January 14, 2013

Walkerville High Hallway

3:03 P.M.

Confidently, Dorothy Ann made her way through the maze of hallways and students. After four months at Walkerville High, DA knew the building like the back of her hand and could now easily navigate the crowds of students trying to get to their buses so that they could go home. Fortunately for DA, the Ewing house was within walking distance of the school, meaning that DA never had to rush to leave the building. As a result, Dorothy Ann like to visit the school's library after the final bell had rung and give the building some time to empty before she made her way home or to Arnold's house. It saved her plenty of pushing and shoving, and provided her with a chance to get started on her homework.

As she strutted to the library, DA felt a tap on her shoulder. She turned to where Joel, a kid from her Geology class, stood, holding a sheet of paper. "Dorothy Ann, what are the 3 rock groups?"

"Igneous, sedimentary, and metamorphic," DA responded smoothly, never breaking stride. Quickly, Joel wrote down the answers and shouted a quick thank you.

See, DA was used to this kind of behavior. Her classmates saw her as some kind of genius, an academic messiah, and were always asking for help. The setup worked well for DA, really, as their questions worked to feed her ego. DA had always prided herself on being smart; she loved it that others were finally appreciating her gift.

"Dorothy Ann," started another girl, Helen, from her Government class, "which historic trial established separate but equal?"

Once again, without pausing to think, DA responded with "Plessy v. Ferguson" as she continued on her way. Perhaps this attention was one of the benefits of high school; as a child, no one had ever seemed to acknowledge her genius, and those few who did always seemed more intimidated than awed. Now, however, people needed Dorothy Ann, and DA would never let them forget it.

As she rounded a corner, she was met with more questions.

"How many degrees are a right angle?"

"What makes mafic magma different than felsic?"

"Does this cut look infected?"

And to each question DA shot her response—90; silica content; that's disgusting, go find a doctor. And they listened. Dorothy Ann had the whole school at her fingertips, and nothing could take that away.

"Hey, DA," called Jason, a quiet kid from geometry, "Can you teach me how to solve proofs?"

Well… Almost nothing.

January 14, 2013

Arnold's Basement

4:17 P.M.

"Hey, Arnold?" Tim called, picking up a book from the back of the basement. "What's The Awakening?"

Immediately, Arnold and Keesha both let out a long groan. "It's this dumb book we have to read for English," Keesha explained. "It's about this chick named Edna who we're supposed to like but who has all the personality of a rock."

Arnold nodded. "She spends the entire novel making bad decisions in the name of feminism, but at the end—"

"No spoilers!" Wanda cut in, covering her ears. "My class is supposed to read that after you're class is done!"

Keesha sighed. "Fine, no spoilers. The point is, the book sucks."

"And that's coming from Keesha," Arnold pointed out, "and she's the only person in our class who understands things like symbolism and theme and reading!"

Tim shrugged. "I'm sure it's an okay book. You guys probably just didn't get it."

Keesha and Arnold both turned to Tim, mouths agape. "Didn't get it?" Arnold cried. "Let me explain to you a thing or 2 about The Awakening!"

Seeing that Arnold and Keesha would be going off on Tim for a while, DA took the opportunity to pull Carlos to the side of the room. Confused, Carlos looked down at his blonde friend. "What's going on?"

DA took a deep breath. "Okay, here's the deal," she began, making sure that only Carlos could hear her. "You should understand that it physically pains me to tell you this, and that I wouldn't be coming to you if I had any other option."

Carlos nodded. "Thank you for making me feel wanted."

"Shut up. So, um… How are you doing in geometry?"

"Geometry?" Carlos grinned. "Great! In fact, I was just telling Mr. Lee that he should change the name of the class to geomotr-easy!" Rolling her eyes, DA slapped Carlos on the arm. "Hmm… Mr. Lee didn't like that joke either."

"So stop telling it!" DA hissed. "Look, you're my friend, and you won't judge me when I say this…" For a moment, DA stood quietly, gathering her courage. Carlos frowned at the girl.

"Are you going to say somethi-"

"I need you to tutor me on proofs."

Carlos stared at DA for a few seconds. "Is that all? Of course I'll help."

DA grinned. "But you can't say anything to anyone, okay? I need everyone to continue to think that I'm the smartest kid in school."

"You are the smartest kid in school," Carlos responded sincerely.

"Exactly!" DA gave Carlos a quick hug. "And thanks, by the way."

"Anytime." Silently, Carlos and DA rejoined the group seamlessly as Arnold and Keesha continued yelling at Tim.

Bitterly, Tim sat down on the sofa, arms crossed. He opened his mouth, presumably to comment on Keesha and Arnold's defensiveness, but was interrupted by the basement door being opened and footsteps on the stairs. Growing quiet, the group watched as Phoebe entered the room and quietly sat down on the sofa. Quickly, the argument was forgotten.

"Are you okay?" Arnold asked, quickly crossing the room to the sofa. "You're being… Quieter than usual."

Looking up, Phoebe seemed surprised to find the entire group looking at her. "Oh, I'm fine," she replied, blushing slightly from the attention. "It's just… It's something dumb, that's all."

"Well, what's up?" Ralphie pushed, sitting down across from Phoebe.

"Well, you all know that I'm taking Home Economics this year since I can't cook or clean or do things, right?" The group nodded, recalling an incident from middle school when Phoebe had destroyed the Ewing's kitchen trying to get some cereal for breakfast. No one was really sure how the fire began, but it had made it abundantly clear that Phoebe, like Wanda, would never be trusted in the kitchen without some serious help. "Well, we're getting this new assignment—we have to care for some of those really creepy baby dolls, the ones that blink too much and cry if you sit on them and stuff."

"You have to carry around one of those dolls?" Ralphie asked, clearly trying to suppress a grin. "That's not embarrassing or hilarious."

Phoebe crossed her arms. "I know the assignment's dumb; you guys can laugh at it." For a good 10 minutes, the group continued to laugh at the project while Phoebe simply sighed on the sofa.

Finally, wiping a tear from his eye, Tim regained his composure. "Okay, so you have to do a dumb project—what's the big deal?"

"The big deal," Phoebe explained, "Is that I can't take care of a baby! Judging by how often I forget my lunch, I can barely take care of myself! Every pet I've ever owned has died in some freak accident, and the only plant I've ever grown was me! And that's because you guys did all the work! And even if I could take care of a baby, I don't know if I want to; I'm not really a maternal person, you know?"

Leaning back in her chair, Wanda rested her arms behind her head. "You worry too much," she commented, crossing her legs. "It's just one assignment—how important can it be?"

January 15, 2013

Geometry

8:56 A.M.

"And this, class," explained Mr. Lee, holding up a large packet, "Is your homework for the rest of the week. It's a take-home test on writing proofs, and it will be the largest test grade of the quarter. If you fail, your grade in my class will not be above a 75. Any questions?"

From her seat in the front of the room, Dorothy Ann put her head down, defeated, and let out a quiet groan while Carlos, across the aisle, leaned back in his chair and confidently kicked his feet up onto his desk. Unfortunately, his balance was off, and soon a loud crash rang throughout the room.

"I… Ow… Meant to do that."

Placing a test on his desk, Mr. Lee barely glanced at his fallen student. "Well, Mr. Ramon, why don't you work on proving it?" He responded with a smirk.

Once Mr. Lee had his back turned, Carlos glared at the teacher. "That wasn't even funny," he muttered as he returned to his seat.

January 15, 2013

English

10:44 A.M.

"Your next assignment in this class will to design a strong argument that Edna Pontellier is either a strong female character or a detractor in the feminism movement." Ms. Reid spoke, writing the assignment onto the chalkboard in the front of the room. " Tomorrow, you will present the argument for the class and the students will vote on whether or not they thought you were convincing. Why doesn't everyone pick a partner to work with?"

Quickly, Arnold scooted his chair over to Keesha's desk. Keesha was the only person in the class he knew, and the fact that she was good at English always made her a good partner; the two always worked together when they had group assignments like this one.

Once the entire class had paired off, Ms. Reid walked around, assigning each group the stance they would have to take on. When she got to Arnold and Keesha, she thought for a moment. "You're both good students," she commented with a grin, "Why don't you argue Edna's strength as a protagonist?"

As Ms. Reid carried on around the classroom, Arnold and Keesha exchanged scowls, knowing that this assignment was going to suck.

January 15, 2013

Home Economics

1:09 P.M.

"Okay, my little angels," said Ms. Fletcher, placing a big box beside her on her desk. "Come receive your children!" Tentatively, Phoebe approached Ms. Fletcher, who was sitting on her desk, distributing the babies. "An infant for you, wildflower," she spoke, handing a doll to Joey, a kid who was only in Home Ec. because acting had been full. "And a child for you, sweetheart," Ms. Fletcher continued, handing one of the dolls to Phoebe. Carefully, Phoebe reached forward to accept the child. However, as soon as the doll touched her arms, it let out a deafening shriek.

Frowning, Ms. Fletcher looked at the doll Phoebe was holding. "You should try to quell the storm of that child's mind."

"How?" Phoebe asked, holding the doll at a distance.

"Well, that's the joy of parenthood!" Ms. Fletcher enthused, leaping off her desk and swirling at the front of the room. "It's a learning experience!" For a few seconds, Phoebe simply glanced between the crying baby and her energetic teacher, unsure of what to do. As the crying carried on, Ms. Fletcher began to frown. "A learning experience that's worth 15% of your grade."

"Right!" Desperately, Phoebe placed her hand over the baby's mouth, hoping to quiet the screeching. Sure enough, after a minute the crying faded away. Phoebe gave a quick smile. "It stopped crying!"

"You're suffocating it, dear."

"Oh."

January 15, 2013

Walkerville High Library

3:11 P.M.

Curiously, Carlos glanced around the library. "Has this always been here?" He asked, awed by the expansive shelves filled with books.

"Yes," DA responded curtly, staring at her test for geometry.

"Well, it's just like that library across town, but… littler!"

Dorothy Ann looked up at Carlos, brows furrowed. "Have you never seen a school library before?"

"Never like this!" Carlos thought for a moment. "And it's accessible to all students?"

"Mm-hmm."

"So they can do research for projects and stuff?"

"Mm-hmm…"

"What a novel idea!"

For a second, DA just stared at Carlos, tight lipped. As Carlos gave a pathetic grin, Dorothy Ann rolled her eyes and returned her attention to the test. "So, can you walk me through this first problem?"

"Well, I guess…" Carlos responded thoughtfully, "But it might take a while, since I'll have to stop to explain each step."

Ignoring the attempt at a joke, Dorothy Ann picked up her pencil. "So, how do we start?"

"Well, we know that AC is equal to DC—"

"Wait, how do we know that?"

Carlos gave DA a quick glance. "Um… Because it's written right here," he responded, pointing at the paper. "You're really not good at these."

"Shut up! Look, I-" glancing across the room, DA suddenly gave a small squeak and jumped under the table.

Carlos looked around the room for a second, confused, before joining DA under the table. "This isn't really the best next step," he commented sarcastically.

"Sorry…" DA sighed, peeking out from under the table for a second before returning to hiding. "It's just that Jason's out there."

"…Jason Voorhees?"

"Jason from geometry!"

Carlos thought for a second. "That kid who sits in the back of the room and chews too much gum?"

"Mm-hmm!"

Carlos was quiet for a moment as he shifted to a more comfortable position. "Am I missing something? Why are we hiding from him?"

"I can't let him see me here!" DA explained frantically. "I don't want him to know-" Suddenly, DA fell silent as she looked away shamefully.

After a second, Carlos figured out what Dorothy Ann was getting at. "You don't want him to know I'm better than you…"

"I'm sorry!" DA responded softly, still avoiding eye contact. "I just… I need to be the smartest kid in class… I need everyone to look up to me…"

"Why?" Carlos asked, clearly still uncomfortable. "Why do you need to be the smartest kid in Walkerville? It's not like anyone else is even trying! You're winning a contest that no one else entered! Besides…" Carlos looked away, voice tense, "you asked to get tutored in a place full of people that go to school with us—how smart can you be?"

"Wha-" DA glared at Carlos. "Excuse me, Mr. I-Constantly-Try-To-Look-Cool-By-Leaning-Back-In-My-Chair-But-Keep-Falling-Over-Because-I-Don't-Get-Physics, how smart do you think you are?"

"Smarter than you, Ms. I-Need-To-Carry-This-Purple-Book-Everywhere-Because-I-Don't-Actually-Know-Anything-Off-The-Top-Of-My-Head!"

Dorothy Ann glared at Carlos. "It was violet!"

"Whatever! Point is, you suck at proofs and I don't!"

"Well, at least I know my colors!"

Carlos smirked. "Well, if you know your colors so well, then you must know that you're a blonde and I'm not! I win!"

"Nu-uh!"

"Yu-huh!"

"Hey guys?" Surprised, Carlos and DA found Jason peeking under the table. "You might want to keep it down; this is a library, after all." Slowly, Jason stood up and walked away, loudly chewing—no, not chewing—popping his gum.

January 15, 2013

Arnold's Basement

4:24 P.M.

Groaning, Keesha sprawled out on a sofa, throwing her copy of The Awakening onto the nearby coffee table. "This is ridiculous! How are we supposed to argue the Edna was a good character? She ended the novel by—"

"No spoilers!" Arnold cut in, glancing around the basement. "You never know when Wanda's eavesdropping."

Keesha sighed, sitting up on the sofa. "Fine, no spoilers. But I can't convince the class that her actions were strong! Kate Chopin couldn't even convince me that Edna wasn't a stupid whore!"

Dismally, Arnold sat down beside Keesha. "Maybe we're looking at this wrong. Maybe the book is actually really deep and moving and we just misinterpreted it."

"You keep acting so optimistic and you might actually turn into Phoebe," Keesha commented, picking up the book once more and flipping through the pages. "Face in, Arn—the whole plot is bad decision, bad decision, and then the ending! There's nothing deep about that, it's just dumb!"

"You're right," Arnold sulked. "Ugh… No one is more screwed than us right now."

January 15, 2013

Phoebe's Bedroom

4:26 P.M.

"Oh, please stop crying!" Phoebe begged, picking up the doll once more. Since the moment she'd received the doll, the infant had refused to stop it's screeching. She'd been kicked out of her math class when the thing wouldn't stop crying, and during government she'd been forced to stash it her locker to avoid creating a scene. Interestingly, the baby had cried less inside the locker than it had when Phoebe was holding it. And Phoebe couldn't figure out why.

Anyway, Phoebe had been home with the bastard child for about half an hour now, and she could already feel herself going insane. She tried to recall what her own mother had done to console her as a child, but truthfully, she didn't have too many memories of her mom, only that the woman had spent a lot of time on her own. Desperately, Phoebe offered the infant some food—it had to be hungry, right? It hadn't eaten in the past 3 hours since it was using its mouth to annoy the crap out of her. Unfortunately, the attempt was futile, and Phoebe somehow ended up with half-chewed food on her face (could the dolls even do that?). Groaning, Phoebe threw the doll into her closet and slammed the door, hoping for some relief from the crying. The thin closet door did little to muffle the screaming.

Falling to the floor, Phoebe covered her ears with her hands and curled up into the fetal position.

January 15, 2013

Walkerville High Library

4:33 P.M.

After realizing that the underside of a table wasn't the best place to air their dirty laundry, Carlos and DA had returned to sitting at the library table, staring at their work. However, Carlos's bad jokes and Dorothy Ann's know-it-all retorts had now been replaced with a long, awkward silence. Eventually, after accepting that these proofs weren't going to disappear or solve themselves, DA turned to Carlos. "Can you please explain number 3?" She asked quietly.

Carlos furrowed his brows. "You sure I won't embarrass you by offering assistance?"

Dorothy Ann glared at her study partner. "You sure you won't embarrass yourself with a bad joke?"

Carlos rolled his eyes. "Whatever. You like my jokes, whether you admit it or not."

"Sure," DA snorted, "You tell yourself whatever you like."

"You're being awfully sarcastic for a girl who supposedly needs my help."

"Well, you're awfully rude for a guy who is supposedly my friend!"

Angrily, Carlos stood up from the table and grabbed his belongings. "You know what? Study on your own." Turning away, Carlos stormed out of the library.

Furiously, Dorothy Ann crossed her arms. She didn't need him anyway. She was the smartest girl in school, after all! She could figure out how to solve a simple proof! However, before DA could return to her work, her cell phone started buzzing. Glancing at the number for a second, she answered the phone. "Who is this?"

On the other end of the line, a desperate sobbing responded.

"Oh, Phoebe! How's the project going?" The sobbing continued. "Great. Look, I'm not really in a talking mood, okay? Call me later."

A faint "nooo!" rang out as DA hung up the phone. She paused for a moment, glancing at the phone in concern, before deciding that Phoebe would be stronger if she got through this on her own. Anxious to prove that she didn't need Carlos, Dorothy Ann returned her attention to her test.

January 15, 2013

Arnold's Basement

5:09 P.M.

After analyzing The Awakening for another 20 minutes, Arnold glanced up at Keesha. "You know, they talk about birds a lot in this book."

Keesha shrugged. "Sure; they're a symbol for Edna's desperation to be independent. So?"

"Well, we what if we started out by singing 'I'm Like a Bird?' It could kill some time."

"I… Don't think that's the kind of presentation Ms. Reid had in mind…"

"I know…" Arnold sighed, putting his book down. "Can I be honest with you?"

Keesha looked up at Arnold, concerned. "Of course," she responded cautiously.

"I don't really care about passing this project anymore," Arnold admitted. "I mean, I already have an A in English; I think I can handle failing this 1 assignment. And really, I care about my sanity more than I care about my grade."
Keesha paused to think for a moment. "You know what? Me too." She threw The Awakening down onto the table. "Besides, if we talk about birds being a symbol and water being a motif, I bet we can scrape at least a 70 on this."

"Ms. Reid does love motifs!"

Keesha grinned fondly, remembering the time they had read Of Mice and Men. "Ya, she talked about women and corruption for a good 3 days."

Laughing, Arnold picked up the remote control and flicked on the TV. "Hey, Titanic is just starting!"

Keesha scrunched up her face. "Do we have to watch this?" Grabbing the remote, she flipped through the channels to find that the only other movie playing was The Awakening. Sighing, she flipped back to Titanic. "Fine… We can watch this."

Enthusiastically, Arnold sat back to enjoy the film while Keesha rolled her eyes and kicked The Awakening books off of the coffee table.

January 16, 2013

Walkerville High Cafeteria

12:03 P.M.

"So you guys completely failed the debate?" Ralphie summarized, taking a bite of his sandwich.

Arnold nodded proudly. "Yup!"

Tim frowned at the pair. "And this doesn't bother you in the least?"

"Nope!"

"The way we see it," Keesha explained, opening her lunchbox, "Having fun with a friend is more important than getting good grades."

"And Titanic beats The Awakening any day!" Arnold added, happily unwrapping a Mallowblaster.

"Um… That's debatable." Keesha thought for a moment. "Both spend way too much time talking about water."

As the conversation drifted, Dorothy Ann turned to Carlos. "I think we should talk."

Skeptically, Carlos looked around the table. "Right now? In front of everyone?"

"They're not listening to us anyway," DA remarked, gesturing to the group who were now playing ping pong with their textbooks and a rubber ball they'd found on the floor.

"True…" Carlos sighed. "So what's up?"

"Keesha and Arnold were right. Passing geometry isn't important if it means that we have to fight. I shouldn't have asked you to tutor me."

"Hold on," Carlos cut in, "Are you saying you like me more than you'd like to get an A?"

DA thought for a moment. "I guess so… Having the entire school like me is pointless if you don't."

"I'll always like you, DA." Carlos responded warmly, making DA blush slightly. Suddenly, his grin faded. "But you're not really going to fail the test, are you?"

Dorothy Ann let out a quiet laugh. "Of course not! I'll just ask for help from someone whose friendship is less important to me."

"So… Tim?"
"I was thinking Arnold."

Suddenly, a disheveled Phoebe ran up the table. "I need your help," she panted, seeming close to tears.

"What's wrong?" Arnold quickly stood up and ran over to Phoebe.

"And where's the baby?" Ralphie added as he, along with the rest of the group, stood up.

"That's the problem!" Phoebe explained. "I—Just let me show you!"

January 16, 2013

Walkerville High Courtyard

12:07 P.M.

Confused, Arnold turned to look at Phoebe. "How did you're baby end up stuck in a tree?"

Once she caught her breath, Phoebe began to explain. "I put the stupid thing down next to a bunch of the football supplies so that I could tie my shoe. When I looked up, some of the football players had picked it up—they mistook it for a football, I guess—and were passing it around. Before I could cut it, they had punted it! That's when it got stuck in the tree."

Immediately, Keesha and Wanda turned away, hiding their grins. When she finally regained her composure, Keesha clarified; "so, you're baby got… punted?"

"Yes!" The group all looked away, clearly unable to keep straight faces. Phoebe rolled her eyes. "You guys can laugh." After laughing for at least 15 minutes, the group had calmed down enough for Phoebe to continue. "So can someone help me get the baby down?"

Ralphie thought for a moment before snapping his fingers. "I got it! Just hang tight for a minute." Ralphie turned and rushed back into the building.

Once he was gone, Wanda looked up at the doll. "Maybe it would fall down if we threw our shoes at it."

"You're not throwing anything at my baby!" Phoebe answered defensively.

"Oh, because that's where you draw the line," Keesha retorted sarcastically.

Before Phoebe could respond, Ralphie returned to the courtyard carrying a large ladder. As he set up the ladder, Arnold raised a brow. "Where did you get that? Your locker?"

"From the janitor!" Ralphie explained.

"And he just gave that to you?"

Ralphie nodded. "Once, his cat was stuck up a tree, and I got it down by throwing my shoes at it! Ever since, Leroy and I have been tight."

"I told you the shoe thing would work," Wanda pointed out, crossing her arms.

Once the ladder was finally in place, Ralphie quickly ascended the rungs and, in no time at all, had returned with the baby. "Here you go, m'lady," he said, offering the slightly bruised doll to Phoebe.

"Ha! Ralphie's giving Phoebe a baby!" Wanda commented. When the group only stared at her, she simply shrugged. "That's all I got. I'm going back to lunch." With that, Wanda turned around and headed back the cafeteria.

"Thank you," Phoebe responded to Ralphie. Grinning (and ignoring Wanda), Phoebe accepted the doll, which immediately started crying when placed into her arms. "Oh, shoot…"

"Huh. That baby hates you more than it hates being punted," Tim commented. "Anyway, Wanda had the right idea—we should get back to lunch. Good luck, Pheebs!" Tim, along with the rest of the group, returned to the building, leaving Phoebe alone with the crying infant.

Sighing, Phoebe held up the baby. "Please stop…" She begged, of course to no avail.

January 16, 2013

Walkerville High Cafeteria

12:26 P.M.

"So everything's really coming together," Arnold commented and the group sat down at their lunch table. "We're bonding as a group…"

"We've learned our way around…" Dorothy Ann continued.

"And we've learned more about ourselves!" Carlos finished. "These really are the best years of our lives, aren't they?"

The table enthusiastically agreed as they returned to their meal, laughing and loving as a family.

January 16, 2013

Walkerville High Courtyard

12:29 P.M.

Sitting down on the ground, Phoebe stared at the demon-baby before her. "So you never stop crying, huh?" She commented sadly. "Not when I'm around, at least." In response, the baby only continued to cry. Sighing, Phoebe stood up, hearing the bell to end lunch chime. Disdainfully, she picked up the doll and walked over to the courtyard's doors. However, when she tried to push them open, they refused to budge.

"Crap!" Dropping the baby, Phoebe shoved the doors some more, but they were shut tight. The courtyard was only open during lunch since students had tried to skip classes in there in the past. For the rest of the day, they were locked shut. Horrified, Phoebe realized she had missed her literal and figurative opening. "Hello?" She called, hoping someone would be inside. "Could someone kindly open the door?"

When no response came, Phoebe sunk to the floor once more. Beside her, the doll lay face down on the ground, still crying. "This is all your fault, you know," Phoebe muttered, glaring at the baby. "You're the one that looks like a football." Phoebe wasn't sure if she was just delusional, but she could have sworn that the baby began crying even louder.

"Ugh… How could this get any worse?"

And this time, the screeching wasn't the only response. The distant sound of thunder chimed in as well.