First time writing Amanda! Some ship tease between Milo and Amanda, but nothing heavy.
"Amanda, please let me design the yearbooks! I'm begging you!" Chad tearfully knelt, grasping the hem of Amanda's magenta jacket. He looked up with wide, pleading eyes. "I need this!"
"Chad, designing the yearbooks is not supposed to be fun. It requires the utmost diligence, attention to detail, and extreme patience when you inevitably have to use the library computers that haven't been replaced since 1992," Amanda replied, carefully pulling her jacket out of Chad's hands. "May I ask you why you need this?"
"Extra credit for English," Chad said, standing up. "I got an F on the last persuasive essay. Nobody told me I couldn't write about Mr. Drako's vampirism."
Amanda sighed. If there was a new conspiracy theory in town, Chad was usually the first to start panicking about it. Like the rest of her peers, she usually ignored his theories. There were enough crazy shenanigans with Milo around.
"Just because Mr. Drako has family in Romania does not mean-"
"Watch out! Runaway robot from the engineering club!"
Speak of the sweatervest. Amanda braced herself. She had only planned for 20 minutes worth of Murphy's Law on Thursdays. Amanda mentally calculated the amount of time it took to clean up the expired milk at lunch and the fire extinguisher malfunction in Ms. Camilichec's class. Ate through approximately twelve minutes worth of time I set aside for these disasters. Ay caballo, if this mishap goes over eight minutes I'll have to cut down on the time I set aside for reorganizing my binder.
A silver, badly made, 5 foot robot hurtled down the hallway, smoke pouring from a small pipe on its back. One lightbulb eye shone brightly, but the other had fallen out of the socket. Crude wheels left skid marks behind. People scrambled to get out of the way, ducking into nearby classrooms and climbing on top of the lockers to avoid it. Although they had taken cover underneath a flight of stairs, Chad had ducked behind Amanda, shaking nervously.
"Chad, if you stop using me as a meat shield, I promise I'll work something out with the yearbook committee," Amanda offered.
"You will? I owe you my life!" Chad exclaimed. "I will do anything you say from now on, my lady."
"The robot is a good starting place," Amanda suggested, shifting uncomfortably at being addressed as 'my lady'.
"The mission begins," Chad stepped into the open corridor, spreading his arms wide in the pathway of the robot. His face scrunched up in determination. "YOU SHALL NOT-"
Amanda flinched, covering her eyes. There was a horrible screech as flesh and metal collided. When she looked back, the robot was still careening down the hallway as if nothing had happened. Chad wasn't so lucky, collapsing on his back.
"Pass..." Chad groaned, before losing consciousness.
Amanda awkwardly approached him. "It was a good try," she murmured.
"Yippi-ki-i-ay, robot!" Milo yelled, twirling several lassos above his head as he rushed down the hall. "Amanda?" he said in surprise. The minor distraction was enough to lose control of the lassos, and several coils rained down on top of them. Milo raised his arm, and Amanda felt a loop tighten on her waist and jerk her forward. She crashed into Milo, who let out a grunt as his back knocked against the lockers.
At least they were still standing.
"Sorry about that, Amanda," Milo laughed nervously. "Usually I'm pretty good with lassos."
"It's all right," Amanda said, checking to make sure there was nothing else in the area that could possibly hurt them. "Don't you have a robot to catch?"
"About that," Amanda's eyes widened when she realized she could feel Milo's fingers wiggling against hers. She looked down in horror, straining to free her arms from the coils around their waists. "Well, there's a lot of benefits to being stuck together by failed lassos. None come to mind right now, but I'm sure there's gotta be one somewhere."
I'm in the splatter zone, I'm in the splatter zone, Amanda took a deep breath, straining not to let the dam burst. She was trapped with Milo! Not only that, but now her schedule was completely screwed up! That binder wasn't going to magically reorganize itself! Inhale, exhale, inhale, exhale, you'll get out of this eventually. Eventually. Probably not in the next five minutes. But eventually is better than never, right?
"Amanda, if you need to scream to let off steam, I don't mind," Milo said, reading her thoughts. "I'd offer you a paper bag, but I can't reach my backpack right now."
"I-I'm fine," Amanda breathed heavily. "I don't need to vocalize my inner frustrations and demise."
"You sure?" Milo asked in concern.
"N-no, you're right," Amanda admitted. "I-I do."
Amanda felt Milo stiffen, his body erect and eyes squeezed shut in preparation. "Just let it out. You'll feel a lot better." he said.
"Okay," Amanda nodded, inhaling sharply. Then a scream erupted from her throat, her pent-up frustrations let loose for all the school to hear. Yearbooks, dumb computers, my schedule, the binder! Argh! she internally wailed.
After several seconds, her scream died off and she gasped for air. "Sorry, Milo," she said, grinning awkwardly. "But you were right about letting off steam."
Milo's cowlick had flopped over at some point during her scream. "Are you kidding?" he laughed. "You have some really strong lungs, Amanda! I haven't heard anyone scream like that since Melissa and I rode Greased Thunder! We should go to Lard World sometime!"
"Haha, lard and rollercoasters really aren't my thing," she giggled, respecting Melissa even more for going on such a dangerous ride with Milo. "And I don't think anyone's ever complimented my lungs before."
"Well, what's not to like? We wouldn't be alive without them! Unless we were fish, or mermaids," Milo said.
"Milo, did you catch the robot? I would've been here sooner but a certain someone just had to dawdle in music class!" Melissa wasted no time, opening the flap on Milo's backpack. She dug around to find a can of cheese spray, glaring at Zack.
"I wasn't dawdling," Zack retorted. "I stayed behind to help clean up the spit the brass section left."
"You see? Dawdling," Melissa replied.
Amanda blinked. "Don't you have a pocket knife? Or scissors?"
"No, I was trying to lasso the robot but it backfired. And pocket knives are against school rules, but I do have a neat Swiss Army one at home," Milo said.
"Came in pretty useful during the Woodpecker Incident," Melissa commented.
"And nobody's going to address that Chad's unconscious?" Zack gestured to Chad's body. "How did this happen anyway?"
"The robot ran him over," Amanda explained. "Those treads won't be easy to wash out."
"Robot?" Zack raised an eyebrow.
"Yeah, that was my bad," Milo chuckled sheepishly. "I do have all-purpose bleach that can rinse out orange juice, oil, and pterodactyl blood though. I'll just let him borrow it for a while. Melissa, if you'd please?"
Melissa's entire arm vanished into the backpack as she felt around. "Got it!" she exclaimed, holding up a container of bleach. She placed the bleach next to Chad, and attached a sticky note with a hastily-scribbled explanation on it.
"Mr. Drako has this period off. We got lucky," Zack sighed. "Let's get you two free."
Milo and Amanda attempted to walk, only to stumble as their legs knocked against each other. They shuffled along carefully for several feet, before sending pleading looks to Melissa and Zack. "I'll take Amanda," Melissa rested a hand on Amanda's shoulder, giving it a reassuring squeeze.
Zack hesitated, his hand hovering uncertainly over Milo as he tried to figure out a good position. "I don't bite," Milo said.
"You don't, but there are plenty of things that could come out of the vents that would," Zack finally settled for the strap of Milo's backpack.
The other students waved casually to them as they passed by. If anybody else thought anything was strange about this situation, they didn't let it show. After what felt like an eternity, the quartet finally reached Mr. Drako's classroom.
"Watch your step. It's gonna be dark in there," Melissa cautioned before knocking on the door.
"Ow, just a minute!" the group flinched as they heard several loud crashes coming from the other side and a cat screeching. "Agnes, get out of the coffins!"
"Should we ask what the coffins are for or not?" Zack asked.
"Maybe he sleeps in them," Milo suggested. "Or it could be for a reenactment."
"What sort of reenactment would involve coffins?" Melissa asked.
"Recreating the Egyptian embalming process is the only one I can think of," Milo mused. "Like how they pulled out the brain through the nose. Or removed most of the internal organs except the heart and treated them with chemicals. And-"
"Milo, I'm just going to warn you right now that I have a delicate stomach," Amanda gagged, feeling queasy at the thought of treating dead people.
"Sorry," Milo said. "But the entire process is pretty cool. And I had a distant relative affected by the Mummy's Curse once."
"Really?" Zack gasped.
"Yup!" Milo nodded. "Turns out she was faking it the entire time. She got kicked out of the sideshow after that."
"Oh. I thought you were going to say she died from it," Zack looked slightly disappointed, as if he had been expecting a better story.
Before Milo could reply, the door opened. Mr. Drako's tie was askew, and he was wiping his forehead with a cloth. "What can I help you with?" he asked.
"There was an accident with the robot from the engineering club," Amanda explained. "Milo was trying to catch it with a lasso, but we got tangled up instead."
"And Chad got run over by the robot," Melissa added.
"Robot treads are hard to wash out," Mr. Drako said, shaking his head in sympathy. "Well, come in! I'll see what I can do about your predicament. Sorry about the mess, I was trying to set up the coffins for a lesson on Ancient Egypt and Agnes keeps climbing in when I'm trying to close them."
Mr. Drako's classroom always had low lighting, but Amanda had never noticed how creepy it actually was until all the chairs had been replaced by coffins. A black cat with amber eyes perched on the teacher's desk, looking extremely smug.
"I thought Agnes was your ex-wife," Zack ran a finger across the cover of a coffin, then carefully wiped the dust on the underside of a desk.
"She is," Mr. Drako replied. "She named the cat. Never had that much creativity, I'm afraid." He held up a blunt pair of safety scissors, frowning. "This is the only pair of scissors I have. Of course it's no good."
"Normally I'd be asking how the district was able to pay for thirty coffins and not be able to provide us with basic school supplies, but I learned from the Acadecamathalon to never ask those sorts of questions again," Melissa said.
"Oh, the district didn't pay for them," Mr. Drako said, oblivious to the alarmed faces of his students. Amanda now had a mental image of their teacher raiding an ancient castle for corpses. She immediately switched to thinking of fuzzy, playful puppies and making color-coded schedules.
Milo was the first to recover from that piece of information. "Yeah. We're just going to digress now. We were planning to use the mouse that lived in this classroom. And we brought cheese spray!"
Melissa hesitated. "Maybe someone should take Agnes out of the room first. You don't want her eating your only hope of freedom."
"I wouldn't say the mouse is our only hope of freedom," Milo shrugged. "I have tools at home for this. Or we could call your dad, Melissa. Or use one of Mrs. Underwood's surgical instruments."
"I do not want any scalpels or needles near me unless I am actually in a hospital, please," Amanda warned.
Mr. Drako found some catnip in a drawer and tickled Agnes' nose with it, attempting to entice her. Her tail twitched, but she didn't budge. "Not the catnip type, huh?" Zack asked dryly.
"Doesn't look like it," Mr. Drako replied. "Let's go Ag-AH! Get her off! Get her off!" She sprang at his face when he tried to pick her up, hissing angrily.
Melissa and Zack rushed to help dislodge Agnes, while she snapped at them irritably. Melissa retracted her hand, barely avoiding a clawed paw. After several seconds Zack managed to find a good grip on Agnes, and pulled her off. She swiped at the air and thrashed in his arms,fur bristling.
"I'm glad Bast doesn't act like that," Amanda relaxed, not realizing that she had tensed up earlier.
"You named your cat after an Egyptian goddess? That's so cool!" Milo exclaimed.
Amanda blushed at the compliment. "I had a mythology phase when I was little." She watched as Mr. Drako began applying ointment to the scratches on his face. At least they weren't that deep.
"Guys, what do I do now?" Zack asked nervously. His hand brushed the back of Agnes' ear who quieted instantly from her yowling. "Um, good kitty?" She started nuzzling his neck, purring. "I guess nobody knew about her secret spot."
"I'll say," Melissa snapped a photo with her phone.
"You better not be posting that to social media," Zack continued to scratch Agnes' head.
Melissa smirked. "I won't. Kitties are popular on the net though. You'd be an insta-star for the next half hour."
"Zack, you're like a cat whisperer! But getting back to business, can you distract her while Melissa uses the cheese spray and lures out the mouse?" Milo asked.
"Okay, I'll be in the back," Zack retreated to a distant corner, cooing softly to Agnes the entire time.
"I've never seen Agnes so complacent before. My ex-wife trained her, after all," Mr. Drako remarked.
Which probably explains a lot, Amanda thought. She winced as Melissa carefully sprayed the cheese smell on the rope, silently hoping she wouldn't come away smelling like dairy.
"We're just using the standard cheddar one," Milo explained, sensing her discomfort. "For rodents that are four feet and above, an aged spray works better." Amanda pulled a face. "We've never been in a situation where we needed to use it though."
"There was that one time with the rhesus monkeys where we had to ward them off with Limburger cheese," Melissa wrinkled her nose in disgust, spraying a trail to the mouse hole behind the teacher's desk. "Done." She capped the spray, placing it in Milo's backpack. "Everyone quiet."
Amanda worried that Agnes was going to eat the mouse before they could get out, but so far Zack was doing a great job of blocking her view and providing a distraction. Two minutes passed, and a snout finally poked out from the hole. Finally, a gray mouse emerged, following the scent trail to Amanda and Milo. Milo snickered as the mouse climbed up his leg, nibbling at the rope around his waist. Bits of rope fell to the floor. Once Milo's hands were free, he began to gently tug at the rope that was restraining Amanda's hands.
She looked away. Suddenly the temperature was rising. My schedule after I get home, she thought. Research okapis for my science project, email members of the Yearbook Committee, hour break for showering and eating, find a way to stop blushing. Why can't I stop blushing? Why does being around Milo cause everything to be so unpredictable?
She had to admit, sometimes unpredictability wasn't a horrible thing. Order and Chaos balanced the world. Without Order, Chaos would destroy and consume everything in its path. Without Chaos, Order would be too rigid and life would no longer have its mysterious charm.
"Amanda, the rope's gone," Milo held up the now useless rope. "I'll have to get another replacement. Thanks, mouse!" Milo waved to the rodent as it scampered back to its hole.
She hadn't realized she was free from the restraints. "Thanks," she gave him a weak smile, unsure of what to say now. Breathing deeply, she continued. "After school lets out, do you want to go to the store and find some more rope together? The least I can do is pay for it after everything that happened today."
"You don't need to-" Milo's mouth gaped opened like a fish. "What about your schedule? I know you like everything precise and ordered."
"My normal schedule for Thursday has been off since 3rd period today," Amanda shrugged. "Give me ten to fifteen minutes and I can plan accordingly for this outing and the rest of the day. Melissa and Zack can come too if they want."
"I'm sorry if I messed up your schedule. I didn't-" Amanda cut him off.
"You didn't mean to," she smiled. "I know. And it's alright. I need a break from all this rigidness."
"Well, in that case I'll accept!" Milo perked up instantly. "You wanna go Melissa?"
Melissa winked at Amanda. "I just remembered I procrastinated on an essay. I'll have to finish it when I get home." Somehow Amanda knew there was more to that excuse, though she couldn't quite place it.
"That's too bad," Milo said in sympathy, turning to the corner where Zack and Agnes sat. "Zack, do you wanna come to the store with Amanda and me after school?" he shouted.
"We do have a light bulb burned out in the living room. Maybe I-" Zack's eyes widened when he looked over to the side. Milo didn't notice, but Amanda followed his gaze to Melissa, who was making wild gestures and shaking her head. She stopped and cleared her throat when she spotted Amanda staring at her, rubbing her arms casually. "Uh, maybe I should take the time to actually look at the box they came in even though it's probably with a bunch of other stuff in the attic so I don't accidentally buy the wrong model or watts! If I buy the wrong one, then we could have a power failure and the wi-fi would go out and that would be awful!" Zack gave an unconvincing smile. He let go of Agnes, who pawed at his shoes and meowed unhappily.
"Guess it's just you and me!" Milo turned to Amanda, grinning from ear to ear.
Amanda nodded. "Do you want to help me make the schedule? You can help me decide on the colors."
"Hold on a second, you two," Melissa gave them a time-out signal. "Has anybody seen Mr. Drako? He just disappeared on us."
They looked around, unable to find a trace of their teacher. A snore sounded from a coffin in the front. Milo lifted the cover and peered inside. "He's asleep," he said. "Do you think these coffins are more comfortable than they look?"
"Who knows?" Melissa replied.
"Let's go," Amanda tugged on Milo's arm. "Before the library gets up and walks away."
"Technically the library can't get up and walk away," Milo said as they exited the classroom. "Unless it's secretly a robot."
"There's a lot of potential outcomes if the library was secretly a robot," Amanda said, smiling softly.
Murphy's Law was unpredictable. And sometimes a little chaos and the element of surprise were exactly what she needed.