*I do not own anything related to "Meet the Robinsons"* Enjoy! (Yes, I had to think a little bit about the choreography in this chapter since I was the captain of the color guard my senior year and made my own solo). ;)
*WILBUR'S POV*
*2 months later-February 18, 2038*
"And...TOSS!"
I snapped my hand as I let my flag make revolutions toward the ceiling and back down to me. I watched the middle of the pole throughout the whole process, and I caught the flag with pride.
It was pretty close to the end of basketball season, and the color guard had been practicing since November. We didn't start performing until the beginning of January, and to my surprise, I was the only boy on the squad. Everyone else were girls-16 total people in the guard. You would think there would be at least some boys on the guard, but no...I had to be the only one to try out and make it, thanks to Karena's teaching. Now that I was thinking about it, I wondered what to give Karena back for teaching me.
"Impressive toss, Wilbur," Mr. Samuels commented while approaching me. "Have you done this or anything related to this before?" I shrugged.
"I'm a black belt, and my girlfriend taught me a few moves," I replied. "And I play chargeball."
"You've got talent, mister," Mr. Samuels replied. "That's for sure. I might bump you up into the varsity squad next year."
"Really?" I exclaimed with shock. "I don't know what to say...thank you."
"No problem, Wilbur. Okay everyone, from the top!" We got in our places for our routine to the song Wizards in Winter. I, being the boy, was the vertex of an upside down V while the two captains: Susan, a sophomore who was captain of the junior varsity squad, and Genevieve, a senior who was captain of the varsity squad, made the points at both ends of the V. The junior varsity squad made the left line while the varsity squad made the right. All of us did a cradle to start off the song, which lasted for 12 counts, and the varsity squad moved to make the bottom half of the Z, with Genevieve at the end and Jenna-a junior, or number 11, at the vertex. Kate-a senior, number 9, was the middle point of that letter. The junior varsity squad stood still while doing this move. When that portion was over, Mr. Samuels made the varsity members slam to their right while the junior varsity members slam to their left in four segments: numbers 13-16 were on count one; 1-4 were on count two; 9-12 were on count three; and 5-8 (I was number 8) were on count four. Then we did the cradle again, but this time, the junior varsity squad moved to make the other half of the Z, with me in the middle, Penny-a freshman, number 6, at the vertex, and Susan at the end. The varsity squad stood still, and everyone slammed the opposite direction for four counts in the same order. Then the junior varsity made a line in the back while making these moves: butterfly, push spin, push spin, butterfly, marking a total of 12 counts. The varsity made a line in front while making these moves: windmill, drop spin, drop spin, windmill. I was behind number 12, Shelby-a junior. Everyone slammed their flags the same way we did the first time, and then we switched routines for 12 more counts while moving diagonally to form one straight line in the middle of the gym. When we stopped, numbers 1-4 did a butterfly toss for the first four counts (numbers 5-8 prepped for a toss while 9-12 continued to do butterfly moves and 13-16 continued to do windmill moves); numbers 5-8 tossed our flags into the air; numbers 9-12 did a butterfly toss (13-16 prepped for a toss); and numbers 13-16 tossed the flags into the air.
Our next move was to make a trapezoid, the bottom line being shorter. Numbers 1-4 and 9-12 did another cradle while numbers 5-8 and 13-16 did what's called "Sam's Whirl" (since it was only 10 counts, they slammed their flags to their left and then back up to right-shoulder-arms to complete the 12-count move). While we did that, we made the trapezoid: numbers 1-4 made the left diagonal, 5-8 made the longer line at the top, 9-12 made the shorter line at the bottom, and 13-16 made the right diagonal. When we got to our points, numbers 1-4 and 9-12 slammed to their right while numbers 5-8 and 13-16 slammed to our left on our respective counts 1-4. We then proceeded to make an M, and we switched routines, only numbers 1-4 prepped instead of adding a slam. Numbers 1-4 made the left line with Susan being the vertex, and they tossed on the first four counts; 5-8 made the left diagonal with me being the next vertex, and we did a butterfly toss; 9-12 made the right diagonal with Shelby being the last vertex, and they tossed after a prep; and 13-16 made the right line, and they did a butterfly toss to conclude that sequence.
Everyone stood in their spots with no moves for four counts. Then everyone moved backwards or forwards into a half-circle with the two captains at the end points. While moving, which took 8 counts to do so, we did two horizontal two-count moves, and then a toaster. Everyone except Susan repeated this move standing in our spots while Susan took the middle of the floor. While Susan did her solo, which lasted for 32 counts, everyone else did this sequence: push spin, butterfly, push spin, butterfly, cradle, drop spin, windmill, drop spin. For the last two counts everyone pointed their flag up toward the ceiling with both hands at the bottom cap. Susan and numbers 2-4 slammed the top of the pole to the left down to the ground for the first four counts. Susan lifted her pole again, and she signaled numbers 13-16 to slam their poles to the right down to the ground for the next four counts, and so forth with numbers 5-8 to our left and numbers 9-12 to their right. On the last fourth count, we brought up our flags to right-shoulder-arms to prepare for the next sequence.
Our next sequence was simple. Everyone did two drop spins, a windmill, a drop spin, and a left slam. While doing this sequence, we formed a wavy line: Susan and Genevieve formed the two points while number 3, Bonnie-a freshman, Penny, Kate, Shelby, and number 15, Kali-a senior, formed the curves. When we got to our places, numbers 1-4 brought their flags up their flags on the first four counts, and the other groups respectively did the same thing. Then everyone did a butterfly, two push spins, a butterfly. We formed into a circle with Genevieve and Susan in the middle of the bottom curve; Kate and I formed the middle of the top curve. Numbers 1-8 did a butterfly toss while everyone else did another butterfly and then a butterfly toss. On the third first count, we slammed the bottom of our poles to the ground like a guard at a palace would do, and both our hands were at the middle of the poles. And we stood in the same spots for four counts.
We didn't do any moves the next 16 counts, but we did form a triangle while waiting for the next move. I was at the top point of the triangle, number 4, Hannah-a sophomore, was at the left point, and Shelby was at the right point. Genevieve, the soloist, was right in the middle of the triangle, and she simply did a twirl with both her body and her pole throughout the last 8 counts.
The next 16 counts were easy. Our triangle expanded while Genevieve stayed in the same spot. While it expanded, we did a horizontal-vertical-horizontal-vertical move two times with our poles...even Genevieve did it.
Genevieve's solo was 48 counts long, and we did the following sequence: one drop spin, one windmill, Sam's Whirl, one drop spin, a spinning windmill, a cradle, one butterfly, and an emilie (a cradle with the pole behind the back instead of in front) while she did her solo. While we were doing this sequence, our triangle disbanded. For the first 16 counts, we had three straight lines: numbers 1-5 were in a left diagonal; numbers 6-10 were in a horizontal line; and numbers 11-15 were in a right diagonal. For the second 16, we followed to our left, and we still had our three straight lines: now numbers 3-7 were at the top horizontal line; numbers 8-12 were in the right diagonal; and numbers 13-15, 1, and 2 were at the bottom horizontal line. For the last 16, we followed again to our left to have three lines for the last time: numbers 5-9 were in the right diagonal; numbers 10-14 were at the bottom horizontal line; and numbers 15 and 1-4 were at the left diagonal. When we finished our emilie and Genevieve her solo, we stood in our spots and did our next move. Genevieve did her slam first to the right. Then numbers 15, 2, 4, 6, and 8 slammed to the left; numbers 1, 3, 5, 7, and 9 slammed to the right; and numbers 10, 12, and 14 slammed to the left while numbers 11 and 13 slammed to the right.
We once again moved into the half-circle. Numbers 15, 1-4, and 5-9 didn't have to move that much, but numbers 16 and 10-14 had to move backwards to get to their spots. Kali and Kate were the end points. Numbers 15, 2, 4, 14, 12, 10, 6, and 8 did a cradle while numbers 1, 3, 16, 13, 11, 5, 7, and 9 did a Sam's Whirl along with a right-to-right-shoulder-arms move at the end of the 12 counts. Everyone slammed their opposite direction, and then those who slammed to the right did a windmill, two drop spins, and a windmill while those who slammed to the left did a butterfly, two push spins, and a butterfly. We did move while doing this sequence: Kali and Kate stayed where they were at while everyone else moved forward to the opposite side. We stood still when we were done with this move, and the next sequence got interesting. The next four measures consisted of sixteenth notes, and all of us made our move based on when our sixteenth note hit. All of us did six drop spins, two per measure, and then we did a left slam on our sixteenth note in the fourth measure. Trust me, it looked really cool, but it took a lot of work just to get that move down.
We then did a cradle and a butterfly as we formed a square. Numbers 15 and 1-3 consisted of the left vertical line; numbers 4, 16, 14, and 13 consisted of the top horizontal line; 5 and 10-12 made up the right vertical line; and 6-9 made up the bottom horizontal line. Then we did a Sam's Whirl, a drop spin, and another cradle as we formed new lines: numbers 3, 4, 14, and 13 made up the back row; 2, 16, 12, and 11 made the back middle; 1, 15, 10, and 5 made the front middle; and 9, 8, 7, and 6 made up the front row. We then did a butterfly, two push spins, a butterfly, and two more push spins and made new lines via walking through windows: all the freshman-numbers 2, 3, 8, 7, and 6 created the back row; the sophomores-4, 1, and 5 made the back middle; the juniors-14, 13, 10, 12, and 11 made the front middle; and the seniors-9, 15, and 16 made up the front row. When we approached our spots, two of us did a butterfly toss at a time on every other count: number 2-Elizabeth, a freshman, and Genevieve; Bonnie and Kali; me and Kate; number 7-Cassie, a freshman, and Jenna; Penny and Shelby; Hannah and number 10-Chloe, a junior; Susan and number 13-Camilla, a junior; and number 5-Kim, a sophomore, and number 14-Tara, a junior. When we caught our butterfly tosses, we prepped one more time for a very strong toss from the cap. This was really hard to pull off as well, but in a matter of weeks, we got it down. When we caught it, we made a bow with the flag out to our right, and our heads were up.
Our coach, Mr. Samuels, clapped as the song finished, and he dismissed us to get ready for first hour. I wasn't exactly looking forward to having Algebra, despite me liking the subject as we have a test on polynomials today. I was stuck on this topic and asked Karena for tutoring, which somewhat helped. I just hope I pass the test!
So I decided to go to first hour early to ask for additional help before the test. I smiled at Mrs. Bossert when I entered the room after she greeted me, and I placed my stuff on my desk. I grabbed my notebook and I walked over to the desk.
"Well, what can I do for you, Wilbur?" Mrs. Bossert asked with a smile.
"Can you help me a little bit on how to foil?" I asked. "I did have some help at home, but I want to ask you to make sure I got it down."
"It's no problem at all, honey. Here, sit down." I sat down on a chair next to her desk and opened my notebook. I gave her a piece of paper as she wrote down a problem.
"So what do you do first?" Mrs. Bossert asked. (x + 6) (x -7). I looked at the problem, trying to remember what to do, and then it hit me!
"You multiply the x's first," I replied.
"Very good," Mrs. Bossert said with a smile. "So what do you get when you multiply x by x?"
"2x?"
"Now if you were adding the two, you would get 2x." Oops...let's see...OH!
"Oh, wait. It's x squared."
"There you go!" Mrs. Bossert exclaimed, and I wrote down x^2. "Now, you're not done with that x yet. What else do you do?"
"I multiply it by 7," I replied.
"Positive or negative?" Oh geez...
"Positive?"
"Now if the sign was a plus sign, then it would be positive." Oh! Duh! I slapped my head hard.
"Negative, negative, negative! Why can't I remember this stuff?"
"It's alright, Wilbur," Mrs. Bossert replied, placing a hand on my hand. "You're getting it; you just need to think. So what's x times negative 7?"
"Negative 7x," I answered, and I wrote it down so that my answer would look like this so far: x^2 - 7x.
"Now you're done with that x. Now what do you do?"
"I multiply the 6 by x and negative 7."
"Good job! Can you finish it for me?" I multiplied 6 by x to get 6x, and then I multiplied 6 by negative 7 to get negative 42. So I wrote down my answer on the sheet: x^2 - 7x + 6x - 42.
"Okay, that's good," Mrs. Bossert commented. "Now you need to finish it."
"I thought I did," I replied.
"What's negative 7x plus 6x?" Oh right! They're like terms.
"Negative x."
"There you go." Then I wrote down my final answer: x^2 - x - 42.
"Very good, Wilbur. Do you need help on factoring?"
"That would be nice."
"Okay, we need to hurry because the warning bell will ring any minute. Let's try this." She wrote down another problem on the paper, and she gave it back to me. I read the problem as this: x^2 + 2x - 24.
"So what do you do first?" Mrs. Bossert asked, and I wrote down what I needed to: (x + ) (x - ).
"Good job! Now what the factors of 24?" Oh, that's easy!
"1 and 24, 2 and 12, 3 and 8, and 4 and 6."
"Great! Now which one will work to give you 2x?" 24-1 = 23...no. 12-2 = 10...no. 8-3 = 5...no. 6-4 = 2...bingo!
"Six and four," I answered.
"Very good," Mrs. Bossert said. "You can do this in your mind, you know. Now which number will be the positive one: the 6 or the 4?"
"The 6 because the 2x is positive, and 6 - 4 equals 2."
"Great job! Now what's the final answer?" I went to write it down, and I showed the answer to her. (x + 6) (x - 4).
"I think you got it, sweetie," Mrs. Bossert said with a smile.
"Thank you," I said with a smile.
"You're welcome. I'm sure you'll do fine on your test." I took my seat as everyone was coming in, and the bell rang, signaling that it was time for class. I saw some classmates get out their study guides to try to study until we heard the teacher started talking.
"Please pass your study guides forward," Mrs. Bossert said, and the whole class groaned. I, on the other hand, rolled my eyes. Seriously? "I should hope you all studied over two days' time. I only had one student coming in for help on this subject." The class passed their papers forward, and we all placed our belongings under a lamp...yeah, I know it may seem silly, but my dad invented this school-lamp only designed for exams, and it's supposed to eliminate all of your belongings except for the things you need. When you turn the lamp off since you take your tests with the lights off to save electricity, you get your belongings back.
"Okay class, you can turn your lamps on, and good luck on your test." We turned on our lamps, and there was the test on our desks. Surprisingly, I found myself able to remember what to do to foil and factor, for I was able to solve the first five problems with no worries. When I got to number six, however, I frowned at the problem: (2x + 3) (x + 5). So I tried to do the problem like how I would usually do it: by distributing the 2x and the 3. So I multiplied 2x by x to get 2x^2 and then 2x times 5 to get 10x. Then I did the same thing with the 3. I multiplied 3 by x to get 3x and then 3 time 5 to get 15. I wrote down my final answer on the paper: 2x^2 + 13x + 15. I did the rest of that section with no problem as well as the first five problems in the factoring section. I frowned again when I read problem number 16: 2x^2 - 32x + 30. So I wrote the first step down, which was (2x - ) (x - ). Then I tried to figure out what two numbers would equal 30: 1 and 30, 2 and 15, 3 and 10, and 5 and 6. I tried the 5 and the 6 first, and I got these two: 2x^2 - 12x - 5x + 30. and 2x^2 - 10x - 6x + 30. Nope. I erased the two and tried 3 and 10. 2x^2 - 20x - 3x +30. and 2x^2 - 6x - 10x + 30. Blast! Then I tried 2 and 15. 2x^2 - 30x - 2x + 30. Wait, is this it? I simplified the problem to see if it would match the question. 2x^2 - 32x + 30. Bingo! And so I wrote the answer down on the test: (2x - 2) (x - 15). I finished the last four problems, which were much easier, and I turned off the lamp, signifying that I finished my test. I sat until everyone else was done with the test, which took about ten minutes.
As soon as everyone's lamps were turned off, Mrs. Bossert took attendance. I noticed there was one person missing, and I sighed with relief when I looked at the seat.
"Has anyone seen Rachel today?" Everyone shook their heads, and Mrs. Bossert continued on with her attendance. "She's never here these days." Then a thought went into my head. Where has she been? Not that I miss her, but this isn't like her to miss school that much. "Okay class, we are starting a new chapter, and we will be studying quadratic equations."
I was now sitting in my third hour class: English 1, and we were reading a book called Animal Farm by George Orwell. We actually just got started reading the book, and to be honest with you, it's a little weird that a group of talking animals would take control of a farm instead of a drunk farmer, who supposedly treated the animals cruelly. We spent time reading about the commandments when the phone started to ring. Mr. George didn't hesitate to answer it, but he didn't look to happy to be interrupted either.
"Hello? Uh-huh. Sure I'll send him down. Thank you." He hung up the phone, and he turned toward my area. "Wilbur, you need to pack your things." Me? What did I do? "Your family's here to pick you up." I gathered my stuff together and walked over to the desk. "You need to read the next chapter and do this worksheet by next class."
"Thank you," I replied, and I headed out of the classroom, wondering why my family was here to take me home. It took another flight of stairs until I reached my locker, and I got everything I needed. Luckily for me, the last class I would have today was band, so I didn't need to worry about any other homework. I closed my locker and headed down two floors toward the guidance office where I saw Rachel signing in. She left the office just as I walked in to sign out. My parents walked in and placed their hands on my shoulders, and we left the school building.
"So, why did you guys pick me up two and a half hours before school was out?" I asked. "Did I do anything wrong?" When I looked up, I saw tears in my mother's eyes. She never cries...ever. "What's wrong, Mom?"
"We're going to the hospital," my dad answered.
"I'm fine, Dad. Why do I need to go to the hospital?"
"It's not about you," my mom said while sniffing. "But there's something you should know."
"What?" I asked. "Tell me." Within five minutes we were at the hospital, and we were immediately taken upstairs to a hospital room.
"Get behind me, Wilbur," my dad instructed, and I did as he told me. "How is she?" She? Is he talking about Rachel? Or is he talking about someone...ohmygosh!
"She has deep wounds on her chest, her face is scratched, and her arm is broken," the nurse robot replied. "We're trying everything we can to stop the bleeding."
"Dad? Who's bleeding?" My parents, who looked solemn, moved to one side before I could take one good look at the patient. My heart skipped a beat when I found out who she was, and my eyes were wide open with fear.
"KARENA! Nooo!" I rushed over to my girlfriend's side, and I held her hand tightly. I let the tears fall from my eyes, as I looked at her with blurred vision: her beautiful face didn't look as tan as it was earlier; with the blood streaming down her cheek from the scratch on her forehead, she looked pale. Her arm was limp, and there was a lot of blood on her clothes toward her chest. As the tears fell onto her hand and arm, I looked up toward the ceiling, and I started praying with worry.
"Please, please, please, help her," I pleaded, hoping that God would hear my prayer. "I don't want to lose her...not now. Please, help." I continued to cry as I placed my forehead on hers, hoping that there would be some sort of cure to Karena's harsh wounds.
If you were/are in the color guard, then you might have understood what I was talking about. But I will clarify the info so that you won't have to worry about it.
Mr. Samuels gave each color guard member a number:
1) Susan, sophomore
2) Elizabeth, freshman
3) Bonnie, freshman
4) Hannah, sophomore
5) Kim, sophomore
6) Penny, freshman
7) Cassie, freshman
8) Wilbur, freshman
9) Kate, senior
10) Chloe, junior
11) Jenna, junior
12) Shelby, junior
13) Camilla, junior
14) Tara, junior
15) Kali, senior
16) Genevieve, senior.
The very first move was an upside down V (this is from the audience's point of view). the order is as follows from bottom to top to bottom:
Susan, Elizabeth, Bonnie, Hannah, Kim, Penny, Cassie, Wilbur (vertex), Kate, Chloe, Jenna, Shelby, Camilla, Tara, Kali, Genevieve.
Next was a form of a Z in this order:
Susan, Elizabeth, Bonnie, Hannah, Kim, Penny (vertex), Cassie, Wilbur, Kate, Chloe, Jenna (vertex), Shelby, Camilla, Tara, Kali, Genevieve.
Then there were two straight lines:
Back line-Susan, Elizabeth, Bonnie, Hannah, Kim, Penny, Cassie, Wilbur
Front line-Kate (in front of Kim), Chloe (in front of Penny), Jenna (in front of Cassie), Shelby (in front of Wilbur), Camilla, Tara, Kali, Genevieve.
One huge straight line was formed; Kate was lined up next to Wilbur.
The line separated to form a trapezoid, the back base being longer:
Back line-Kim, Penny, Cassie, Wilbur
Front line-Kate, Chloe, Jenna, Shelby
Left diagonal (pointing down to the right)-Susan, Elizabeth, Bonnie, Hannah
Right diagonal (pointing down to the left)-Camilla, Tara, Kali, Genevieve.
An M was formed then:
Left vertical line (bottom to top)-Hannah, Bonnie, Elizabeth, Susan (vertex)
Left diagonal (pointing down to the right)-Kim, Penny, Cassie, Wilbur
Right diagonal (pointing up to the right)-Kate, Chloe, Jenna, Shelby (vertex)
Right vertical line (top to bottom)-Camilla, Tara, Kali, Genevieve
The top half of the circle was formed in order. Susan walked to the middle of that circle to perform her solo.
A wavy line was formed after Susan walked back to her spot. The top curves were covered by Bonnie, Kate, and Kali while the bottom curves were covered by Penny and Shelby.
The guard formed a huge circle with Susan next to Genevieve, making the captains of the junior varsity and the varsity guard respectively to complete the circle.
Genevieve walks to the middle of the floor while everyone else makes a triangle:
Bottom side (left to right) (not including the vertices)-Bonnie, Elizabeth, Susan, Kali, Tara, Camilla
Left side (bottom to top) (not including the vertices)-Kim, Penny, Cassie
Right side (top to bottom) (not including the vertices)-Kate, Chloe, Jenna
Vertices-Hannah (next to Bonnie and Kim); Wilbur (next to Cassie and Kate); Shelby (next to Jenna and Camilla)
Genevieve remains in the middle to perform her solo. With one side open, everyone makes an incomplete trapezoid.
Bottom side-OPEN
Left side (bottom to top)-Susan, Elizabeth, Bonnie, Hannah, Kim
Top side (left to right)-Penny, Cassie, Wilbur, Kate, Chloe
Right side (top to bottom)-Jenna, Shelby, Camilla, Tara, Kali
Genevieve continues her solo in the middle. Everyone goes to a new spot.
Bottom side (left to right)-Elizabeth, Susan, Kali, Tara, Camilla
Left side-OPEN
Top side (left to right)-Bonnie, Hannah, Kim, Penny, Cassie
Right side (top to bottom)-Wilbur, Kate, Chloe, Jenna, Shelby
Genevieve continues her solo in the middle. Everyone goes to a new spot.
Bottom side (left to right)-Tara, Camilla, Shelby, Jenna, Chloe
Left side (bottom to top)-Kali, Susan, Elizabeth, Bonnie, Hannah
Top side-OPEN
Right side (top to bottom)-Kim, Penny, Cassie, Wilbur, Kate.
Everyone gets into a top-half of a circle again. This is the order:
Kali, Susan, Elizabeth, Bonnie, Hannah, Genevieve, Tara, Camilla, Shelby, Jenna, Chloe, Kim, Penny, Cassie, Wilbur, Kate
Everyone then forms a square:
Left side (bottom to top)-Kali, Susan, Elizabeth, Bonnie
Top side (left to right)-Hannah, Genevieve, Tara, Camilla
Right side (top to bottom)-Shelby, Jenna, Chloe, Kim
Bottom side (left to right)-Kate, Wilbur, Cassie, Penny
Four lines form...one behind the other:
Back row-Bonnie, Hannah, Tara, Camilla
Back middle row-Elizabeth, Genevieve, Shelby, Jenna
Front middle row-Susan, Kali, Chloe, Kim
Front row-Kate, Wilbur, Cassie, Penny
Final four lines of the routine:
Back row (freshmen)-Elizabeth, Bonnie, Wilbur, Cassie, Penny
Back middle row (sophomores)-Hannah, Susan, Kim
Front middle row (juniors)-Tara, Camilla, Chloe, Shelby, Jenna
Front row (seniors)-Kate, Kali, Genevieve.
I hope this helped you guys out!
As for the end of the chapter, let's hope that Karena survives!
*Spoiler Alert* the next four chapters, including this one, will take place on two different days: the next one will take place on the same day as this one. Thanks for reading!