Pen and Paper
Summary: Deuce sends Rocky a note that is indecipherable. Or is it? Number 81 of the 100 Theme Challenge.
Disclaimer: I do not own Shake It Up!, nor its characters. I only own this story.
The students in John Hughes High School's creative writing class were kept busy one Monday morning. Some students were working feverishly, brainstorming ideas for their poetry assignments. The rest were either texting, listening to music on their headphones, or sleeping.
Rocky was one of the students that was focusing on their assignment. She was staring at the notes that she jotted down on the paper in front of her, as she repeatedly tapped her pen against her chin, deep in thought.
Next to her, CeCe was resting her upper body on Rocky's chemistry textbook, while rapidly texting on her cell phone, smiling broadly.
"CeCe, stop texting Günther," Rocky scolded, looking towards her best friend. "You're going to get him in trouble with his teacher."
"Don't worry, it's not like I'm bugging him during an important lesson or anything," CeCe replied, as she sent off her message. "The entire fashion class is working on clothing lines, not taking notes."
"Well, you should still stop," Rocky suggested. "Günther can't text and work at the same time. He might end up betwinkling his hand."
"Oh, don't be so dramatic," CeCe said, as she anxiously stared at her phone, waiting for a reply from Günther.
Rocky sighed and asked, "Can't you two lovebirds wait until lunch to talk? You should start brainstorming for your poetry assignment. It's due in a week."
"Oh, I'll just write about Günther," CeCe answered. "Problem solved."
"At least try and make it meaningful," Rocky suggested, as she wrote down several more notes onto her paper. "Poems take time to write and they can't be rushed."
"Oh, I'm used to being rushed," the Queen of Procrastination explained. "Don't worry, I can handle it."
Rocky sighed and went back to brainstorming more ideas for her poem. She was about to write down something when a folded piece of paper landed onto her desk. She looked up to see who threw it and noticed Deuce wink at her from across the room.
Impressed with the astonishing aiming skills of her friend, she unfolded the piece of paper, which contained only three words written in blue ink:
Tellurium_Americium, Oxygen
"What's that you got there?" CeCe asked, noticing the paper in Rocky's hands.
"Deuce just tossed it to me," Rocky explained, handing her the sheet. "It's just a list of elements in the periodic table."
"Periodic table?" CeCe questioned, perplexed, since she was not a chemistry student.
"Yeah, a chart that clearly organizes many different elements into their appropriate categories," Rocky explained, as clearly as she could. "Oxygen, hydrogen, chlorine, stuff like that."
"Well, why would he send you a list of these elements?" CeCe questioned, confused.
"Beats me," Rocky replied, shrugging her shoulders.
CeCe looked at the sheet of paper again and, after a minute or two, said, "Maybe he's trying to tell you something."
"So, are you saying that the list of elements is some coded message or something?" Rocky asked.
"Probably," CeCe replied. "Now, if we could only decode it..."
Rocky leaned back in her seat and closed her eyes, trying to figure out what Deuce was trying to tell her. There had to be something that the elements on the sheet were representing. But what could they possibly symbolize?
Suddenly, Rocky's eyes flew open as realization hit her like a ton of bricks. Symbolize!
"Symbols!" Rocky blurted out, startling CeCe.
"What?" CeCe asked, curiously. "Did you figure it out?"
"Yeah, the periodic table contains way too many elements," Rocky explained. "Too many, in fact, that they have to be listed by their symbols, so they would all fit."
"Care to enlighten me?" CeCe asked, raising an eyebrow.
Rocky responded by grabbing the chemistry textbook that CeCe was resting on, much to the redhead's annoyance. She quickly flipped to the back of the book, where the periodic table was located.
"Okay," Rocky said, fingering her pen. "What's the first element again?"
"Tellurium," CeCe read, her eyes on the paper.
Rocky nodded and located the element in the periodic table. Once she spotted it, she wrote its symbol down on the sheet of paper used for her poetry brainstorming:
Te
"Next element," Rocky demanded, anxiously.
CeCe glanced at the page again and said, "Americium."
After finding the element in the periodic table, she quickly wrote down its symbol, separate from the first one, just like it was written on Deuce's note:
Te Am
"Last element," Rocky requested, her heart rate increasing.
"Oxygen," CeCe replied, turning to her best friend.
It did not take long for Rocky to find the symbol for oxygen in the periodic table. She wrote it down next to the second symbol, like the elements were written in Deuce's note.
Te AmO
"Oh, wow," Rocky said, appalled, as she stared at the decoded message.
"Even I know what that means," CeCe said, with a smirk. "He's totally into you."
Rocky bit her bottom lip and excitedly looked up at Deuce, who gestured with his hand that he would call her later. She nodded, blushing bright red.
Eleven down, eighty-nine to go! Questions? Comments?
Please Review! Reviews are greatly appreciated! =D
~TeenQueen661
