So basically, we got super bored one day and Rumpy had all the characters set as high schoolers/teachers. It resulted in this. I guess it's pretty much like..."diary" writing of Tyler...without the actual diary. :I Anywho, yeah. Each chapter is an adventure, and half-chapters will be Interviews with new people. You'll see what I mean soon. :) Enjoy!
*DISCLAIMER* RV makes no claim to own Tremors or its characters. They are the property of S.S. Wilson and ScyFy Entertainment. No profit is made from this writing.
The New Kid
Green, tan, brown, green, tan, brown, green, tan, brown. Okay colors until you put them on lockers in a never-ending pattern. Then it just gets sort of boring when you walk down the hallway. Green, tan, brown, green, tan, brown, and it just goes on and on and on, down every hallway in this school on both sides. It's like walking through a world of camouflage. I got no idea how many lockers there are exactly, I don't think anyone really does. There's just a lot.
Finally, the principal's office. We just got a new principal here last week, again. Principals go fast in this high school for some reason.
New Principal smiles at me as I walk in. He's sitting at his desk and there's another kid sitting in one of the other chairs. He's got short dark brown hair and wide brown eyes. Everything about him just seems to scream GEEK although that may be the "I survived an alien abduction" T-Shirt he's wearing with the picture of a little green alien staring out of a UFO.
"Ah, Mr. Reed," New Principal greets me. "This is our new student, Lawrence Norvel. He is a transfer student from Kenosha, Wisconsin," he explains, motioning to the over-excited kid. "I was hoping you would show him around the school for the day."
I glance at the kid again, raising an eyebrow slightly. Why he's so excited to be here I don't know. Most people aren't. Outsiders find Perfection too boring and strange. Guess that's why the principals don't last long.
"Why me?" I ask. Not that I want to be rude but I have better things to do with my day than have a new kid following me around like a shadow.
"Seeing as you are one of the most social kids I've met at this school, I thought you would be best for the job," the man says.
Well, he's a got a point there. I'm a natural people person at heart and can get along with almost anyone. I shrug and turn back to the door. "Whatever. Come on, class starts soon and I don't wanna be late."
The new kid nods eagerly, scampering after me. "Thanks for doing this!" he beams. "You can call me Larry. I've heard a lot of cool things about this school."
"Yeah?" I take his schedule to see what his classes are. "Like what?"
"I hear you have a great softball team, your teachers are really cool, and rules and stuff aren't as strict around here," Larry lists, almost bouncing as he follows.
"It's not that they're not strict, they just don't survive very well," I reply. "Looks like you have Algebra with Miss Triinally first. And then we both have Science with Poff." I hand the schedule back. "His class is kinda hard to find so just wait for me after the bell and we'll walk together. You'll get lost otherwise."
"Okay!" he says happily. "Where's the algebra class?"
"Just up here." I nod to the door just ahead of us with a plaque saying 'Miss Triinally' just as the bell rings, telling us to get to class. "I'll see ya later."
"See ya, bro," Larry says, quickly entering the room.
I continue on down the hall to my own class. History with Mr. Winnemucca, a Native American whose ancestors have lived in the area for a long time. He knows a lot of really cool native stories and is one of the more popular teachers.
I walk in and take my seat next to the window. Nice view of the campus but also the worst. Because I have to sit next to the most annoying person in the world, maybe even the universe. Melvin Plugg, the richest kid in the valley. His parents disappeared when he was little and he inherited the entire estate and all their money. No one's knows where they went, some say they simply ran away, some say they were murdered (there's a lot of mystery around where they got their money), and some say they went off to Vegas for a night, got drunk, and completely forgot where they lived. Either way Melvin was raised by the helping staff and was still a spoiled brat.
"Hey Reed," said annoyance pokes me on the arm. "Did you finish the homework?"
"Forget it Plugg, I'm not lettin' you copy."
"Aww, come on," Melvin pouts. "You know I ain't any good at history."
"Then try gettin' help," I reply smugly, tapping a finger to my temple. He huffs at that and sits back in his seat again.
Shortly after that, the tardy bell rang, condemning any students still in the hall without a pass late for class. Mr. Winnemucca took a quick attendance at his computer, and then stepped to the front of the class. "Can everyone take out the homework I assigned?"
Melvin grumbles something under his breath and I roll my eyes. On the bright side, it'll be funny seeing him get busted for not doing the assignment.
The teacher goes around to each student, a clipboard in hand. When he gets to Melvin and me, he gives Melvin a look and scribbles something on the paper. I can't help but grin at the look on Melvin's face.
Class goes on from there, mostly reading about the French Revolution. Those dudes were weird.
The hour passed quickly and before I know I'm walking down the hallway with Larry again as he bounces behind me. Seriously what is with him? He's so hyper.
Suddenly, half way to our required destination, I'm interrupted mid-step by someone grabbing my arm. The girl who did so has hair and eyes that match mine. "Hey, Ty," she smiles. "I heard you're leading a new kid around. I want to interview him for the newspaper."
I roll my eyes. Leave it to Sky to be on top of every new thing in this place. I look to Larry. "Larry, this is my twin sister, Skyler. Sky, meet the new kid, Larry."
"Hi! It's nice to meet you!" Larry says excitedly.
She smiles back at him. "Nice to meet you too. So, about that interview?"
"That would be cool!" he chimes, "But I have to get to a class right now. How about at lunch?" he asks.
"Sure," she responds. "See you then." As quick as my sister arrived, she left.
I shake my head and continue walking. "You have no idea what you just got yourself into. Hope you don't have any embarrassing secrets."
He gives me a puzzled look. "Not really," he says, a bit confused, still following.
"Good. Word of advice: don't ever get any while you're here." I flash him a grin and grab the handle of a large grey door he nearly starts to pass before pausing. I pull it open and nod to the stairs that lead down to the basement. "Science class is down there."
He looks down over the railing. "In the basement?" he asks, surprised.
"Yep. Professor Poffenburger is kinda...odd. So the school makes him do his science class down here so he doesn't destroy the place or somethin'. Oh, you're not allergic to dogs are you?"
"No... How come?" he asks, eyes wide.
"You'll see," I tell him, starting down the stairs. It's not long before we come to the hallway that leads to the science room. "People say this used to be a bomb shelter during the Cold War but they decided to put a school over it after the nuclear threat passed," I explain, watching Larry's reaction. "And apparently before that these were just plain dirt tunnels built by bandits. Sky's convinced there's some secret down here from those times, like treasure or something."
"Woah," Larry breathed out in shock. "That's like National Treasure, when the Templar Treasure is under Trinity Church," he says, beaming.
I raise an eyebrow at him, glancing down at his shirt again. National Treasure wasn't exactly sci-fi but it still held the same adventurous element. "You're big on movies like that ain't ya?" I ask.
He nods excitedly as we reach the room.
The professor is standing at the front of the classroom, watching some experiment of his intently. I walk up to him and tap him on the shoulder.
"Ah! Tyler, hello," he smiles happily and gestures to the experiment. "I was just, testing to see what would happen when I added vinegar to that compound, Jodi accidently made last week." He speaks with a lot of breaks and pauses which isn't really surprising given how old he is. Not to mention the amount of 'accidents' he's had in the lab already.
"I thought you weren't allowed to test new stuff during school hours," I remind him with a slight grin.
The excited smile on his face fades slightly as he frowns. "Oh yeah..." He straightens with a huff. "Oh well, let's start class then."
"Hi," Larry pipes up from behind me, stepping around. "I'm Larry Norvel! I'm a new student here," he smiles.
"Oh, a new student huh?" the professor looks at him curiously. "And quite into the, science world I see."
"Yeah, I love science fiction especially," he grins.
"Indeed." The professor stares at him for another moment before smiling brightly. "Good to have you aboard Mr. Norvel. You may call me, Professor Poffenburger, or Poff as some kids do."
"Okay, Professor Poffenburger," he chirped excitedly, hopping over to a seat.
I follow him, sitting on the other side of the science table. Each table is long enough to fit three people on one side with space in between. Poff (yeah, I'm one of the kids who calls him that, most of our group does) is looking for the attendance sheet on his cluttered desk. He never uses the electronic version for some reason, just doesn't like it I guess. But he's always losing the sheet so I don't know why.
Five minutes after the late bell's rung and he still hasn't found it. I'm leaning back in my chair, bouncing my pencil between my fingers, when I hear small footsteps come from the hallway. I look over to see a small Asian face peer around the wall, looking for the teacher. I glance at him but he's turned away so doesn't notice anything. I give the all clear sign and my friend hurries over and slides into the seat between me and Larry, giving a sigh of relief.
"Aha!" Poff finally holds up the attendance sheet in triumph and starts calling roll.
"Wow Jodi, I've never known you to be late for anything," I whisper teasingly. Jodi's one of those straight A's students who never misses a class, never gets in trouble (as far as the principals are concerned), and never gets tardies.
She just makes a face at me and turns to Larry. "Who're you?"
Larry bites his bottom lip, looking a little bit like a deer in the headlights. "I-I'm Larry. Larry Norvel," he says, quickly regaining his goofy smile.
"He's the new kid," I add. "New Principal asked me to show him around today. And Sky's already demanded an interview with him."
Jodi laughs. "Just like Skyler. It's good to have you here Larry. I'm Jodi," she holds out her hand for a shake.
He accepts it nervously. "It's, uh, nice to meet you," he grins.
"Okay," Poff finishes with the role and faces the class. "Today, we are going to do a special experiment. Is anyone in here, familiar with, elephant poop?"
Elephant poop? I exchange a glance with Jodi, wondering how long school would be cancelled this time. Larry gives me a confused look, as if asking for an explanation. I can only shrug.
"No one? Really?" Poff looks slightly disappointed and sighs. "What do they teach kids these days?" he mumbles.
I raise my hand hesitantly and he perks up a little. "I've seen an elephant at the zoo once," I say, not sure if that's what he's talking about but I figure it's better than nothing.
He just laughs. "Not that kind of poop. I'm talking about..." he turns and picks up a beaker from his desk, pouring something into it. At first nothing happened but after a few moments the solution turned brown, a few more and a hard, slightly bubbly substance started rising from the beaker. "...this kind of poop."
The room is suddenly filled with murmuring sounds of awe and amazement. The professor grins. "Can anyone tell me how I did that?"
A blonde girl raises her hand. "A... um... chemical reaction?" she offers.
"Well, yes," Poff says. "But what kind?" He looks around the room again. "Anyone?"
"It's the dehydration of sucrose by sulfuric acid," a voice says from the back of the room. "I've never heard it called Elephant Poop though, most call it a Carbon Snake."
"Right you are, Roger!" Poff grins. "By adding the acid to sugar and, mixing it up, it dehydrates the sugar and creates, graphite." He flicks his finger against the 'Elephant Poop'. "Hard as a rock."
"Wow," Larry whispers, leaning towards me, "That kid's really smart."
"That's Roger Garrett," I whisper back. "He's a major science geek."
Jodi elbows me in the side. "Don't call him that!"
"I meant a good kind of geek!"
She just rolls her eyes at me and turns back to the teacher.
"Cool," Larry responds, turning back to watch Poff.
After that Poff lets us do the experiment for ourselves and then another called Elephant Toothpaste and has us figure out what's going on. Maybe I should have mentioned this earlier but Jodi...she really sucks at science. So the Elephant Toothpaste turns into a bit of a disaster at our table. She got the calculations wrong and all three of us ended up getting completely covered in sticky bubbles.
But man is it funny! We screamed at first but now we just can't stop laughing. Even Poff is laughing at us as he herds us to the chemical showers at the end of the room to get us cleaned off.
Larry giggles as the suds rinse off. "Does the nurse have dry clothes? The nurse at my old school always did."
I laugh. "Our nurse is prepared for anything."
"I guess that's understandable for such a crazy school," he laughs.
Jodi scoffs at that and I laugh harder.
"You ain't seen nothin' yet, man."
Finally it's lunch time. Time to introduce Larry to the rest of the gang. I don't know how but we all somehow managed to get the same lunch together. Not that I'm complaining.
Everyone else is there by the time Larry and I get there. We get our lunch and join them at the table.
"Hey guys."
"Hey, Tyler," a pretty Hispanic girl says with a small wave.
"Hey, Rosalita."
"Who's the new kid?"
"This is Larry. Larry, meet the group, Rosalita, Casey, Roger from science class, and you've met Jodi and Skyler," I introduce.
"Hey! It's nice to meet you!" Larry says as he sits down with his tray of food.
"Nice to meet you, too," Casey, a smart red-headed girl says with a smile. "Where are you from?"
"Wisconsin. My dad got transferred here from his job in Kenosha."
"Transferred?" Roger repeated. "He in the army or somethin'?"
"No," Larry shakes his head, "He owns this big oil company and they just moved the main headquarters out here so he came to oversee the operation."
"Whoa," Jodi looks at him surprise. "He owns it? You must be rich."
He shrugs. "Yeah."
"At least he's not a jerk about it like Melvin," Rosalita says to me.
"Melvin?" Larry asks.
"Plugg," I jerk my head in the direction of the doors where Melvin was standing. "He's the rich kid in this area and a major pain. No one really knows what his deal is."
"Oh," he says, looking a little bit surprised.
"Ok, my turn," Sky suddenly gets up and moves to sit next to Larry, pad and pen in hand. "So, Larry, to start off, how did you like your first day of school?"
Cue simultaneous groan from the table. I love my sister, don't get me wrong...but her interviews can be brutal. And there's no stopping them.