A scrange, semi-verbal beat began playing. I didn't really mind, it kinda got me in the mood. It then proceeded to be the third table's turn.

"Tch," tch-ed Randy. "She took away our 8 and 9 pair."

"No, it's still good," reassured Julia factually. "Look, now we have the 13 and the 4."

Jacques blinked his unblinking eyes in surprise. "Hm? But we are further away from 34 than we were before."

"That matters not," she replied, adjusting her glasses with her right hand and extending her palm as if to accept an ancient coin with the other. "We are still in a position to reach 34 with one trade. Simply, we have to trade our 5 for the 8 or our 9 for the 12."

"Well, based on the line order," inputted Randy, "Owen originally had the 8 and Kristy originally had the 12. Let's see if they traded cards at-"

"It's not necessary," cut in Julia, like a beat saber, or more specifically, a chem saber. "Jacques just had the 8 before Tiffany traded the 4 to him, so I just need to take it back." She stood up and went and did just that, and it wasn't till she had already left to get the 8 that Randy realized he was frustrated that she figured it out before him.

Now that their turn had been executed, it was now the fourth table's turn.

"Hey Kyle," said Owen real quick. "You should go trade with Randy-boy over there,:

"Gow… why?" went Kyle, puffing up his jowely cheeks with nasally breaths.

"Because," replied Owen, crossing his index finger in front of his lips, "I've already gotten the puzzle solved, based on what Rachel said last turn, and my little trade with Jacquesypoo over there." He looked to the left, put his hand behind his head, and smiled. "Trust me, it'll help us get to 34."

"Gow… okay," went Kyle, before hopping up and hobbling off toward a very ticked off looking Randy. As the two exchanged cards, they also exchanged glares: Randy's condescending, taller glare coming from his icy blue, elegantly eyelashed eyes, and Kyle's unnerving rising glare with his heavy, furrowed brow accentuating his heavily-lidded almond shaped eyes. Like a Pokemon, Kyle returned to the fourth table with the 9 in tow.

Randy clenched his teeth, accentuating his chiseled cheekbones. "Crêpes! What does he think he's doing? We had 34!"

"Maybe he didn't know?" offered Jacques.

"No," canceled Randy. "Knowing that troublemaker, he did it on purpose."

Owen grinned and put his hands behind his head.

"Oh man," said William with dismay, looking at his bracket and the four cards of his team members. "All of our numbers are from four different matchups."

"Yeah," said Skylar, "but I just had the 10 until Jenny traded me." she pointed with a manicured nail at the 7/10 matchup.

"So since we don't know where any of the other are, why don't we just… trade back?"

The thought that this was even a possibility seemed to startle Kiki a little. "You can even do that?"

"Well," said Skylar, "why don't we ask?" she raised her hand. "Ms. Uni, are we allowed to take back a trade?"
"W-what do you mean," replied Ms. Uni, cowering a bit as if they feared being physically scruck.

"So, like, the person I want to trade with just traded with me, so I'd literally just be undoing the trade. Is that okay?"

"Y-yeah," replied Ms. Uni. "That's fine."

"Sweet," said Skylar, grinning and flashing the peace symbol before standing up and walking over to Jenny. "I'll be taking that back, toodles," she said, swapping the 2 and the 10 again.

"Why did she want the 10 so badly?" asked Jenny.

"Could it be," hypothesized Jordan, with his hand covering his nose and mouth, "they already had 34 and needed it back?"

"How lucky would you have to be to get it after just 2 tries?" asked Kristy, resting her forehead on her palm.

Heh-heh, Lucky. Just like – no, not the time to think about that anymore. "That's true," I added. "There had to be a specific reason she reversed that trade."

"Well," said Jenny, "something that's been on my mind since Randy showed it to me yesterday is how you group 34."

"Group? What do you mean?" asked Kristy.

"34 is 3 groups of 10 and 1 group of 4," explained Jenny hastily scrawling out an example. "Or, in total, 4 groups. If you change the number in each group, you get all kinds of combinations that add up to 34. Maybe they had a certain one of those combinations."

"And on top of that," inputted Jordan "there's still the issue of the numbers corresponding to where we sit in Mr. Pony's class."

"Yeah," agreed Jenny. "You, me, and Kathleen had 1, 2, and 3, and we all sit at the same table. Maddie sits next to Jacques and their numbers were right by each other too."

"If the last person at our table is Kiki," then she probably has the 4," implied Jordan, putting his hand over his nose and his mouth.

"Can I just say something?" I asked. "I'm between Kiki and Jacques in line, and if she has the 4 my number is between theirs too. So what if the numbers have to do with that instead?"

"That's possible," thought Jenny. "I'm between Jordan and Kathleen, and it's the same way for my number."

"So in that case," said Jordan, looking at Jenny's combinations. "I think we need either the 11, 14, 5, or 15 to get closer to 34."

"I don't really know who's in line behind Jacques," I admitted, "so if the numbers are based on line order I don't know 11, 14, or 15. But I did have 5."

"Kathleen took the 5 from you," remembered Jordan, "then Julia took it from her and gave it to Kiki. That means… Jenny, you should trade with Kiki."

"Right, so that way we can have 5 and 12," agreed Jenny, before getting up and completing the trade.

"Randy," recommended Jacques brusquely, "You should trade back with Kyle. We had 34 in 2 pairs last turn."

"No," canceled Randy again. "Ms. Uni said that we're allowed to undo trades, so if I make any trade with that table, he'll just undo it."

"Then, perhaps, we should trade my 8 for the 3?" suggested Julia. "That will match the 14, and keep the fourth table from undoing our move."

"Right," said Randy, though the way he said it made it sound more like 'wright'. "As far as I know, Maddie should still have the 3." Julia got up and completed the trade, returning the third table to 34.

Once Julia sat back down, Owen smacked his hands on the table excitedly. "All right! It's finally our turn again. I'm finna go trade with Jeremy." He got up and did that without any reply from the others, plucking 13 from Jeremy's ample grasp.

"What are you doing?" hissed Randy under his breath.

"What are you talking about?" replied Owen innocuously. "I'm just trying to get my table to 34, same as you. And look, I'm following the ru-ules this time!"

Randy gritted his teeth as Owen returned to his seat.

"Okay, thank goodness," breathed William in relief. "The other two groups left us alone."

Kathleen inspected William's bracket. "So now we only need the 15 or the 6."

Kiki crunched the remainders of her lollipop disheartenedly. "I dunno where any of those are."

"Do we really have to keep picking at random?" asked Kathleen, looking to the side and crossing her arms thoughtfully.

"I bet both of those numbers are probably with someone that hasn't traded yet, cuz they're trying to keep them secret," reclaimed Kiki.

"All right then," insisted William. "How about you trade with Eli then? He hasn't traded yet."

"Word. That's a good idea," nodded Kiki, before getting up and trading with the shy construction worker. She looked at the number on the card as she sat back down. "Oh geez. That's a big number."

"What is it?" asked William?

"16," responded Kiki, letting the card flutter to the table magically.

"Well," admitted Kathleen, closing her eyes, butting one of her hands behind her head, and smiling embarrassedly, "it at least has a 6 in it."

"Tru," said Kiki, with no e. "But y'know what's weird? Eli has the last number, and he's the last person in line."

"That might just be a coincidence," admitted William, looking downward and sweating concernedly while scratching his shaggy bowlcut.

"No, wait," said Kathleen, looking to the side and crossing her arms thoughtfully. "Kiki, we're third and fourth in line, right?"

"Huh?" she said, looking upwards and putting a finger to her mouth thoughtfully. "I dunno. Maybe, I guess?"

"Yeah, that's right," proceeded along the conversation Kathleen, pounding her fist into her open palm as if she was mashing a hot potato. "And the 2 you got was from Jenny, who is second!"

"And IDK exactly what place William and I are in line exactly," quipped Skylar, making sure to spell out the 'IDK', "but I'm right in front of him, and my number's one less than his."
"Wait, so it's true?" said William, leaning back and clutching his head in shock. "I gotta write this down!"

"Alright," said Jordan, looking a bit determined and curling his fingers to his forehead advancedly, "We have 5, 12, 6, and 3. That means we need either the 14 or the 11 to finally reach 34. Kristy, you're number 12. Who is right in front of you in line?"

"Uh, William," she responded after thinking for a second.

"That's our 11 then. Since I have the 6, Maddie, I need you to trade with William." He was so cool all of a sudden.

"Right," I said, flexing my muscles in encouragement. I got up and strode toward the first table. William appeared nervous at first, but once I made it clear he was the one I was trading with he seemed to calm down a little. I subtly squapped the 8 card that I had received from Julia with his card. I rotated it suspensefully. It was indeed the 11!

"Yes," I said softly. Thanks to Jordan's 200iq plays, our table had finally reached the grand total of 34. I traipsed back to my table gaily.

"Well, now that Owen has gone and traded us the 1," curdled Randy, "We have to get the 16 from the first table."

"We cannot undo the trade with Owen?" asked Julia.

"If we do that," inputted Jeremy, "Randy thinks he'll just hit us with the uno reverse card."

"And I am correct about that," added Randy authoritatively, sounding like he was about to cough when pronouncing the 'rr' in 'correct'. "Which means, Jacques, you have to trade with Kiki."

"Okay," said Jacques. The tallest boi rose from his seat to once again exchange cards with the smolest girl. By swapping his 4 for the 16 she had just gotten from Eli, he had returned the 3rd table to 34.

Owen rubbed his sharpie beard with one hand, calculating his next move. "Hmm, who should we trade with this time? How about… Eli and Julia?"

Eli fumbled with his helmet a little. "A-are you sure?"

"Sure I'm sure," replied Owen, closing his eyes and cupping one of his hands around his mouth like a megaphone. "You wanna help get us to 34, right?"

Any further conversation was cut short by the snap of Rachel's glove. She stood up of her own accord, in stark contrast as to how she normally just sat on the bench.

"Huh?" said Owen in surprise.

"Let us see what happens when these cave-dwellers are provided some inkling that they have only been viewing shadow puppets." her arm curled upward as if she was offering somebody some tea. Before anyone could object, she traded her 15 card away to me, receiving the 11 I got from William in exchange. "What you decide to do with that is up to you, now," she informed me as I read the number on the card. Her words sent chills down my spine. I didn't even know I was supposed to do anything with the card, let alone what. I looked up, but Rachel had vanished – already sitting back in her seat with her hands neatly folded.

"15?" said Jordan, looking at the card. "That puts us at 37 now."

Owen pointed an accusing finger. "What was that for?" he demanded, whispering forcefully. "You could have ruined my strategy!"

Rachel closed her eyes behind her thick, round, glasses and spoke elegantly. "If my actions have truly 'ruined' your strategy, then it was doomed to fail from the beginning."

"W-what's going on?" asked Eli. "I'm n-not sure I f-follow." Kyle picked his nose.

Rachel tilted her head to the side a little. "I was simply giving everyone else the means - "

Suddenly, something flashed red. Everyone turned to look at William, who stood up, raised his hand, and then swiped it downwards as if throwing a baseball. "I won't let you have it your way!"

"What?" I said in confusion. In that moment, Kiki approached Kyle and traded her 4 for the crumpled up 9 card balled in his fist, that he had gotten from Randy what seemed like a year ago. After that climactic moment, Kiki anticlimactically walked back to her seat, holding the soggy 9 gingerly between her fingers. William extended his neck to peek at the card, then pumped his fist silently. Did this mean… they had gotten to 34 as well?

"Awesome!" bragged William to his group. "I just knew we had to get the 9 to get us to 34, and since the numbers are based on our line order, I knew that Randy had the 9 cause he's right in front of Skylar. But I also knew that Kyle traded with him, meaning that Kyle had the 9 just now."

"We did it!" said Kathleen, pumping her fists joyfully. "Go team!"

"I've gotta say," said Skylar, genuinely impressed, "that was pretty smart, William. You almost looked cool out there."

William put his hands up to defend himself, leaned back, widened his eyes, and sweated startledly. "O-only almost?!"

"Okay, I get it," mumbled Jordan, before putting his hand over his nose and mouth. "Let me think, I guess it's our turn." I could almost envision the electrical shocks traveling from neuron to neuron in his brain, growing larger and larger as the length of the logical paths they produced increased.

"So," he thought out loud. "We had 34, with the group of 5, 12, 11, and 6. Rachel traded her 15 for Maddie's 11, so that means I have to get the 2 to bring us back to 34." Jenny, Kristy and I watched him intensely. "And we can trace back to where the 2 is by following the trades. The last time we had it, Jenny traded it to Kiki for the 5. Afterward, Kiki traded it to Eli, and Eli hasn't traded since then. So that means..." I envisioned a target locking onto Eli's frightened, helmet covered face. Jordan smacked the table like the DK Bongos and stood up, commanding everyone's attention. He stared down Eli from across the room, and happened to catch Owen's glance while doing so. As if he were a serpent skillfully dodging the stab of a bamboo skewer, Jordan wistfully arced his arm forwards, looping back to point at Eli dauntingly. "Eli! I'm gonna trade with you!"

He was so cool. Cooler than Zak, even. Jordan scrode over towards table 4, and exchanged cards with Eli. However, when he flipped that thing, turned it over, and reversed it, what appeared was not a 2, but..."

"Huh? A 13?" Jordan said aloud, thoroughly taken aback.

"Heh heh heh," chuckled Owen, his grin dripping with menace. "Pretending to have amnesia, huh? You're such a simp, Jor-bah."

Jordan took a step backwards and made a sound like a mix between Hank Hill and Kermit the Frog.

"Ahem," cut in Ms. Uni gently. "That's wrong!"

"Huh?" said both Jordan and Owen simultaneously.

"Jordan, you should not have that card," stated Ms. Uni in their 2006-Justin-Bieber-like voice.

"What do you mean?" asked Jordan, subconsciously clutching the card a little tighter.

"The card you should be holding now," explained Ms. Uni melodramatically, "is the 2!"

"I knew it!" replied Jordan equally melodramatically. "So what happened?"

"Somebody traded a card they weren't supposed to," said Ms. Uni, with a determined expression.

"And how do you know that?" asked Owen?

"T-that's private information!" replied Ms. Uni, holding their hands in front of them as if they were clutching an oversized baguette. For some reason, when Mr. Pony said this line, it had a more joking, trollish vibe to it, but when Ms. Uni said it, it seemed more frightened and panicked. "But Owen, you're supposed to have the card that Jordan is holding. What card do you have then?"

Owen put his card face up on the table, both literally and metaphorically. "It's the 2."

"W-when did you -" began Eli, as confused as Jordan and Ms. Uni were. Owen held up his hand and looked at it. "I swapped them two cards while everyone was focusing on Rachel trading with Maddie. It was just a quick switch, you know? A little sleight of hand to keep things interesting."

"Sorry, but that's not allowed," squeaked Ms. Uni cutely. "You can't trade cards within the same table, and not outside your turn. Please give that to Jordan."

"Fine," he said, looking exaggeratedly distraught. He handed the 2 to Jordan, who had a sheepishly vacant expression.

"Well, with that, the activity is complete," said Ms. Uni, clasping their hands together and closing their eyes joyfully. "Every table has reached a total of 34." After that ending, I wasn't really feeling like we had accomplished something. It was very anticlimactic… much like life, I suppose. Jordan walked back to the table.

"It's okay, Jordan," I reassured him. "You did your best." He still looked a bit spaced out.

"Now, everyone," continued Ms. Uni with a panicked sense of urgency. "There are only a few minutes remaining before it's time for lunch, so please get ready to go back to Mr. Pony's room." They then became wide eyed, clutched at their hands nervously while looking downwards and to the side, and broke into a cold sweat. "Er… you've all been an amazing class! Thank you so much!"

We all sat there for a few seconds in awkward silence before a loud voice that sounded a bit like Owen's, but much angrier, spoke up.\

"Hurry up, tubby, say it!" we all turned to look toward the door. It was the ball-shaped, cross-eyed, tie-dye-shirt-wearing line leader from earlier. Obediently, he opened his mouth and said "Ms. Uni, we're back."

Ms. Uni looked like they were on the verge of tears. "Alright friends," they admitted. "It's time for you to go now. Please, line up and exit the classroom."

Slightly confused, we exchanged looks with each other before rising from our seats and getting in line, starting with Jordan and ending with Eli. We proceeded out of the classroom, passing by the line of angry looking boys and quirky looking girls that made up what was supposedly Ms. Uni's class. Within moments, we were back in the more confined, grounded, and serious setting that was Mr. Pony's classroom.

That being in question was slumped over in their chair, with a somewhat disshelved look.

"Whoa, it's Mr. Pony!" exclaimed Owen.

"Are… they okay?" asked Kathleen, breaking the formation of the line to run to her teacher's side. "Mr. Pony, what's wrong?"

"Oh, nothing," they replied, slowly getting to their feet. "Ms. Uni's class can just be a little… rambunctious sometimes." They blushed, closed their eyes, put both hands to their chest, and leaned backward and to the side slightly. "It's nothing that an improved butter sandwich couldn't fix." Mr. Pony put a comical amount of emphasis on the 'oo' noise in 'improved'.

"Speaking of butter sandwich," inputted William, "isn't it about time we head to lunch?"
"You know what?" responded Mr. Pony, "that sounds like a good idea. Let's break for now, and head off to the food building."

The tension diffused, and everyone cheered. Mr. Pony had us line back up in line again, and then led us out of the room, in front of Jordan.

UPDATE (31/8/2020): Hey everyone, I know the next chapter for this is a little overdue but I think Imma need to hold off on posting it for a little bit just because of some coincidental, contextual things happening irl. Don't want to be too specific as to not give away spoilers but I kinda got Lilo & Stitch'd. Hopefully once things have cooled off a little it'll be fine to post without any artistic backlash, so please bear with me during this rain check! 3 Crispysylus