20. Be tardy. When your teacher asks you why you were late, say, "My goldfish died." Then burst into tears. (JASON: Instead of saying "goldfish," you could use a different type of pet.)

23. Constantly raise your hand, and when called upon, act like you forgot what you were going to say.

--

Troy Bolton looked down at his watch. The big, black numbers read '7:55.' He freaked out. 'Crap! I'm late for Darbus' homeroom! What am I gonna do?!' But then he got an idea, and a smirk made it onto his face. 'Perfect!' he thought. 'This one should be classic!' He then quickly headed to Darbus' room, and opened the door. Everyone heard it open, and turned to face him.

"How very nice of you to join us, Mr. Bolton," Ms. Darbus said.

"No problem, Ms. Darbus," Troy said with a cheesy smile, and the class laughed.

"But why were you late to my homeroom?" she asked him, and the smile faded off of his face.

"My dog died," he said, before bursting into tears.

"I am sorry to hear that, Mr. Bolton. I will mark you as an excused tardy for today." she told him.

"Thank you," Troy said, before wiping away the "tears," and sitting down at his desk, which was near the rest of the gang. Then a note landed on his desk.

your dog didn't actually die, did it?- chad

nope! :) perfect way to get out of being marked tardy! :)- troy

dude, you are strange!...lol- chad

Troy laughed, before crumpling the note up, and tossing it into his bag. He then turned to look like he was actually paying attention to what Ms. Darbus was saying.

"Now, class, I will ask you some questions about several famous poets. Raise your hand if you know the answer, and I will call on you, so that you may say it out loud to the rest of the class." The class groaned, but when Ms. Darbus sent them a glare, they quickly shut up.

"Now, what do we know about Shakespeare's birthday?" she asked. Jason raised his hand.

"Yes, Mr. Cross?"

"Oh, I forget," he said, putting his hand down. Zeke then raised his hand.

"Yes, Mr. Baylor?"

"Oh, I forget," he said, then put his hand down as well.

"Yes, Mr. Bolton?"

"Oh, I forget," he said, then put his hand down on his desk. The same thing happened when Ms. Darbus called on Chad, Ryan, and even some of the other kids in the class. Finally, she saw a hand belonging to someone who she knew would give her the right answer.

"Yes, Mr. Winston?" she asked. Milton Winston was the ultimate nerd at East High. Everyone thought he was a little strange. He wore big glasses, had a pocket protector, and always had pens in his pocket. (an: i have nothing against nerds! i just thought of that part when i was writing the chapter!)

"Nobody really knows Shakespeare's actual birthday," he began. "But the closest we can come is the date when he was baptized, which was on April 26, 1564. Also by using tradition and guesswork, we can assume that Shakespeare was born about three days earlier, on the 23rd, which is the date we now commonly use to celebrate his birthday."

"Thank you, Milton." Some of the kids sitting near him whispered names such as, "Geek." "Nerd." "Weirdo." "Teacher's pet." But Milton tried to ignore them, and instead tried to listen to Ms. Darbus' lecture.

At the end of class, the group of friends gathered in the back.

"Dudes! That was classic!" Jason praised.

"I agree," Ryan added, and Zeke nodded, as did the girls.

"Thanks," Troy and Chad chorused. The group laughed, and headed off to their first class of the day. They couldn't wait for what was to come next.

--

Another chapter! :) Sorry if it wasn't very funny. :( But I've been writing more chapters for this story, and if everything goes according to schedule, this story should be complete within the next 1-3 weeks. Hope you guys enjoyed this chapter! :) Look out for the next chapter, based on #'s 12 and 13, coming soon! :)

-caitlin (softangelwings)