Tina sat nonchalantly at the dinner table as she ate lunch with her family. It was the usual Belcher experience. Louise was tricking Gene into hitting himself, Bob was making bad puns about burgers, and Linda was singing as usual. However, Tina wasn't rambling on about horses or boys as she usually did. This minor thing instantly alarmed her family.
"Um, Tina? Are you alright?" Bob asked his eldest child, thankful to have something to cease Linda's constant singing.
"Hmm? Oh, yeah. I'm fine, Dad. I just feel as if I'm forgetting something," Tina responded.
"Good! Everyone knows I don't like all the attention!" Gene shouted loudly. "I really do," he whispered to Louise.
"Gene," Bob said. "I hope you get over that feeling later on, because you always take the grill."
"Me too," Tina said, looking sadly into her cereal.
With that, everyone went back to their breakfast habits. Tina began to eat breakfast at a pace that wasn't alarming. Linda's phone that buzzed and she pulled it out to see what the problem was.
"It's seven fifteen. It's time to go to school," Linda announced to her children.
"You mean prison," Louise muttered.
"What do you mean? All the school's soap is liquefied!" Gene yelled.
Tina shot straight out of her chair and quickly moved to her book bag. She hoisted it onto her back in one maneuver and headed out the door without a word, leaving her perplexed siblings behind.
"Something's wrong with Tina," Gene said.
"You think?" Louise replied.
"Yes, in fact I do," Gene responded.
Louise hopped from the table as well and left after grabbing her book bag. Gene sad "bye" to his parents, grabbed his book bag, and walked out the door.
Outside, Gene found Louise walking side-by-side with Tina. As he approached them, he heard Tina's sad tone.
"I still feel bad. I wish I could shake this feeling off, but it won't leave!" Tina yelled, as she threw her book bag down to the sidewalk.
"Geez, Tina. What did the book bag ever do to you?" Gene asked.
"I'm sorry, guys. I'm just really frustrated right now," Tina apologized to her younger siblings, picking her book bag up and continuing to walk.
"Maybe you'll feel better when school starts," Louise said, actually feeling sympathy for someone.
"Hmph."
During her first period science class, Tina constantly became submerged in her thoughts. She was completely gone, mentally. Her presence was still in the classroom, but she rarely even blinked. Even the slight lisp of Jimmy Pesto Jr. couldn't get Tina out of her trance.
Once the bell rang, Tina instantly snapped into the world of reality, and bolted out of the classroom. During her five-minute break before second period, she met Gene and Louise by her locker.
"Feeling better yet?" Gene asked Tina.
"The feeling is gone, but my thoughts aren't. I'm concerned," Tina said, depressed.
"You should be concerned, Tina. I'm better than you!" came the voice of Tammy as she strutted down the hall with her blonde friend, Jocelyn.
Tammy Larsen wasn't a natural blonde, unlike Jocelyn. She had dyed her hair shortly after meeting Tina with the attempt to have another reason to say how she was better than Tina. While she always tried to prove she was better than Tina, she always hung around her and her siblings for some odd reason. Jocelyn followed, not really being one to make her own decisions.
"Oh. Hey Tammy," Tina said.
"Don't tell me hey, Tina! We went over this. You're supposed to say 'at least I don't fart whenever I laugh' or something! Now say it!" Tammy corrected Tina.
"Um...all least I don't farther when I laugh, you...skank," Tina said.
"How dare you call me a spank! Take it back!" Tammy demanded.
"Yeah, Tina. Take it back," Jocelyn said.
"Not right now. Tina's occupied at the moment," Louise replied.
"With what?" Tammy asked.
"I'm not sure. I just feel as if I'm missing something," Tina responded.
"Could it maybe be that you guys have a huge math test next period?" asked a voice.
Darryl approached them with a nerdy swagger that made everyone slightly despise or pity him.
"What do you mean?" Tina asked, her eyes widening.
"I mean what I just said," Darryl answered, baffled.
"You didn't know, Tina? That's so irresponsible," Tammy said.
"Yeah, Tina. Stop being irresponsible," Jocelyn said.
The bell suddenly rang, and the six kids hustled off to class. Tina began sweating nervously as she entered the class room. As she sat down, Tina immediately became tense. She calmed down, and took a pencil out if her book bag. As soon as the teacher set her test on her table, Tina gradually began to build confidence.
I can do this, Tina thought. I just have to believe. With that, Tina began to take her test.
She flunked the test, but everyone else did as well. Tina remained in Remedial Math with the same batch of students as last week.