Griffon's POV
Flannery, Thatch and I were sitting in student court waiting for everyone to fill up the room.
"Flannery are you sure you can do this with the situation" I said pointing to her hair.
"Don't worry I've done this a million times before" Flannery said slipping on her glasses.
"Okay let's get started" The principal said sitting down on in front. "Student court calls the case of Heights and Lesser vs. Robinson. Plaintiff please your opening statement." Mr. Johnson said.
"Thank you your honor." Flannery said standing up and moving to the front of the table "Ladies and Gentlemen of the jury please make me something very clear. Central Academy is the top school in the country a majority of the students here are here on scholarships, scholarships that they earned and worked hard for. Some of the kids here wait their whole lives to come here to better their education and when they come here they do not expect their teachers to disrespect them in a place where they come to learn. That is why I am here to defend Griffon Heights and Thatcher Lesser because they were disrespected and discriminated against which does not make for the school system here in Central Academy" Flannery said sitting back down.
"Wow you're good" Thatch whispered to Flannery.
"I know right" Flannery said.
After Ms. Robinson read her opening statement she took the stupid way out and decided to defend herself.
"Plaintiff call your first witness" Mr. Johnson said.
"Your honor the Plaintiff calls the defendant Amelia Robinson to stand" Flannery said standing up. Ms. Robinson stood up and walked over to Aqua who was holding a bible.
"Do you promise to tell the truth and all that?" Aqua said holding the bible open.
"Yes" Ms. Robinson said.
"Sweet!" Aqua said slamming the book close on Ms. Robinson hand.
"Ow!" Ms. Robinson said which made me and Thatch laugh. Flannery walked over to her with some papers in her hand.
"Ms. Robinson is it true Griffon Heights and Thatcher Lesser are in 2nd period class?" Flannery asked.
"Yes Ms. Mustang" Ms. Robinson said.
"And is it true on the day in question you gave a report for your students to do?" Flannery asked.
"Yes Ms. Mustang" Ms. Robinson said.
"Now is it also true that on the day on question you sent Ms. Heights and Mr. Lesser to detention?" Flannery asked.
"Yes Ms. Mustang" Ms. Robinson said.
"Now the question is why did you send Ms. Heights and Mr. Lesser to detention when according to their grades they're passing your class. They're not bad students are they?" Flannery asked.
"No of course not. I sent them to detention because they didn't do the report I ask of them" Ms. Robinson said.
"And what was this report on Ms. Robinson?" Flannery asked.
"Personal experiences I them to write about some things that went on in their lives" Mr. Robinson said.
"I see Ms. Robinson did it ever occur to you that some of students in your class don't want to write about their personal experiences?" Flannery asked.
"Well…" Ms. Robinson said.
"Ms. Robinson please remember that you are under oath answer the question" Flannery said firmly.
"No it didn't occur to me" Ms. Robinson said.
"You didn't ask how the students felt?" Flannery asked.
"No I didn't" Ms. Robinson said.
"You just gave the assignment?" Flannery asked.
"Yes I did" Ms. Robinson said.
"Your honor I would like read the testimonies given to me and taken up by Summer Bordeaux and Nicolette Zhen" Flannery said holding up the paper.
"You may continue" Mr. Johnson said.
"Thank you. First Ms. Heights 'Well, I don't really mind doing the assignment. It's the fact that she singled us out that makes me upset. I'm sure anyone else could've done the subject without a problem, but, since she told me to describe my experiences, I couldn't have done it if I wanted to. The point is that she was discriminating us due to the fact that we didn't have the best lives. I wouldn't do that to anyone & neither should a teacher. No matter how much authority they have over us.' And now Mr. Lesser 'Basically, I just need to say one thing: Why on Earth should I have to reveal everything I had to go through just so I can get a pointless grade? It's an outrage that teachers are able to do that without some form of punishment. I have already been through way to much, I don't need any more stress & neither does Griffon or Flannery, for that matter, since she's helping us with this. Can I leave now?" Flannery said reading the paper. "Can I leave now? Seriously Thatch?" Flannery said looking at Thatch.
"What I was ready to leave" Thatch said with a shrug.
"Anyway Ms. Robinson as it clearly states your students were very upset by this and you didn't seem to care" Flannery said. "The plaintiff rest your honor" Flannery said sitting down.
"Flannery girl that was amazing! You were right when you said sparks were going to fly. I've never heard you speak like that" I whispered to her
"Thanks I guess I did better than I thought" Flannery said with a shrug.
"You did great girl" Thatch said.
Later after Ms. Robinson gave her side of the story which didn't seem to help her much because the jury did not look swayed. Once everything was said and done the jury made the decision.
"Head Juror what is you verdict?" Mr. Johnson asked.
"We the Jury find in favor of the Plaintiffs Griffon Heights and Thatcher Lesser and we sentenced Ms. Amelia Robinson to a year suspension without pay" The Juror said.
"I agree" Mr. Johnson said banging his gavel.
"Yes!" Thatch said giving Flannery a high five.
"Now I'm 10 and 0" Flannery said.
"Thank you so much Flannery" I said giving Flannery a hug.
"No problem we're family"
I looked around the halls. I knew this place well, but still forgot my classes. I pulled out the schedule from my first day.
"Excuse me, do you know where to find the band room?" A girl asked.
Band was my next class. I could show her. "Sure, just follow me." I said, lowering the paper. "I'm Griffon, by the way."
"My name's Pepper." The girl replied. "Pepper Macquarie."
"New to Central? Huh?" I asked, even though I knew she must have been.
Pepper nodded. "Yeah, got here yesterday. I could use a helping hand."
I turned & started walking backwards to look at her. She had curly brown hair that went down to her shoulders & chocolate brown eyes covered by rimless glasses. She had a low cut green tie-dye top with wooden bracelets covered in characters similar to the ones on my hands. Boot cut jeans & plain white tennis shoes. A professional camera dangled from her neck.
"Let me guess. You've got a photography scholarship?" I wondered, pointing to the camera.
Pepper smiled. "Yeah, it's a family thing. Both my parents are nature photographers for the 'National Geographic' magazine. What about you?"
"Mechanics. My mom was the first woman to open a repair shop in Central. I had to fight my way into this place, literally." I complained.
"Wow, it must've been hard for you."
"Ha, you think that's hard. I just got out of a coma a few weeks ago. Both my parents died, my little sister has the brain of a college professor, so now the school board can't figure out which grade to put her in. My brother & I were separated a few months back, in a lab accident, where I lost a huge part of my memory. Oh, & I have a possibly deadly disease."
Pepper just stared at me for a little while. "Wow, you've been through way too much. I don't see how you're not six feet under. Yet, here I am, complaining about not being able to find a class. How shallow."
"I'll show you around." I told her. "It's no problem to me. So, what instrument do you play?"
"I play double bass & a little guitar." Pepper answered.
I bumped into someone, making my knees buckle. The person scooped me up before I hit the ground. "Hey, G."
I turned around in his arms. "Oh, hi Thatch." I said, blushing furiously. I never did get over the fact that he was fast & strong enough to catch me when I fell. And he hadn't even let go of his books.
Pepper ran up. "Are you okay, Griffon?" Then she noticed the hot guy. "Hi, I'm Pepper."
"Thatch Lesser." He replied, shaking her hand. "You new?" Pepper nodded. "Well, I'm sure you'll do fine as long as you stay with Griffon & the twins."
"I'll do that." Pepper told him.
I interrupted them. "Oh, we have to get to class. Thatch, isn't your class that way?."
"No. My schedule got switched. Now I have band for third period." He explained, walking alongside us.
Pepper sighed & whispered, "He is fine. So, you like him?"
"More than like. He's my boyfriend." I informed her.
Pepper gasped, "Why didn't you tell me? I would've never guessed."
"Not many do." I opened the door to the band room & walked inside. I got my trumpet, Thatch sat down at the piano Mr. Lincoln normally plays, & Pepper walked over to where Seth Vick was holding the bass. There were two basses, but Seth was the only one who could remember the fingerings.
"Okay," Mr. Lincoln began, "First, our newest student is Pepper Macquarie. Second, Mr. Lesser has been transferred into this class to replace Mr. Perdue after the incident." 'Pervert' Perdue put gum in side the French horns to see if they would blow bubbles when played. "Seth, give Pepper your bass & get the second one out to play. You two will have to share sheet music for now."
"Yes sir." Seth said, handing the bass to Pepper & going to get the second bass.
Pepper looked over at me & mouthed two words that I had to agree with. "Kiss…up."
I had a feeling that I was going to like this new kid.
I invited Pepper to sit with us since she was new and all and I kinda liked the kid. We sat down and Alex was strumming at his guitar.
"Alex I didn't know you played guitar" I said as we sat down.
"Oh yea" Alex said with a shrug. "Don't you remember? I bought it with me on the trip but I had to hide it because your little sister kept trying to break it" Alex said.
"Oh yea I remember now" I said. "She wasn't trying to break it she just wanted to play with it" I said with a shrug.
"So you say" Alex said.
"So why aren't you in band class?" Pepper asked.
"Are you kidding? I can't be confined to some sheet music it's pure madness!" Alex said.
"Alex just shush" Aqua said.
"So Marth are you ready for the big game this weekend?" I asked.
"Yea more or less" Marth said with a shrug.
"You know it surprises me you're like one of the best players on the team and yet you are so quiet" Flannery said.
"I may be the captain but I just don't get hype like the others" Marth said with a shrug.
"I think it's good he doesn't act like the other football players" Aqua said looking at the table of jocks and their air-head girlfriends.
"So Aquanette are you going?" I asked.
"Of course I love football and I always go to support Marth" Aqua said.
"That reminds me let me see your phone" Marth said sticking out his hand.
"Sure" Aqua said handing Marth her cell phone. "What do you need my phone for?"
"I'm deleting the coach's number from your phone so you can't call the coach during the game" Marth said handing Aqua's phone back to him.
"What'd you do that for?! What if that idiot makes a bad play? You all could lose the game!" Aqua said.
"Aquanette calm down you know nothing like that will happen" Marth said.
"Yea they do have you as quarterback but still" Aqua said.
"Don't worry" Marth said.
All Aqua could do was let out a sigh.
Later that day after we picked up Megan we all walked into the house and to our surprise Aunt Riza was asleep on the couch.
"Ma" Aqua said shaking her.
"Oh hello girls" Aunt Riza said yawning.
"Mommy what're you doing home? It's only 2:45" Flannery said looking at her watch.
"Oh I wasn't feeling good so your father sent me home early. As soon as I got home I just took a nap on the couch" Aunt Riza said.
"Are you feeling better now?" Megan asked.
"A little my stomach just hurts and I've had a couple of dizzy spells but I'll be fine" Aunt Riza said with a shrug. "So how was school?" She asked standing up.
"It was good the boys are preparing for their big game against Western are you guys coming?" I asked.
"Not if this stomach Flu doesn't pass" Aunt Riza said rubbing her stomach. "And you know your father with me sick he won't go anywhere"
It was odd Aunt Riza never got sick not that I can remember. I wonder what this could be?
Thatch's POV
Mr. Lincoln let me stay after school to practice my new piece, Rachmaninoff's Prelude number 4 in D. So far, I could play nearly the entire piece from memory.
I heard clapping as I played the last note. Griffon was standing just inside the doorframe. "That's beautiful Thatch." She whispered, coming over & sitting on the bench beside me.
"I bet you could play if you tried." I said.
Griffon reached into her seemingly bottomless bag & pulled out a sheet of paper. "Listen, Auntie R hasn't been feeling well. I wrote down her symptoms & was hoping you could give us a theory, maybe even an answer to her mystery disease."
I took it from her. A little list of usual symptoms for… I looked up at the first notes of "Away in a Manger." Well, it suits the situation nicely.
No matter how embarrassed I was to do this. I reached into my backpack & held the box in front of Griffon's face. She immediately stopped playing. "Why do you have that?"
"My mom gave it to me when she found out I had a girlfriend. Said 'Give it to her if she shows any signs.'" I replied impatiently.
Griffon giggled. "I get it. You want me to have Aunt Riza use it."
I nodded & she took it, standing up. "Okay." She said, walking out.
For some reason, I felt I had to follow her. We ran back outside to meet the twins & the guys. As soon as Flannery saw what Griffon was holding, she freaked out. She ran up & gripped Griffon's shoulders. "Griffon! Why do you have a pregnancy test?!" she yelled.
Griffon burst out laughing. "Thatch gave it to me."
Everyone turned to me, looks of shock etched in their faces. "Guys, seriously. You really think I would do something like that to her while she's a) a minor & b) not my wife."
"It's for Aunt Riza." Griffon told them. The group let out sighs of relief.
"I can't believe you guys." I snapped at them. "Why would you think that I would have sex with Griffon? I love her, but she's way young for that. So am I for that matter."
Griffon, by this time, was gasping for breath while laughing as hard as she could. "You guys are so stupid."
"When a girl comes out with a pregnancy test, it can never be a good thing." Flannery told us. "One can only assume…" she trailed off.
Griffon, speaking between deep breath to calm herself down, continued what she was saying before. "Let's just get this to Aunt Riza." She tossed Flannery the test. "Thatch, you're coming too."
"But I have to work on the piano part." I complained.
Griffon scoffed, "Please, I know you could play that piece, sheet music or no, with a blindfold & a hand tied behind your back."
"Fine." I sighed, following behind them.
Flannery's POV
"So Flannery what made you freak out like?" Thatch asked as we were walking home
"I didn't freak out" I said putting my hands on my hips.
"Yea you kinda did" Griffon said.
"Well you can't blame me Aquanette and I were born to teenage parents. My mother was 16 and my father was 17. They didn't even know that Aquanette was coming" I said with shrug.
"Yep I was a big surprise!" Aqua said.
"How can you not notice two babies? Didn't they notice in the sonogram" Griffon asked.
"Sometimes when a woman is pregnant twins the twins hide beneath one another so sometime they don't show up" I explained
"Oh that makes sense" Griffon walked into the house and Mommy was sitting on the couch reading a book and eating a pickle.
"Hey that's my pickle!" Aqua said.
"Aqua's shush she's just having cravings" I said quietly.
"I'm sorry Aquanette but I really wanted a pickle and I couldn't get up with your father" Mommy said. "So how was school?"
"Oh same old, same old and don't worry we'll get Megan later. So how are you feeling?" I asked.
"Oh thank you I still have some sort of stomach flu I have no idea what it might be" Mommy said.
"We think we know" Aqua said.
"What is it?" Mommy asked.
"You'll have to start by taking this" I said handing her the pregnancy test.
"A pregnancy test? Where did you get this from?" Mommy asked. We all looked at Thatch.
"Don't blame me it's my mom!" Thatch said folding his arms across his chest.
"Mommy please take it" Aqua asked.
"Fine if it'll make you kids happy" Mommy said standing up and walking into the bathroom that was downstairs. After a few minutes Mommy walked out.
"So?" I asked."I'm pregnant" Mommy said.
"I knew it!" I said giving Aqua a high five.
"So when are you going to tell Daddy?" Aqua asked.
"After I go to the doctor's I want to confirm this before I tell him because as we all know your Dad has always wanted a boy" Mommy said.
"I don't see why. We're not all that bad are we?" Aqua asked.
"You know I honestly don't know." I said.
"Don't worry Mrs. Mustang I can get you a doctor's appointment" Thatch said.
"Thank you Thatch" Mommy said smiling.
The next day the girls and I walked into baby r us to pick up a few things. "Flannery why are we even doing this? The test could have been a false positive" Griffon said with a shrug.
"You know me I liked to be prepared" I said with a shrug. We got baby clothes, pacifiers and bottles. I could make all of the blankets walked inside of house and Daddy was there reading his new alchemy book. I handed my bags to Aqua and Griffon and they quietly made their way upstairs.
"Hey Daddy" I said.
"Oh hey Flannery" Daddy said looking up from his book.
"What're you doing home so early?" I asked.
"I decided to come home early to take care of your mother she's been sick you know" Daddy said.
"Yea I wonder why. Well I have something to do" I said running upstairs. We had one last guest room and Aqua, Griffon and I were planning to turn it into a nursery. I walked in and all the bags were on the floor and Griffon and Aqua were writing stuff down.
"Oh Flannery you're here now we can get started" Griffon said.
"Did he suspect anything?" Aqua asked.
"Nah" I said shaking my head.
"Hey what're you guys doing?" Megan asked as she walked in.
"Megan I have something to tell you but you have to promise not to tell anyone especially Uncle Roy" Griffon said kneeling down in front of her sister and placing a hand on her shoulder.
"Okay what is it?" Megan asked.
"Aunt Riza is pregnant" Griffon said.
"Really?!" Megan asked.
"Yes but you can't tell Uncle Roy until Aunt Riza goes to doctor do you understand?" Griffon said.
"Okay Gigi" Megan said before running out.
"Okay then Aquanette you are going to get in here and paint a mural on this wall. Something baby like" I said placing my hand on one of the walls. "Griffon you and I have to get some furniture in here like a crib, a dresser, and a changing table. Thatch and the boys can help us move the stuff in here"
"Right" Aqua and Griffon said.
"I wish I knew what they were going to name the baby" I said.
"Duh they're going to name him Roy Jr." Aqua said.
"What makes you say that?" Griffon said.
"Because dear cousin a man takes pride in his first son so they want their first son to have their name. I mean look at Flannery she was named after my grandmother and they call her Emelina Jr." Aqua said. I did not like it when people called me Emelina Jr. I could settle for Emelina because that was my real name but not Emelina Jr.
"So that's why they kept calling you Emelina Jr. That is too funny!" Griffon said.
"Shut up!" I said storming out. Hopefully the baby wasn't going to go through this much torture
Griffon's POV
I had a really good idea for something to get Aunt Riza & her baby, but, I'm stuck putting furniture together for Flannery. I was going out to get some old radios from my house. I passed by a new building that had a 'help wanted' sign hanging on a gate.
"Really, since when does Central have a horse stable?" I asked myself, pushing open the wooden gate.
Out back, there was a clearly wild horse in the large pen. It reared & dashed around, trying to find a way out into the woods. Two men were trying to calm it down.
I climbed up the side of the pen & waited for the Caspian to get near. I just wanted to see a wild horse. When it did, it slowed down & let me swing onto it back before trotting calmly over to the men. "Hi there." I waved at them. "I heard you were looking for help. Is there anything I can do?" I really hadn't planned on taming the mount, but it works for me.
The men stared at me in shock. "We need an instructor. Can you ride?"
"I'm riding a wild Caspian, aren't I. What? You can't?" I asked. "Sure, I can ride. I took classes when I was little."
"Good. You go to the academy?" The other man asked. I nodded. "Come here straight after school to teach little kids & you can also have this beauty." He patted the Caspian, making it jump.
"Okay, I'm Griffon Heights." I slid off the mount & held out a hand.
The first man shook it. "Jimmy Lee Bales."
"Mark Twilly." The other man said.
"Let's get that horse in a stall & you can fill out the paperwork." Jimmy Lee stated.
I slid off the Caspian & walked beside it to keep it calm. "That works for me."
"You sure have a way with animals. That steed calmed as soon as he saw you." Mr. Twilly commented.
I shrugged. "It just comes naturally. I can connect with almost any animal I come in contact with." I laughed. "I'm like an animal whisperer."
Jimmy Lee nodded. "You can say that again. We've had four others trying to calm that beauty."
I smiled to myself. It was good to be me. They said I could name the horse & no one else would get to ride her. Yes, I believe the Caspian is a female. I said her name was 'Wildfire' & they agreed to order a wooden sigh & let me paint it since I had tamed her.
I ran to get the radios & took a shortcut back home. Flannery was waiting at the door, looking angry. "Where have you been? We need to get the furniture finished."
"Relax. I would've been back sooner, but I ended up getting a job." I told her. "And a horse."
"What?" Flannery gasped.
"I got a job at the stables after taming a wild horse & they let me keep her. Jimmy Lee is the coolest." I told her. I walked in & grabbed my toolbox at the foot of the stairs.
"Jimmy Lee?" Flannery repeated.
"Yeah, the stable manager." I informed.
"Where are you going with that?" Flannery asked.
I trudged up the stairs & into my room. "I need to fix something."
After three days - minus the time I spend at school & the stables - I had it finished.
I opened my door & went into the nursery. "I'm done." I called.
"With what?" Aqua asked.
I pulled out six little radio-like devices. "I have homemade baby monitors. One for each person & one for the baby. Uncle Roy, Aunt Riza, Flannery, Aqua, & me."
"That's cool." Flannery said. "But, do they work?"
"Would I really give you something that didn't work?" I stated. "Look. I have to go clean the stables. Bye."