The Nerd and The Jock Chapter 1-Bad News
It was a pretty regular day at Royal Woods Middle School. Students were in their respective classes at the time when they were supposed to be. One of them being Physical Education during 5th Hour, which was around 11:30 going on a little afternoon. In this class was perhaps the most physically active girl in school, who was on every single sports team you could think of. And that was Lynn Loud Jr.
She was 13 years old, and was a sports star for the ages. She could do anything when it came to sports. Football, basketball, roller derby, rugby, wrestling, hockey, everything. She was the true definition of the word: Jock.
However, when it came to intelligence skills, like Math, Science, and Language Arts, she was anything BUT skilled at all. Even though she was tutored by her younger sister Lisa, she would still barely pass classes with C's, D's, and, if she was lucky on some days, B's. Throughout her whole school year, not once did she ever get an A on a homework assignment or a big test. Sometimes, when she would have an off day, she'd flat out fail a test or a homework assignment that would have a big F on it. Usually, it wouldn't bother her all that much, as long as she could still be on the sports team. That was all that mattered to her when it came to her grades.
That's how it usually is with her, until this day. Her and her classmates were playing kickball. She was on the same team with her friends Polly Pain, who was on her Roller Derby team, and Margo, who was on her Basketball team. They were really killing it in this game. Even though the teacher wasn't keeping score, in her head, she was. It was Lynn and her friends 15 and the other team 14. They were up by one point, and wanted to stay ahead before the end of the period.
Lynn was up next, ready to kick the ball as hard as she could. However, as she was in line, she noticed one of her coaches for her sports teams. This one being her kickboxing coach, Mr. Liddell. He looked in great shape for his age. He looked to be about 48 years old, and yet still looked like a guy whom you did NOT want to get on the bad side of. Not that she wasn't happy to see him, but what was he doing here at this hour?
He came up to the gym teacher, who was named Mrs. Nichols, and quickly spoke to her. She then looked to Lynn and called her.
"Lynn, your coach needs to speak with you in private." She told Lynn.
She shrugged and said "Okay. Coming coach." She looked back at her friends and said "Tell me how the game ends, okay?" Polly and Margo nodded yes to her. She smiled and followed her coach into his office, which was actually next door to the gym.
She came into his office with him, as he closed the door behind them. She sat in the chair in front of his desk, which was where he was sitting now. As he looked at Lynn, she noticed he looked pretty serious about what he was about to say. Like, he was about to deliver bad news to her. What could it possibly be?
"So, uh, why'd you wanna see me coach? Anything to do with the big meet coming up next month? You don't gotta worry about me. I'm ready for anything." She said, while flexing her muscles, further showing off her big ego.
Mr. Liddell was silent for a little bit, which slightly intimidated Lynn, due to the look on his face. He looked like he was about to give her bad news. How bad is it though?
"That's actually why I wanted to talk to you Loud. Now, before I tell you anything, let me just say that I think your one of my best students on the team. You've really shown me how passionate you are about kickboxing and every other sport in general. I'm proud of you for that." He said giving her a proud smile. She also gave a smile, showing appreciation for what he said. That, or she was just stroking her ego on the inside.
Then he got a straight look on his face, showing that this was where the bad news was about to be told.
"And that's why I have to be honest with you Loud. As good as you are, you probably aren't going to be on the team much longer if you don't shape up." He said to her.
Lynn looked confused, not understanding what he meant. "Shape Up"? What did that mean?
"What do you mean? Are you saying I'm not in good shape? I can train harder if you want." She said looking nervous about what he meant. Did he think she was fat? She hoped not.
"That's not the type of "shape up" I mean." He reached into a filing cabinet that was attached to his desk. "THIS is what I mean by "shape up" Lynn." He said showing her a small piece of paper to her face.
Lynn was surprised at what she saw. She didn't think he, or anybody else other than her teachers, had access to this.
It was her report card.
She hadn't exactly been taking her classes as serious like she did with her sports teams. And it showed on the card. It read:
Math - F
Science - C
Reading - C+
Language Arts - C
Social Studies - F
Physical Education - A
Spanish - B
Keyboarding - C-
Her eyes widened in shock when she looked at the Math and Social Studies. She had no idea she was failing those classes that badly. The other classes were okay, Spanish was actually one of her better classes. She learned some Spanish from Francisco, who played baseball against Lynn many times. She also kind of had a crush on him, and would leave love notes in his helmet. Unfortunately, a couple months ago, Francisco and his family had to move away to Wisconsin, due to his father getting a great job over there. So, that kinda bummed her out a bit. But, she got over it eventually.
"No way! No way, that can't be right. There's gotta be some kind of mistake." Lynn said as she started to freak out a little bit. She knew that if her grades were this bad, she couldn't complete on any sports team. And she was failing TWO classes.
Mr. Liddell shook his head. "Sorry Loud, but report cards don't lie. You haven't been doing well with Math and Social Studies. Your teachers even tell me you failed your last three tests and last three homework assignments." He said to her as he leaned back slightly in his chair.
Lynn had no idea she was failing this badly. She put her hands to her head and just groaned. Mr. Liddell could tell she was not happy about this. He felt bad, but he had to tell her this. It was for her own good.
She removed her hands from her head and spoke. "Okay, so I'm dumb when it comes to boring classes like Math and Social Studies. Dumb as a sack of potatoes. Think I'm happy about it?" She said with her head down in shame and sadness. She felt bummed that someone like her kickboxing coach is getting on her about her grades.
Mr. Liddell put his hand on her shoulder as a way to console her.
"Hey, don't beat yourself down. I'll admit, I wasn't good at Math back when I was your age. I know what it's like to feel all bummed out about my grades." He said to the most comforting way he could. It didn't work all that well, seeing as how Lynn was still looking as depressed as ever.
If he thought telling her that her grades weren't that good made her feel bad, what he was about to say next was gonna REALLY make Lynn feel like she got punched in the stomach.
He sighed and said "Loud, you do realize what I'm about to say now, right?"
Lynn's lip quivered as she already knew what he was going to say to her. "I'm kicked off the team, aren't I?" She said with a few light tears in her eyes.
Mr. Liddell felt terrible for what he was about to do. Seeing one of his best students, if not THE best student on the team, looking sad and depressed that they couldn't be on the team anymore, due to bad grades, made him feel bad for her. He felt like he wanted to do something to help her. However, he knew he had to be a fair coach to all his students. And that included Lynn.
"Sadly, yes. You know it's nothing personal. I have to be fair towards all my students. I can't play favorites with you Loud. You know that." Lynn put her hands on her head again in frustration and shame. "So, until you can get your grades up to at least a C-, I can't allow you to be on the kickboxing team anymore. Sorry Loud, but it is for the best." He said sounding compassionate toward her.
Lynn got up from her chair and left his office with a sad look on her face. She felt like crap. She felt stupid for not taking her grades as serious as she should have. Now, she was off a team she really liked being on. Granted, she liked ALL her sports teams, but kickboxing was in her top 3 favorite, along with baseball and roller derby. And now, unless she got her grades up, she wasn't aloud on the team anymore.
When she got out of Mr. Liddell's office, Gym had ended already. She never got to see the finished of the kickball game she was apart of. How else could this day get any worse?