A/N Hey guys, for the sake of the story, let's pretend Sheldon went to Harvard for college.
Monday October 6th 1997
The world can't be this cruel, it just can't! One cannot go from Harvard, to the 11th grade! No, Sheldon would not do it. No force can make him go through high school. But alas, Mary Cooper wouldn't budge. Now that Sheldon has a PHD, and was a professor in Europe, she thought it was time for her little Shelly, to get some "High School" experience.
Sheldon scoffed the first time he heard her reasoning, if she wanted him to get experience, she would let him continue his European tour as a visiting professor. Or Italy where he can both teach, and learn at the university. Or at least let him go back to Boston, where he's obtaining his second PHD. But his mother made her decision. One semester at Galveston High, and if he complains or doesn't make any friends, she would add a second semester. So Mary enrolled him right in the middle of the year, great.
To help him make friends, none of his family members told people that he was a Harvard student, and already had a PHD. Other classmates, teachers and neighbors thought Sheldon was away at boarding school, that just happened to be in Boston. So Sheldon has to now keep all of his accomplishments on a down low. He has never hated his life more then this. He was a sixteen year old with a doctorate for lord's sakes!
Apparently making friends is a good thing. And to Sheldon, it was, but only if his friend could somehow help him in his quest to unlocking the mysteries of the universe. When he told his mother this, she threatened to add another semester. So he didn't tell her that the only reason all the expenses were paid for on the European tour was that he made a friend his age while in a café in Germany, who just happened to be the daughter of an Italian Diplomat, who was also accompanying him on the tour.
His initial worry about school was what to do during class. As if he would pay attention, if anything, it would lower his IQ. So he decided to put a protective cover on his physics textbook, so no one could tell that it wasn't the class's book. Of course, for extra measure, he made sure the book was in German, so if anyone found it, they wouldn't be able to tell what it's about.
"Wake up Shelly! It's your first day of school!" George Jr. said, waking Sheldon up.
"Don't remind me." Sheldon said bitterly.
"Come on Shelly, high school ain't that bad. Couldn't be too different from Harvard." George attempted to cheer him up.
While Sheldon appreciated the gesture, he was in a bad mood," Junior, I could be in Germany right now, conversing with greatest minds in the universe, impressing them with my age and credentials. But here I am, wasting time in high school."
"Just get up and get dressed before ma finds out you ain't up yet." George says exiting the room.
Grudgingly, Sheldon gets up, and gets ready for school. Or hell, same thing. He put a black thermal shirt, underneath a green shirt, that said "GERMANY" in big white letters. He wore blue jeans and a light black jacket, since it was fall. He zipped up the jacket, so no one could tell what the shirt said. He put on his green converse, grabbed his black backpack, and locked his room. Walking down the stairs, he hears Missy yell, "Come on! We're late Shelly! I have a bagel made for you."
Sheldon reluctantly takes the bagel, and goes inside the car, with Missy driving. "Come on Sheldon, it's not that bad."
"Easy for you to say. You're pretty and popular, plus you weren't in the middle of Europe, talking to a world famous Dutch professor when you got the message that you were forced to be brought down to the 11th grade." Sheldon says, still frowning.
"You don't have to be a jerk about it. You can't do that in school, you've never been to Europe according to everyone else. And please don't refer to yourself as Dr. Sheldon Cooper. You're just a normal junior here, like everyone else." Missy lectured, for the 17th time, in counting.
"Obtain a doctorate at the age of 16, beating the world record, and you can't even flaunt it. Shame." Sheldon says.
Missy pulls into the schools parking lot with a sigh, and turns to Sheldon. "Look, I'm going to go talk to my friends, will you be ok by yourself?"
"I've been in college for 6 years, and Europe every summer for 3 years, and you're still asking if I'll be fine alone?" Sheldon asks incredulously.
"Be nice." Missy says, exciting the car. With a sigh, Sheldon excited the car, and walked into Galveston High. Already haven memorized the map and his schedule, he easily found his locker.
"Hi, I'm Penny. I see we're locker neighbors. You must be new." Sheldon looked to see a female leaning against the locker next to his. She was blond, with green eyes. One look at her, he knew she was the type of girl Missy would be friends with, popular, and most likely a cheerleader.
Deciding not wanting to add another semester of school, he attempted to socialize," I'm Sheldon Cooper. While I am new to the school, I have lived in Galveston before."
"Oh, you're Missy's twin! She told me you were coming back from boarding school." Penny said with a smile.
"Yes, unfortunately. So where are you from, because you're definitely not Texan." Sheldon said, attempting to organize his locker. Oh, how much he missed his dorm in Harvard.
" Well, you're right. I moved here this summer from Nebraska. My dad got a new job here, and my family followed. And to tell you the truth, if I met you on the street, I would have never thought you were Texan. You have no accent, at all." Penny said, watching him meticulously sort his books.
"My accent vanished through time, since I spent the last 6 years in Boston." Sheldon says, closing the locker, after grabbing his German physics book.
"Why are you here anyways?" Penny asked.
"My parents missed me, and want me to spent at least one semester with them here in Galveston." Sheldon says, leaning on his locker.
"Well, that's cool. Let me show you the way to your class. What's your next class?" Penny offers.
Sheldon is about to tell her that no need, he already memorized it, but then remembered that he wasn't supposed to be a genius with an eidetic memory. "Ms. Tanners class, English."
"Oh, cool. I have that class as well, follow me." Penny said, leading Sheldon through a few hallways. During the walk, Penny asks him about his life in Boston, while Sheldon tries to answer as best as he can, without giving too much away. He also asked her about her life. He found out she was a cheerleader, and was on the same squad as Missy. He also found out that she used to be a tomboy, and knows all about football.
"Welcome to English." Penny says, opening the door to a classroom. It's so small, was the first thing that popped into Sheldon's head. He's not used to being in a classroom with less than a hundred people. Penny leads him to the back of the class, where they take their seats next to each other, waiting for the rest of the other students to come in. Penny seemed tolerable enough, maybe making friends wouldn't be too hard.
"Hey Penny, who's this?" Sheldon looked up to see some guy standing in front of Penny's desk, obviously trying to flex his muscles to impress her. He was wearing a letterman jacket, and was holding a football. Sheldon soon recognized him as Tyler Barring, one of Sheldon's old bully's.
"Tyler Barring, it's funny how you don't remember me, considering how your favorite hobby used to be tormenting me." Sheldon said.
"Sheldon Cooper? Dude, you changed a lot! And man, I'm really sorry bout what we used to do to ya, we were just stupid kids. We good?" Tyler said, holding out his hand for Sheldon to shake.
"Yeah, we're good." Sheldon said, and shook Tyler's hand. Even though he let go the grudge, we would never forget the torment he went through.
"See ya later Penny." Tyler said with a wink, and walked to the front of the class and took a seat.
As soon as he was gone, Sheldon took a bottle of hand sanitizer, and cleaned his hands.
"You're a neat freak, aren't you? First your locker, and now this." Penny said with a smirk.
"Something like that." Sheldon admitted. Penny just laughed, and that's when Sheldon noticed how much he liked her laugh.
The day went by fast, thankfully. During lunch, Penny sat next to Sheldon at the lunch table. The only classes Penny and Sheldon had together were English and Physics, the last class of the day. All day, he would sit at the back of the classrooms, and read his physics book. He would only speak, once spoken too. But for the most part, he was able to ignore everyone, and concentrate on writing his equations. He would pretend to write notes on the class, but in actuality, he has writing equations he could use for his second thesis, which was coming along nicely.
The last class of the day was Physics with Ms. Langston, which he had with Penny. When he stepped into the class, Penny was already there, and waved for him to come over.
"Be my lab partner?" She asked.
"Sure." He said, taking his seat next to her.
It didn't take long for the class to fill. All of a sudden, Sheldon's day went from bad to worse, as his teacher came into the room. Sheldon quickly ducked his head, and hid behind him.
Sheldon's thoughts were all over the place. 'It can't be her. It is. WHY ME?'
His teacher, Ms. Langston, just happened to be Carly Langston. An 23 year old American who happened to get her physics teaching degree, in Germany. In other words, she was Sheldon's old student the previous year. She's sure to recognize him, she was his assistant for a whole semester. She had a great respect for him and his teaching, despite his young age.
"Hello students. It seems we have a new student. Sheldon Cooper? That can't be right." Ms. Langston said quietly looking at her paper.
Sheldon then took a breath and said, "Ms. Langston, can I talk to you?"
Ms. Langston looked surprised, but nodded, as Sheldon followed her out of the classroom.
"Professor Cooper, what are you doing here?" Carly asked, still shocked.
So Sheldon told her the entire story, that he was forced to attend public school, and his fake story.
"So what do you want me to do Professor? Just say the word, and it's done. As you know, I have a lot of respect for you." Carly said.
"Carry on, as if I'm a regular student. But do not call on me, I have no time to waste on high school physics. I'll be reading my physics book in German, and working on my thesis. Act as if you don't notice I'm not paying attention. Tell them the reason you were surprised I was in your class, is because you taught a class at my old boarding school in Boston. Understood?" Sheldon lectured.
"Yes sir, but what about your lab partner? She is sure to notice that you're not paying attention." Carly asked.
Sheldon thought for a while and then said, "I'll figure it out, just do what you are told, let me worry about the rest."
"Very well sir." Carly said, and we walked back into the class. Taking my seat, Penny asked," What was that about?"
"Ms. Langston taught my class in Boston for a while, so she was surprised that I was here. As you said, I don't look Texan." Sheldon lied easily.
The class continued smoothly, and while Penny and the rest of the class took notes, Sheldon continued writing equations for his thesis.
Looking at Penny, then down at all the progress he made on his thesis, Sheldon decided, maybe high school wasn't that bad. But he'd still rather be in Boston or Europe.