"Sakura! Hey, sis, wait up!" a voice called. I looked around before putting my head down and trudging to my next class. My brother, Hiro, bounced along beside me like an excited puppy, but with a smug look on his face. I rolled my eyes as I turned into English. I'd decided to take it last minute, hoping to have at least one class where I wasn't completely ignored. Of course, my little brother did the exact same thing as I did, and took it. I guessed I should feel flattered, but all I felt was the indigestion of bitter resentment.
I am Sakura Hamada, 17 years old, making me three years younger than Tadashi, and almost four years older than Hiro. I stand at an average 5'1.5", and have the same black hair that my brothers have. I cut my hair and donated some to charity when I was Hiro's age. I was proud of the attention it gave me, but it was only for a little while as Hiro began to show gifts in robotics, much like our older brother. I, on the other hand, had shown well-rounded cooking skills, and a knack for programming. Simply by looking at a program, I could tell what the issue was, whether it be a typo or a paradox. I cringed and refrained from covering my ears when the PA system shrieked and started up.
I smiled softly. Line 427. They made a bit of a typo, then hired a bad electrician, I snorted. Amateurs.
"Mister Xiang?" came the principal's nasally voice, clipped with just the slightest of slurs.
"Yes, Mrs. Seoul?" replied Mr. Xiang, not looking up from his newspaper. Hiro and I took our seats. He'd chosen to sit next to me, and I had begrudgingly gone along with it. I pulled out a book and opened it to where I had bookmarked it.
"Is Sakura there? I'd like to see her in my office," Mrs. Seoul snarked. The class "oohhh'd" as I gathered my things and looked at the teacher. He glanced up at me and flicked two fingers toward the door. I nodded and left the room, trying not to cheer as, for once, I had been noticed as a stand-alone person. I did allow myself a small fist pump, though, as I walked down the hall.
I walked into the principal's office and sat down in a plastic chair to wait for her. The receptionist, Mrs. Ling, was playing a game of Solitaire on her computer. It glitched out and her computer crashed. She sighed and looked at me pleadingly. I laughed and left my things to help her boot her computer back up. I had a memory stick with me that had everything she needed. Within two minutes her computer was working again. She thanked me and put Solitaire back up. The phone rang and she picked it up. "Alright, Mrs. Seoul, I'll send her in," she said before hanging up and looking over at me. I closed my book and gathered my belongings before heading into the principals office.
"Hello, Ms. Hamada," the principal said. Tadashi and Aunt Cass were both in there. A third chair sat vacant and waiting for me. I sat down, suddenly feeling every eye in the room turn to me. My eyes widened and I studied the carpet. I noticed an error in the programming there too.
Line 746. Knit instead of a purl, I thought. That's what I do to keep calm, I find the errors in material things.
Tadashi was the first to speak after a long period of silence. "So the principal has told us that you haven't been participating in any of your classes. Care to explain?" he asked gently. I barked a laugh.
"'Not participating?!' Are you mad? I've been participating from day freaking one! You try sitting in class next to Hiro. I'll give an answer, the teacher will say wrong, Hiro will say the exact same answer I did, and the teacher will say correct," I fumed. Aunt Cass silenced me with a look.
"I've heard from your teachers, Sakura," she said. "They tell me that you've been struggling. If you don't bring your grades up, you won't pass."
"Urgh! I'll prove it, then! Let me wear a hidden camera, and I'll prove that I am participating in class!" I cried, fighting back tears. I lowered my gaze to keep them from seeing the water building in my eyes.
"Fair enough," Mrs. Seoul said. The final bell rang. "In the meantime, go home and come back tomorrow with a better attitude, Ms. Hamada, or you will be expelled!"
I bit back a retort. Tadashi handed me a helmet as I put my stuff back in my bag and threw it on my back. I put my helmet on when we got outside. Aunt Cass and Hiro got in the truck while Tadashi and I rode on his scooter. He zipped to his university
"What are we doing here?" I asked as he parked. He looked back at me in surprise, as though he'd forgotten what I was doing there.
"I've got a night class. We'll go home after, I promise," he assured me. "Besides, you haven't seen my lab yet."
Great! More things to analyze and more people to ignore me...I thought unenthusiastically. We walked in and he dropped me off before nipping inside his studio to grab some things. I felt my innate curiosity overtake my shyness and I began to explore, keeping my hands behind my back.
