something he hadn’t taken the time to do before. It looked like a reasonable mix of students- some of them freshmen he remembered from this morning’s assembly, others slightly older looking; at least there weren’t any of the clueless-looking ‘scholar-athletes’ he had seen in some of his other classes- this was an Honors class after all, no slackers need apply. As he looked, Ishaq saw the skinny boy seated behind him, one of the other freshman, give him a smile and a quick wink- at least he knew who had tapped him awake; he gave a brief nod in return.
At the back of the room, Bobby Campbell (definitely NOT Robert) looked over the finalized equation and thought it through. He was smart enough to be in the Honors class- his grades weren’t what got him kicked out of Belmont Hill, but math wasn’t his specialty. For a moment, the equation seemed to blur, the symbols shifting into things he didn’t recognize (was that Japanese?)- he blinked, trying to focus, and the equation suddenly snapped back to normal. In that instant, Bobby KNEW the answer, and a confident smirk spread across his lips as he responded.
The teacher gave a tight smile of his own, and began to write out another equation. “This is an Honors level course, and I’m not going to make things easy for you,” he said as he continued to scrawl out a lengthy formula. “You are going to have to work in my class, but the skills you learn here will be quite valuable to you in the future.” He finished with a flourish, and turned back, looking over the class with a critical eye. “This sort of equation is the kind of thing you will have mastered by the end of this course- I don’t expect you to be able to solve it now, but by next spring you will know how to handle it.” His gaze swept across the room. “Anyone want to give it a try now? I’ll help walk you through it. Perhaps you, Tyler?” he asked, gesturing to the boy sitting behind Ishaq. “No? Emily, then?,” he pointed to a girl seated in the back row. Finally, Ishaq slowly raised his hand…
>(Billie Kendall, Taylor Kendall, Haley Sanders, etc.): Free mod (Outside/senior court)
Taylor Kendall sat alone at one of the picnic tables scattered around the so-called ‘Senior Courtyard’, along the north side of the walkway that connected the Main Building and the East Wing. While the courtyard on the south side was open for all students, this one was, by fiercely-enforced tradition, only for Seniors (and occasional ‘guests’). Taylor spent a lot of his free time out here, as often as the weather allowed- there were less people here, usually, and that made it easier to focus on stuff- like this ‘practice essay’ the guidance counselor had assigned him as part of the ramp-up to college application season. He had never been much of a writer, never needed to be when he was one of the biggest, most athletic kids in the school. And this was important- he knew that he had little chance of an athletic scholarship to a real first-tier college (especially since he was likely to be sidelined most of the year, instead of All-State again), and even less chance of a real career as a pro athlete after college; he had to have something else for a real future. But damn, it was hard to get the right words in the right order, to start the essay off with a bang that would keep the admissions people interested. Maybe…
“Hey Ox, where are you parked?” His sister Billie’s voice was bright, cheerful- and pretty much the last thing he wanted to hear right now.
“Varsity lot, duh! And what the heck are you doing over here? You’re supposed to be over on the other side.” He didn’t even look up from the essay at first- maybe she would just go away…
“Oh, yeah, I’m really worried about the big mean seniors,” Billie said with a bright, feral smile as she climbed up and sat on the top of the battered picnic table next to him. “They know you would kick their butts if they mess with your precious little sister. And besides, I’m like the second-most badass girl in the school right now, since Laila graduated. Well, maybe third-most, if those rumors about that Reyes girl are true…” She paused, and pointed to another girl, who was lying down on one of the other picnic tables across the courtyard. “And if Haley can be over on this side, I can too.”
“You still shouldn’t be over here,” Taylor said, trying to sound tough. “Last thing we need, last thing I need, is to stir up trouble.” He shook his head, and gave a glance at the girl Billie had pointed out. “She‘s only over here ‘cause she’s screwing around with Drew- getting kicked off the cheer squad hasn’t slowed down her, umm, fixation with the captain of the football team. I don’t think you want to earn your access privileges that way…” He turned back to his sister. “So tell me what you want, and then scamper back to safety, okay?”
“Just wanted to know where you’re parked, like I asked you,” Billie snarled as she scanned the few other students scattered around the courtyard, her hard gaze almost daring any of them to complain about her presence on their sacred turf. She seemed disappointed when none of them- it was almost as if they didn’t care… “I’m going for a run around Fresh Pond after school, so I figured I’d throw my bag in your junk-mobile. No sense in carrying it, and I don’t want to have to come back here after the run- place is still freaky after hours, no matter what the new boss has to say about it…”
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