Deltora Quest: A Dungeons and Dragons Adventure
Disclaimer: I don't own Deltora Quest, or any of the characters displayed in this fic, they are the property of Emily Rodda. Rated T for light swearing.
A/N: Well, I own the DM. This will be an AU, where Leif, Jasmine and Barda are simply characters created by 3 people in high school and the entire story of Deltora Quest is the setting for the game of Dungeons and Dragons they play.
High school sucks, this class sucks, and worst of all, quadratics sucks Lucas thought to himself, as he tried to stay awake through the teacher's explanation of quadratics. Not that Lucas found it unimportant, but having already read slightly ahead when bored tends to leave one with nothing to do when everyone else catches up.
Looking out the window he watched as some students milled around the school's field, setting up soccer nets and laying a new coat of white paint to the lines. It is almost time for soccer try-outs, too bad I'm rubbish at sports; at least it would be something to do during spare.
Exhaling more noisily then was necessary; he glared at the clock stuck innocently above the door of the class room. 5 minute. 5 minutes then lunch, I'll go and find Brad, drag him out of the weight room, and we'll hit McDonalds. Having quadratics explained to me a SECOND time is practically an exercise in itself.
To occupy himself, he discreetly began to finish his art homework, while muttering curses under his breath about how much a waste of time art was. Let it be known that his sneaking skills had never been good to start with, and muttering only made it worse, as he had not even been at it for 30 seconds before he felt a familiar sense of dread make its way up his spine.
"Mr. Taylor, I assume you have completed yesterday's homework and today's work as well if you have time for….scribbling" came a drawl that could only be achieved by years of teaching kids who clearly didn't want to be taught. Mr. Sinclair was one of the few teachers who could capitalize on the apathetic atmosphere of his class, and could seemingly pop out of nowhere should someone be off task.
"Yessir" Lucas said with as much dignity as possible with a yelping squeak, while sitting ramrod straight. …when did he stop talking?
"Then you won't mind completing the answers for the 2nd, and 3rd questions from last night's assignment, I assume." It wasn't a question. While he was generally laid back and let the students work as they would, Gerald Sinclair did NOT appreciate being ignored while talking.
Sighing in relief at not being discovered for doing another class's work, Lucas got up from his chair and walked to the blackboard. He was good at math, and enjoyed it as much as any 10th grade student can enjoy a class at which they excelled. The questions were easy enough to solve as long as you knew the right formula. That's why he liked math, if you knew the formula for one question, then rest we're most likely based on the same one, simple and quick.
Lucas allowed himself a small smirk of satisfaction as he finished the first question. Hope this shows him, call my art scribbles will he. Deciding to stall for a little more time, he solved the second problem as slowly as he could, hoping this would take up the rest of class.
To his partial relief, he saw that only two minutes remained of class as he went to sit back down in his seat. Of course, two minutes was still plenty of time for the teacher to make him sweat. Sweat in both senses of the word, the AC's never seemed to work in the math rooms. Most students thought this was an elaborate plan.
"Excellent work Mr. Taylor" Mr. Sinclair's voice took on a slightly sarcastic tone. "I'm glad one of you is able to complete the work, you should all take example from Mr. Taylor here."Oh, you crafty bastard Lucas thought. There only one thing worse than being a complete nobody in high school, and that was having ALL of the attention drawn to you. It's a big spotlight, and it tends to burn you very quickly
Lucas tried to ignore the looks of most of the class. He'd done it as well; just stare when a person was shoved into the spotlight of the Teacher's Example. It's not as if he were anything special, most of the kids had bored looks on their faces, and clearly while looking at him, weren't paying him any attention. He guessed it was their desire to go to lunch, or possibly the heat, the aforementioned AC was a big topic of argument between the student council and the faculty.
"Well class, with it being Friday, and most of you seem eager to continue on with our current unit." At this a toothy grin crept across his face. "As such I'm assigning pages 81 through 83, all questions are to be completed-"The groan form the class drowned out his voice for a moment before he raised his voice just enough to be heard again. "-and I want you to show your work, not just copying from the back of the book."
As with all clichéd evil-teacher-assigns-homework scenes, the bell rang not a moment later. The class rose as one huge, disorganized mess of teenagers and did the complimentary shuffling while a rudimentary line began to file out of the class. Lucas chose to exit last, not that he'd be mobbed or thrown in a trash can, but why take chances?
He was relieved to find that everyone was happy enough to be out of the stifling room and not lash out at the one responsible for the workload for the weekend. It's not all that much really, a few hours at most, and that's only if you need help with it. Lucas hurried off to his locker and stowed his books away in his back pack. He checked his wallet to make sure he could fund the impromptu Lunch change, and checked his hair in the mirror on the inside door of his locker. After a quick combing of his blonde curly hair, and deeming himself displayable for public, he went off in search of Brad.
Brad had been his friend for many years, and they were usually found hanging out with one another. While Lucas was better with things where you could sit and think, Brad preferred more active things and was part of the soccer team. Though Lucas was by no means unfit, and likewise Brad could not be called stupid, as his grades were, at his worst, slightly above average.
Checking the weight room revealed it to have few students in it, none of which were Brad. He next checked the cafeteria, and this too ended in disappointment. He tried the auto class room, wood working, and all the classes where Brad could be found talking to his other friends. It turns out they didn't know where he was either, leaving Lucas at an impasse.
Though it seems someone decided to throw him a bone, when he ran literally into Brad just outside the student council office. If running into a stereotypical jock was like running into a wall, then running into Brad was like running into a fence. A very sturdy, newly installed fence. This of course meant Lucas fell back with an "ooph."
"Lucas? What are you doing on the ground?" Brad asked in a ribbing tone with a grin as he lifted his friend off the ground.
"Looking for you, I was headed for the Auto class room to see if they misplaced a moving wall." Lucas replied, offering a smile in thanks.
Brad rolled his eyes and let out a laugh "Lame as always. I was actually trying to talk to someone about the AC problem" he said as he adjusted a gym bag over his shoulder.
Lucas groaned and started to walk in the direction of Brad's locker, Brad falling into place beside him. "Which one broke down now?" He asked with a huff.
"The one in the library and the one in the exercise room as well. Working up a sweat is one thing, but this is just ridiculous." Brad said with a shake of his head. "I went to ask about why so many seem to be failing, but I was told it was under control."
"It's under control alright, the control of an infant." Lucas said with annoyance as they reached Brad's locker. "So, I was thinking, we skip the school with the faulty air conditioning, and hit someplace that can keep us cool."
Brad looked at him curiously while stowing his gym bag away. "And where would this be? I know it's hot out, but skipping the rest of the day will make matters worse."
"That was one time, ONE!" Lucas exclaimed incredulously while holding up a single finger to further his point.
"One time too many." Brad returned with a grin as he shut his locker and put a hat over his shaggy brown hair. "Where did you have in mind?" he asked as he strode off in the direction of the school main entrance.
Regaining his composure, Lucas replied "A wonderful place, where the beverages are cold, the food is fast and tasty and the prices are affordable" ending with a grin.
"So, basically it is a fast food shop that has air conditioning?" Brad deadpanned.
"Yes, if you must degrade it with such low titles. Besides, I have a good feeling about this." Lucas said with conviction in his voice.
Sighing, Brad simply said "Alright, but only because it's been a while…and is bound to be sweltering in the cafeteria by now."
His only reply was a happy sound from Lucas, as they exited through the doors, and walked out onto the sidewalk.
A/N: So, I know it was kind of slow, but I'm going to introduce the characters first before the plot actually starts rolling. If not in chapter 2 then the plot will start at the beginning of 3. So, drop a review and tell me what you thought?