CHAPTER 1
"Come on KK we don'th have all day!" Sollux yelled from up front.
"Darn it Sol, I'm coming, be patient." Karkat, Sollux's best friend yelled back, desperately trying to catch up to the taller boy. Sollux chuckled a bit at his smaller friend.
"Thayth the kid that can'th wait 2 theconds in the lunch line." Sollux said to Karkat once he finally got to where Sollux was standing, the front of their elementary school.
"Shut the heck up, Captor! I have great patience." the Cancer yelled at his Gemini friend. Both boys laughed about it all the way down the hallway. Teachers telling them to be quiet because classes were going on and the kindergartners were napping at the time, but neither kid cared. Before they knew it they were in front of Ms. Crocker's 4th grade classroom. Looks like they were both too busy laughing, talking, and playing to notice.
"Oh, were here alreathy. Come on, lets go." Sollux said with a happy tone in his voice.
"Are you really that excited, dude? It's already freakin February." Karkat said back to Sollux.
"Uh, yeah. You know I acthually like goin' to school unlike you and everyone elthe at thith school." Sollux said while playfully punching Karkat in the arm.
"I don't get you sometimes, Sol." Karkat replied to his friend.
They openned the door to see colorful posters all around the classroom and messily created artwork hanged up on the walls, a few assignments that had gold stars or smiley faces on them hung here and there. A typical 4th grade classroom that would welcome any 8 to 9 year old. The boys walked into the classroom and were immediately greeted by their teacher, Ms. Jane Crocker.
"Good morning, sweethearts. How were your weekends?" Ms. Crocker chirped with joy. Even though it was hard at times, being a teacher was great for Jane and her colleagues(well except for Roxy). It also seemed like the kids liked them, too(again except for Roxy).
"Good morning, Ms. Crocker." Both boys said in unison. "Mine wath fine. How wath yourth?" Sollux asked his teacher.
"It was fine, thank you for asking. How about you, Karkat. How was your weekend."
Karkat shrugged,"It was okay, Ms. C." Karkat said as he pulled a smile for Ms. Crocker. She gave a sweet smile back, lines indenting her face showing a bit of aging.
"Okay boys, it was good to here that you had nice days, but now it's time for class to start so please take your seats and we'll get our day started." Ms. Crocker said as she stood up from her desk.
The boys walked to their little section of the classroom with their other friends, Terezi, John, and Dave. John greeted them with an excited wave and a big toothy smile that showed off his front buck teeth. Terezi gave a small smile when she looked up from her coloring book and crayons and Dave sat there looking like his cool, ironic self.
"Hey guys." Sollux said as he took his seat in a little yellow chair and set his bags down next to him.
"Hey Sollux, hey Karkat!" John and Terezi both said. As they went into a 'jinx' battle, Dave just gave a nod of the head. "Whats up, guys"
"Nothing much, how about you guys?" Karkat responded.
It was the same things that everyone did every weekend. Dave and John played video games and Terezi painted, drew, and colored non-stop only this time she ate a green crayon by accident instead of her usual red ones.
"I decided to try a new color...worst decision ever! I'm gonna stick with my red ones. I'm scared I might get sick now." Terezi said while she cleaned her glasses on her shirt.
"How can you even eat those things in general, Terezi! I'm scared you'll get sick anyways." John said frantically.
"Wait, so is that where all the red crayons have been going, I've been doing double pirouettes off the handle just trying to find one for the last month! And thats probably the reason why Ms. C had us using pink instead of red for our Valentines this year! Dave said while trying to keep his cool expression.
"I'm sorry, but I get hungry between hours, Strider." Terezi said in defense.
"Then why don't try being a normal person like Gamzee and eat glue instead?"
Terezi grimaced. "Ewww okay 1. On what universe is Gamzee, out of all people, normal? 2. Why would I want to have sticky, gooey, white stuff in my mouth?(A/N ." okay that sounded soooooooo wrong for a 9 year old Terezi to say), and 3. Where's the fun in normal, anyways."
"Good points." John chirped in.
"Whatever Pyrope, don't go crying to Ms. C when you're pooping out a rainbow like nyan cat."
The rest of the day went on like normal. Ms. Crocker introducing new long division problems and everyone practicing them. Everyone seemed to get the hang of it except for Karkat, Gamzee, and a few other kids. Luckily, Sollux was there to help. He was a naturally smart kid and great with computers and technology at his age. He won plenty of awards for his grades already. Other kids like Rose, Kanaya, and even Eridan did, too. Karkat, on the other hand was never that good but also not that bad in school. He needs help every once in a while and after a while he'll get the gist of most things. He wasn't as good as best friend, but not as bad as Gamzee. He was in between and that was just the way he liked it. After sitting in class for a while Ms. Crocker decided it would be a good idea to let the kids stretch outside for a while.
"FIRST DIBS ON THE SWINGS!" an overly excited John Egbert yelled as he was being chased by his 4 other friends.
"NO FAIR, EGBERT, YOU GOT ON FIRTHT LATH TIME!" Sollux yelled at the goofy boy in blue until a voice stopped in his tracks.
"Where is Sollux Captor?" a deep voice called out for the boy with glasses. Sollux looked around for the voice when he heard the softer voice of Ms. Crocker.
"Sollux, honey, can you come here for a second? We need to talk to you." Ms. Crocker called.
Sollux ran over to the shady area under the tree where Ms. Crocker and a tall man with glasses and green eyes were standing. Him and Ms. Crocker gave the small boy smiles that reassured him that he wasn't in trouble.
"Yeth ma'am, ith there thomething wrong?" Sollux said with a hint of anxiety in his voice.
"No, not at all, dear. We just need your help to gather a few kids. Mr. English here is the one who wants to talk to you all." Ms. Crocker said introducing the man standing next to her. He kinda looked like that Jade girl in Ms. Lalonde's class.
"Hello, young man. Can you do me a favor and get your friends Rose, Kanaya, and Eridan for me. We need you guys help with something." Mr. English said with a smile. Ms. Crocker had a pained expression when Mr. English was talking to Sollux and said Eridan and friend in the same sentence.
Sollux felt a small hint of annoyance in his chest. Rose, Kanaya and him were okay and got along just fine, but him and Eridan were anything, but friends. "Eridan ithn't my friend." He said under his breath as gave a nod to the teachers and walked off to find the other 3 kids.
Meanwhile, on the other side of the playground, Terezi, John, Karkat, and Dave lazily sat and swung on the swings. Karkat wondered where his best friend went off to. 1 second, he's jogging to the swings along with everyone else and now who knows where he ran off to.
"Hey, who that guy standing and talking to my Nanna?" John asked out loud.
"Maybe he's that new teacher everyone's been talking about." Dave said as he was staring at who-knows-what under his shades.
"What new teacher?" Karkat asked as the conversation caught his interest.
"There's suppose to be a new teacher for a new "gifted" program the school added. He's pulling a few kids from every grade and class to test and see if they're "gifted material" to be put in that class. That's what I heard when I was ease dropping in on a conversation between a few teachers at lunch yesterday." Terezi said as she kicked a rock in front of her.
"How were you able to hear them? They were like on the other side of the tables!" John exclaimed, wide eyes openned.
Terezi deadpanned at the boy. "John, we've been through this conversation like what 500 times already since I first met you last year. I have IMPAIRED VISION... I'm half blind, you dunce. Because of that, my other senses are more advanced than the average 9 year old"
"Oh yeah... sorry. Is that why you have red tinted glasses?" John asked.
Terezi rolled her eyes." Yes. Anyway, the teacher used to teach in middle, high school, and college as a geography teacher. I'm guessing that's the guy." She continued.
"Well, do ya think he's gonna test Sol?" Karkat asked as he stared off at the man's direction.
"Well, judging by all the good grades Sollux gets already and the awards he gets every year, yes most likely and maybe he'll test a few other kids." Terezi said.
Karkat got a little worried at the thought of not being in the same class as his best friend. Of course he had Terezi, John, and Dave, but Sollux was his best friend and the closest thing he'll get to a brother. They were in the same class since kindergarten. If Sollux got into that gifted class thingy would they be as close as they are now or not. He was gonna be happy for Sollux if he does get into the class, but then again he'll feel angry at that teacher that's trying to steal his best friend from him and at himself for not being as smart as his best friend.
"Hey, look! There he goes. I think Kanaya and Rose are going with him." John said, snapping Karkat out of his thoughts at the mention of Sollux.
"Oh my God, is that Eridan going with him, too?" Terezi said in surprise.
"Looks like it's gonna be World War 3 in there if both of them get in." Dave said.
Karkat watched as Sollux and the other kids walked off with the teacher man. He thought to himself, 'Maybe being in between isn't as good as it sounds anymore.'