The Olympians At School
By Me the Awesome
Chapter Nine
Friday Sept. 2nd
Quote of the Day:
"Trouble springs from idleness."
-Benjamin Franklin
Delia:
So true! Herme – I mean, Tripper, of course, does some crazy stuff when he's bored. Like this one time, he found this grenade somewhere, and - okay, I wasn't supposed to say that. Forget I ever said anything about grenades, Ms. Newman.
Anyways,
Tripper landed us in detention on the second day of school.
Actually, he would've gotten himself into it on the first day – he managed to trick the entire school population into believing the cafeteria food was coated with a chemical that turned anyone who came close into a flowering shrub, resulting in a mass boycott of school burritos – but I think the lunch ladies were too nice to give anyone a detention on the first day.
But Tripper somehow thought it would be a good idea to have a fire extinguisher fight in Math Class. This time we weren't so lucky. Mrs. Standage, the Math teacher, has an unusually short height and temper. I mean, we didn't actually break anything, just basically gave the classroom – and everything in it – a whitewash, which, by the way, it really needed. Even thought my idiot brother and some of my other 'friends' participated, only Tripper and I got into trouble, because we started it. Unfair!
And to add to my irritation, we were sent down to the school office first, to have a little 'chat' with the principal.
Mr. Eggenberger (you know, the principal) was giving us a very angry lecture about how fire extinguishers were used in emergencies only, blah blah blah. I wasn't really listening, but I just nodded and said, "yes, sir," occasionally so we could get out of there faster.
But stupid Trip had to interrupt. "But it was an emergency, sir! I was bored to death, sir! If –"
I ribbed the dolt under the table before he could make Eggenberger madder.
Luckily, the principal didn't. Unluckily, he said concernedly, "Bored?"
"Yes, sir," Trip said and I kicked him in the shins.
Egg (I'm gonna call him that from now on, hope you don't mind, it's a lot quicker than writing his whole name) seemed worried. "Hm… that's quite a problem… HBS is known for its active and engaging teaching style, so I'm devastated that any students would feel disinterested."
"Oh, it's not the teaching, Egg – I mean, Mr. Eggenberger," I said. "Tripper just has an attention span of about two seconds." Now it was his turn to elbow me.
"Still, we are a school that caters to every individual's learning style," Egg told me. "If Mister Velox and you here are disengaged, we'd better do something about it."
"Like what?"
He smiled at me. "I know the perfect way for you two to learn more about math and have fun."
I cringed. Usually adults' definition of fun is way different from ours (you not included).
"Mrs. Standage volunteers at the Alderney Gate Public Library every Tuesday after school from four to five o'clock," he said. I didn't like what was coming. "She teaches first- and second-graders who need extra help with learning math."
I groaned involuntarily. I was fine with the kids part, being the protector of younger girls and all, but if there's one thing I hate more than having detention with Tripper, it's doing math.
Not that I'm not good at it or anything, but how anyone could possibly stand listening to such dry material about algebraic equations and multiplying decimals is beyond my understanding.
Tripper seemed to think the same thing. "No!" He sounded panicked. "I mean… I have a job, Mr. E! I don't have the time!"
"Then you'll have to find the time, Tripper," Egg said sternly. "What's more important – a low-paying, part-time job, or a good education?"
"A job," he muttered, but I don't think the principal heard him.
"Well then," he smiled and clasped his hands together. "That's settled. Next Tuesday – the sixth, I believe – you can ask Mrs. Standage to take you to the library with her. She'll tell you what to do. Now, you may go to detention."
Notes:
1) HBS stands for Hawkland Boarding School, the school the gods go to.
2) I officially have opened a Submit Your Own OC contest! Almost all OCs, as long as they have some of the more important details (name, gender, age/grade, personality, appearance, House) and aren't Mary-Sues or Gary-Stus, will get in, but I have to warn you that most of them will play decidedly minor roles in this story. I might only mention their names, or have them say 'hi', that kind of thing. But I do need them.
3) Also, if you don't want to create a whole new OC, you can help me give some more personalities to the OCs in the gods' House (you can see a list of them on the first page), because I don't want to waste writing time doing that. But if you do decide to do this, please give me the info and I'll see if it fits their general personality. Just help list some small things, like their favourite colour, animal, middle name, that kind of stuff.
4) Please please please submit! Even if it's only a name or something!
5) In the next chapter, I'll include some scenes about everyone trying to find jobs.