Authoress's Note: I'm finally updating. And I'm also really tired after working all day, so I'm not going to say much. Happy Fourth of July to all American reviewers! :D
DISCLAIMER: I do not own Animorphs. Also, I do not own the band Skillet. However, I do own tickets to one of their concerts next Friday, which I am very excited about.
My Best Friend Is An Android 2
Chapter Ten: "Women's Work"
The next day...
(Erek's POV)
I never thought this day would come. Never.
I stared down at the papers in front of me, then glanced quickly around the room.
Nobody else seemed to be having any trouble with it. Did that mean these humans were smarter than me?
I mean, this was so strange. Math is really easy for me, considering my brain is technically a computer. And so is science. After all, human knowledge is nowhere near what we had on the Pemalite homeworld. Besides, I can remember every word the teacher says in class without even having to think about it. And history... enough said.
I'm also the best in my PE class. Push-ups and pull-ups are nothing. The mile... child's play. Soccer and football are so simple compared to Pemalite sports.
Even with me acting like a human, taking longer than necessary on quizzes and tests, and not showing my real speed and strength, I was awesome. School, for me, was incredibly easy... until now.
Home Ec.
The only two reasons I had taken it were because 1: Tessa was, and I didn't want to take a class none of my friends were in. All my other friends either had electives a different period, or were in band. I like playing the drums and guitar, but I had no idea how to play a flute or a trumpet or anything like that. And 2: According to Tessa, there was food in this class that you got to eat. It sounded good to me. So now I was stuck in Home Ec.
I had no idea what any of the answers on the worksheets were. The teacher, Ms. Riley, had given us four worksheets to do. Two of them said "Cooking Utensils" at the top. They had all these little pictures on them. Next to the pictures, you were supposed to write the name of the utensil and what it was used for. The other two worksheets were the same, except with sewing stuff. Ms. Riley had told us to use our common sense to figure out what the answers were.
So, apparently I had no common sense.
"Um, Tessa?" I tapped her on the shoulder.
"Yeah?" She looked up from her worksheet. Dang it, she was already halfway done with the first one.
"Can you help me?" I said, helplessly. "I don't know any of these answers."
"What do you mean?"
"I mean, I don't know any of these answers."
A smile was slowly starting to spread across her face. "Wait a minute. You mean to tell me that Erek, the incredibly smart one, the android, the one who pretends to know everything about everything, now doesn't know the answer?"
"Yes," I admitted.
"Wow. Why?"
"Well, it's not my fault," I said. "I mean, think about it. For most of the time I've lived here on Earth, stuff like this was women's work. Why should I know anything about cooking or sewing?"
"Women's work?" Tessa repeated.
"Yeah. Women's work."
She looked like she was trying not to laugh at me. "Okay, okay, Erek, I'll help you."
"Thank you," I said gratefully.
For the rest of class, I got into a regular routine asking Tessa what the answers were and writing them down.
"What's this?"
"A colander."
"What's it used for?"
"Getting the water out of pasta and vegetables when you wash them."
"What's this?"
"A thimble."
"What's it used for?"
"So you don't stab your thumb when you're sewing."
"What's this?"
"A skillet."
"Like Skillet, the band?"
She sighed. "No, Erek, not like Skillet, the band. Skillets are for frying things on the stove."
I thought for a second. "Like bacon?"
"Yes, Erek. Like bacon."
"What's this?"
"Tongs."
"What're they used for?"
"Picking up food."
"What's this?"
"A spatula."
"What's it used for?"
"Flipping hamburgers."
"What's this?"
"A vegetable peeler."
"What's it used for?"
She gave me a look. "Peeling vegetables."
I paused, and actually thought about the name of the utensil. "Oh, right," I said, feeling slightly stupid. "What's this?"
"A needle threader."
"Let me guess, it's used for threading needles?"
"Yep."
"What's this?"
...And so on, and so forth.
I was really, really hoping the bell would ring soon.