Chapter 9: Feedback

Six days had passed since Rockett had last received note from Ruben. He hadn't shown at the bus stop, he hadn't answered her calls, or her emails or IMs. School was out for good - or at least until the break was over. Normally, breaks were exciting. But lately, Rockett secretly wished she was back in school.

The days she'd spent with Cleve leading up to the project due date hadn't been nearly as traumatizing as Rockett had assumed. She had definitely had her hands full with the guy - who's ADD had been kicking into over time. Lately, though, Rockett and Cleve had been cramming like crazy just to fit in all the hundreds of tiny details their English teacher had placed into the assignment. There was so much going on, Rockett hadn't even had time to worry about Ruben. In fact, she hadn't even bothered to ask Cleve's advice on the matter. She desperately wanted things to be fixed, but she knew better than to involve Cleve. It had made such a mess of things last time. And although he could be a tad annoying and spacey at times, he and Rockett were really moving along with their assignment.

Now, it was the day before the project, and the last day of the break. Rockett and Cleve had all their main points taken care of, including their occupations, journal entries - they had even decided on a name for their 'flour child.' Rockett was glad they hadn't picked 'Cleveland.'

'Dear Diary,

It's me, Rockett Movado! Or should I say 'Goodstaff?' I'm now an accomplished artist and (even though it took a while to arrive at this position) it's the most rewarding thing - second to being a mother, of course. Cleve and I have a child named Sam who's talented in both art and sports - so we know he's going to make it totally big someday. In our eyes, so far, he's already at the top of the charts!;)'

Much to Rockett's surprise, Cleve had managed to complete his journal today as well. She'd read through his a bit earlier. Granted, it was a tad on the shallow side - but still really good!

'Hello!

Mr. Cleve Goodstaff here, husband to the talented and artistic Rockett and father to the sports-obsessed Sam. I'd better watch out for him - he's almost as good as me! Ahaha. Just kidding. Anyway, I'd say married life is a heck of a lot less difficult than I thought it'd be. As long as I'm living life as an up-and-coming sports star slash millionaire, and makin' bank for the coolest family on earth, I'm good.'

Although things had been running smoothly for Rockett and Cleve, other students weren't doing as well...

"Okay, Stephanie. Let's go over this one more time," Bo said. He and Stephanie had been working on their project in the food court of the mall, next to one of Stephanie's favorite stores. She had only agreed to meet him there so she could meet the rest of her friends and hit the stores afterwards. Still, it was the day before, and whether she liked it or not, she'd have to finish up with Bo.

Stephanie rolled her eyes. "Fine," she snapped. Stephanie stood and announced her 'married lifestyle'. "I'm busy modeling fabulous fashions around the globe. You're at home and you're a mall cop, which explains why we're always in this place. My child, Marcella, is a beautiful little girl who naturally follows in the footsteps of her very successful and talented mother."

Bo rolled his eyes. "Don't you mean our child?"

Stephanie stared at Bo as if he were a squashed bug. "As if, Pezanski!" she countered.

"Whatever. Do you at least have your journal entries? Only those can save us now."

Stephanie scowled at him as she pulled out her journal.

'Dear Diary,

Well, this project definitely tanks. So far, I'm married to a mall cop, and it doesn't get much better than that. I'd rather focus on what's really important, like my career as an international celeb (something my - dare I say it? - 'husband' could never in his right mind achieve). Tomorrow, I plan to travel to Paris to model some of my own designs, and maybe even bring along my gorgeous little girl, Marcella, to come and model some of my designs with me. It will be a mother-daughter-baby line. If I want that kind of line, the company better make way!'

Bo rolled his eyes at her again as he took out his own journal.

'Mrs. Tinydahl,

Don't fail me just because I was forced to marry an airhead. I didn't come this far to get held back. Long story made short, Stephanie named the kid Marcia or something like that, and she thinks the she should grow up to be a model. I, being the husband, personally think that our daughter should grow up to be a magician or a computer hacker. I just thank that'd be cool.'

Bo slammed his journal shut. "Nice working with you," he said sarcastically.

Stephanie ignored him. "Oh, hi, Kim!" she called as she saw one of her fellow Ones members approaching. "Ready to go shopping? I hear our fave store just released that new brand of pretty in pink eyeshadow! We should go check it out!" And with that, Stephanie joined Kim and left Bo all by himself at the table.

Bo, was at least happy that she was gone.

Another pair of partners from the class, who were sitting not far away from where Stephanie and Bo had been, were Max and Whitney, who were working on the project themselves.

Max pouted as he pulled out his journal. "Are we almost done, Whitney? The Max Man needs to go stock up on a brand new cd collection."

Whitney let out a short, frustrated sigh. "Ugh, yes Max, we're almost done. I just want to make sure we have everything we need before we call quits. This project is due tomorrow, and I could really use the credit. You know English is so not my strongest subject."

Max wasn't listening. "I wish I could have worked with Jessie," he said.

"Jessie?" Whitney asked. "Don't you mean Rockett? She's the one who's great in language arts. You would have made a much better grade working with her, you know. Ugh, Cleve is SO lucky! He's going to get a great grade working with her, and I'm sure he didn't do anything to deserve it."

Max nodded absently. "What? Oh yeah. Rockett's good at English."

Whitney groaned. Max obviously didn't care too much about their grade. Sighing, she whipped out her journal.

'Dear Diary,

I'm Whitney Diamond, TV anchorwoman slash TV personality. My husband, Max, is a millionaire. We both have great jobs, but we're lucky enough to have an even greater child who's adorable in every way possible. She's also really good in Language Arts, unlike myself. I'm sure she'll grow up to be really, really smart...'

"Max, I'm nearly done. Are you finished also?" Whitney asked.

"Yup," Max said, handing Whitney his journal. She gathered it, and along with her own put it into a binder titled 'Marriage Project'.

'Hey, hey!

This is Max the Man comin' atcha with 1.5 million bucks! It's going smooth, I can't complain. I'm married to one of the world's most successful tv personalities, I drive a red-hot Ferrari, and when I'm not driving that, I'm driving my Rolls Royce...or my Jaguar. Tomorrow, I'm taking our child out shopping to pick out her first Mercedes Benz for when she turns sixteen (my wife, Whitney's orders). Then, I'm gonna see if the producers still wanna take me up on that offer for shooting my very first spy flick, titled 'Max Diamond In Action!' This'll be a good year for the Diamonds, no doubt.'

Not far from the mall, at the Whistling Pines' school library, Arrow and Arnold were finishing up their marriage project. Arnold was researching baby names from 'The Galaxy Alien's Most Popular Names'. Arrow was busy scribbling in her journal.

'Dear Diary,

My life as a singer-songwriter is quite challenging. I only have a number of days to write a song for the International Music Awards. And I also have to make time for my husband...Arnold. And the baby, of course. Even though we're old, Viva and Ginger and I are still together as a band and stronger than ever. If we win these awards, I want to donate all the money I can in order to save the endangered species. I can't imagine my child growing up without ever getting to see them herself! Talk about brutal! What's my child's name, you ask? Personally, I wanted to go with the name 'Forest Whisperer,' but Arnold declined. So now here we are on the last day before the project, picking out a name for our child. This should be interesting...'

"Fair maiden and wife of mine, 'twas a hard decision to come to, but I finally have found the name for which to name this young child of ours!"

Arrow sighed. "What is it, Arnold? Please don't pick out anything too weird. I want the child to be able to be in touch with the world around her, not outer space."

"How about a name from 'Galaxies Above Ours?" inquired Arnold. Upon saying this, Arnold took out his journal and begin to write.

'Arm yourselves!

We haven't crossed your galaxy yet, but when we do, we will embrace you with our futuristic selves, Arrow and I and our child - Xenedron! He hails from a faraway planet, much like our own Purple Orchid, and we have taken the great liberty to adopt him. He is a fine young embryo, and he shall follow in the footsteps of me, an alien warrior and conqueror! Soon, my young child shall fight the forces of evil and defend our planet!'

"Um, Arnold?" Arrow asked as she stole a glance at Arnold's journal. "Your journal says our child is a boy, and mine says it's a girl. How do we decide?"

"Siamese twins," Arnold answered. Arrow groaned.

"Okay, Chaz," said Jessie. "Done with your journal?"

"Yep, it's all here," Chaz replied.

"Good," Jessie smiled. She and Chaz had gotten along very well as they worked on the marriage project. Even though Chaz was a long-time member of The Ones, he and Jessie had managed to pull of the assignment pretty well, considering that they were both laid-back and overall non-confrontational. They'd made a good team.

'Dear Diary,

Things are running smoothly in the Chaz Family - we have a wonderful little boy named John, who's growing bigger and stronger every day. Chaz is a professional basketball player, and I'm a homemaker, but I also study Egyptology in my spare time. I enjoy my life very much, and I'm excited for this weekend, because my husband Chaz is bringing home a surprise - our first puppy! I'm going to ask John what he'd like to name the puppy, and take him with me when we take the dog out for walks. Hmm...I've heard golden retrievers make great family pets...'

'Yo, Journal,

Chaz here, and everything is happenin' for me and Jessie - we've got it all! A great life, a great kid and great jobs! I'm looking forward to winning the playoffs this weekend. Hopefully if everything turns out well, I'm gonna surprise the fam with a lil' dog - which I happen to think would make an excellent addition to our upbeat lifestyles. I'd rather have another room remodeled in our house so I can put up my fifty-two trophies, but if Jessie and little John want a dog, I guess it's up to me, the man in da house, to make it happen.'

Meanwhile, Nicole and Ruben were working on their project...well, they were trying, at least.

"Ruben, can you please put that guitar down for one minute? The noise is really starting to get on my nerves," Nicole said.

"Noise? Nicole, I already told you. If you wanted to finish the project, you should have asked to do it earlier - like when I didn't have to rehearse," Ruben said back.

"Puh-lease," snorted Nicole. "I didn't have any time earlier. Celeste and I were off getting our pedicures done, and I had plenty of other things to do than to come over here any earlier than I'm here now."

Ruben rolled his eyes. "Well, you're here now, so can we please just try to focus? This is due tomorrow, you know."

"Whatever," Nicole said, obviously annoyed. "Well, I already know how my fabulous lifestyle has turned out." As she spoke, Nicole rose to her platform sandals. "Now, where was I? Oh yes - The Nicole Life. I married a musician, so obviously I needed to be the source of income for this family-"

"Hey, what is that supposed to mean?" Ruben asked, frowning.

"Anyway," Nicole said, ignoring him. "As an independant woman, I became the most powerful and successful woman in court, defending the law, what is good, what is right, and what is always in fashion. My beloved little darling, Nicole Whittaker II, is a perfect little child. She always eats her vegetables, and she never cries."

"Okay," Ruben interrupted. "That's not exactly realistic, Nicole."

"Someday she'll grow up to be just like me! Just as everyone else around me wishes, we hope that day comes very soon!"

"Are we done here?" Ruben asked. As Nicole continued to rant, Ruben filled out his journal.

'Hola, mi amigos!

Happy to say that even as a married man, I'm still able to travel with my band, Rebel Angels, and tour the globe. My 'wife' has a good career as well - something in law or politics or something. As for the kid, she's got it going on - at least until she grows up and is doomed to be like her mother. Band's going on tour next week. Wish us luck! Until then, this is Ruben Antonio Rosales signing off!'

He closed his journal and looked up. Nicole was still talking. "Hey, Nic. Why don't you write some of your 'Nicole Life' down in your journal, so you actually get credit for all this nonsense," Ruben suggested.

"Shut up, Ruben," Nicole quipped. "This is an oral report. Or did you forget, silly boy?"

"I wonder how Rockett and Cleve are doing," Ruben muttered to himself.