Chapter 12

In the end, Jim and Jasmine both agreed to allow their stowaways to stay in hiding. Too afraid that they might try to escape from their attempts to send them home or somehow get lost in the delivery, the teens figured it would be best to keep a watchful eye on Morph and Percha until the school break starts. Now, a couple days passed and it was time for the school year to officially begin. Surprisingly the Interstellar Academy had similar classes as any other, such as Jasmine's first class of the day, engineering. With the skills of building her own solar surfer, Jasmine knew she would have no problem with it.

Biology and algebra on the other hand proved to be something the poor girl knew she would need help with. Jasmine did study a little bit of these subjects in the past, but due to the fact she lived her life as a pirate, studying just proved to be too difficult sometimes. Luckily Bryce seemed to be quite adept at these subjects and had promised to tutor her until she was able to catch up to the classes standards. It also helped that her teachers seemed to be understanding of her plight.

Then as Jasmine walked with her group, laughing at Bryce's imitation of one of his teacher's, they all came to a sudden halt in the doorway of the fitness center and saw Captain Crosswater standing in the middle of the room. To their horror, he was their PE teacher.

"Afternoon whelp's, I told you that you would see more of me." Captain Crosswater says with a smug smile.

"This has to be a joke!" Alena exclaims.

"If only it were, but fate is funny sometimes. Don't worry I'll make sure you kids have 'fun' throughout the entire semester." He said with a chuckle when he said the word fun, making the students fully aware that they were to have anything but.

The class was horrid as the students were made to jog in place the entire time, only to take two five minute breaks to drink water. With a sigh of relief, they all sorely walked to lunch and then afterwards, their next class space science and history. Surprisingly, the classroom looked as little futuristic as possible. Bookshelves lined the walls and a skylight replaced the ceiling, there was also an earthy smell to the class which made everyone feel at home. On the teacher's desk sat some books and a name plaque that read "Prof. Oron Price".

A man stood in the middle of the classroom, hands in his pockets, and a smile on his face. Professor Price was wearing a brown tweed jacket and pants, which set him apart from all of the teachers Jasmine had seen so far. His slightly curly reddish brown hair and beard was well kept and gave him a knowledgeable appearance. To Jasmine, he also looked as if he's seen a lot of things and felt the weight of them on his shoulders. But it was the strange feeling of familiarity that truly puzzled the girl, because she knew she had never laid eyes on him before in her entire life.

"Good afternoon class, I hope you found the classroom okay. I know it can get a little confusing with all the many floors and hallways." Professor Price looked at each of the students as he spoke, acknowledging them as students and not as soldiers like Captain Crosswater.

"Isn't that why we got the discs?" A boy with dark skin questions, speaking as if it all were obvious.

Professor Price didn't seem to mind the boys tone, as he responded with a hint of humor "You'd be surprised how many students have gotten lost while using those things. Regardless of its advancement, the holograms on your discs can often look muddled together and can confuse its user, causing them to walk into a different classroom or even a closet."

Chuckles went around the classroom, but the boy wasn't done making sarcastic remarks. "That's because the users are fools!"

"That may be, but a man known as George R.R. Martin once said, "The greatest fools are ofttimes more clever than the men who laugh at them" and I've seen this to be true. I've seen many boys and girls walk in here as fools and walk out smarter than they had been before. All of you can experience the same thing, it just takes an open mind and a dedication to learn. So why don't we start this process shall we?"

Professor Price's words was felt throughout the classroom as everyone took their seats. In some classes, at least one or two people would be caught having a silent discussion while a teacher went over the day's lessons, but not this one. Jasmine took note that everyone was silent as their teacher discussed what it was they would learn over the semester. Even Jim was enthralled, which was strange as these type of discussions usually bored him. Maybe it was the way Professor Price treated everyone with respect, or maybe it was the homely feel to the classroom that sent a calmness into its students. Whatever the reason, it felt rather peculiar to Jasmine.

"Alright class, there's something you should know about me first hand. At the end of each class I like to ask a rather difficult question to test your knowledge, it's just for fun so you don't have to answer unless you know the answer to the question. Here's an example, which number should come next in the pattern? 37, 34, 31, 28..."

Bryce's hand shot up first as everyone else followed suit. With a nod from the professor, Bryce answered "Twenty five, because you are counting down by three."

"Good. Alright, next question. Would you rather drink orange juice, expecting it to be milk, or drink milk expecting it to be orange juice?" This resulted in some groaning from the students as they tried to come up with an answer.

By the end of class, half of the students answered milk and the other orange juice and everyone debated over their answers as they walked out the door.

"Oh and another thing class! Should you ever need a quiet place to study, my doors are always open!" Professor Price's called out to the leaving students.

"Well that was interesting." Blake says.

"I like him and the class makes me feel like I'm back on Montressor." Jim states, surprising Jasmine.

"Me too, I think it'd be nice to do my homework there." Adeline agrees, the look of enthrallment leaving her face as she noticed Talion following behind the group.

Castor, who so rarely agreed to anything the group had to say, seemed to be in the same state as the others. Bryce praised the professor's sense of respect towards the students and how he acknowledged Bryce's intellect. Everyone remarked the classrooms homely feel, that is, everyone except for Jasmine. Jasmine alone seemed to not be affected by the classroom. It was strange as the whole appeal of Professor Price and his classroom would've impacted the girl too. But the scents didn't make her calm, instead they gave her mixed signals in her brain.

Although their teacher did treat everyone with respect, Jasmine found it to be forced. Maybe it was her pirate brain at work, being as it is she never truly had a home before living with Jim or was automatically treated with the utmost respect. Whatever the reason, Jasmine's gut had never been wrong before and she began looking around the school warily. Looking for signs of not only for the facade in other people, but also for the one person who would want a girl like her in a school like this.

Author's Note: Hi everyone, sorry for another late delay. Honestly I wouldn't be surprised if you were getting tired of all the excuses I've made of not updating ;). But seriously, I've been having a hard time feeling inspired for anything. It's not that I don't know what I want to do with this story, seriously I know where I want it to go and how I want it to end. The truth in the matter is that I've been struggling these past several months. Work has been really getting to me, not in a stressful because I'm constantly busy sense, but more like a stressful because it's constantly testing me physically, mentally, and emotionally kind of sense. Because of this, I barely feel like writing anymore and I mostly only write for my English course nowadays. I'm trying to find a new job, but its hard because of where I live and I don't want to quit my job until I get a new one, so I'm just trying to make a lot of adult decisions right now. Anyways, I want to thank you all for your continuous time you put into reading this story as it shows how much you guys care about it and it means a lot. This chapter I'm especially thanking sailorsenshi13 for your continuous reviews I'm glad you got the Monsters Inc. reference in the last chapter, and I also want to thank Sirrah K for your review I'm glad you enjoyed In the Eyes of a Pirate and Jasmine as a character and I'm glad In the Footsteps of a Soldier is living up to your expectations of what the possible Treasure Planet sequel could've been. I hope you all liked this chapter and please bare with me as I struggle to get the next one out!