Simon's POV
I arrived at Santa Barbara High School and hustled to my locker. Correction, I tried to hustle to my locker, but I was hindered by the large bag I carried that held MY history diorama inside. You would think that SOMEONE would be kind enough to see I was struggling and lend me a hand. Alas, all the human students didn't even seem to notice me. There was another problem, the diorama was much too big to be stored in my locker and Miss. Smith's classroom door wasn't open.
I lugged the bag over and waited patiently beside the door for someone to open it for me, or for them to come close enough that I could ask them to open it for me. I spotted two human boys walking toward the door. This was it….or so I thought. The boys grew closer and I could tell who they were. I knew they wouldn't be much help. Why did it have to be Bocarter and Andrew?
I wouldn't call them my WORST enemies, but….I've held a grudge against them for quite a long time. Bocarter is, in general, a spoiled rich teen who gets everything he wants, even if he has to cheat to do it. He tried to cheat me out of being class president one year, another year he locked Jeanette and I inside a locker, there was a time he stole every bike in the neighborhood and ruined them so that he'd have no competition in a bike race, the list goes on and on.
Andrew Rupert Wesley the Third is Bocarter's "friend." Although, I'm pretty sure they only hang out together since they're the two richest kids in school. The saddest thing about Andrew is, well, he used to be my friend. I met him first, before Bocarter did. We had quite a lot in common, we got along swimmingly. Historically, I have always had a rough time making friends. Most people think it's because I'm cold, distant, and closed off, but it's really because I have very high standards I like my friends to fit...because I've had so many issues with friends turning out to be fakes and phonies.
To make a long story short, Andrew Rupert Wesley the Third ditched me for that….gumby snipe Bocarter Humphrey. When confronted about it, he said he and Bocarter just "get along better" and told me to "let it go." I was devastated, to say the least. That's why I try my best to avoid BOTH of them, which is no small feat when they attend the same school as I.
They were the LAST people I wanted to ask to open the door for me. I tried not to make eye contact. Though I'd been irritated by people ignoring me before, I now wanted to be completely invisible so that I didn't have to converse with ignoramus one and ignoramus two.
"I hear you entered the Physics Bowl." Bocarter said, looking down at me with a haughty grin. "You should drop out right now. You won't stand a chance against my team."
Andrew snickered and then added on to Bocarter's taunts. "Soon, we'll have another trophy to add to our impressive menagerie."
I scowled. "If you think I'm going to drop out because you told me to, you're no more intelligent than the common fruit fly." Unlike the other school bullies, these two could understand my intellectual quips. I kind of liked that. It was refreshing to have someone to go head to head with who was closer to my level. It was challenging.
"Oh, ouch." Bocarter responded sarcastically. "I think you'll change your tune once you find out who else I have on my team. I'll have them meet us here in a few minutes."
Andrew smirked. "We have stacked the deck. I think that is the phrase."
I was curious. In retrospect, I should have just ignored their taunts. "Why? Did you hire a top scientist from a university? Did you forget the competition is only for students, Bocarter?" I sneered. "You can't cheat your way to victory this time."
Bocarter took out his gold encrusted iphone. He texted someone and then tucked the obscenely expensive device back in his pocket. "Who said anything about cheating? I'm not cheating. Not this time anyway. I don't have to cheat to beat little old you."
I set the history diorama down and stood in front of it protectively. "You know, you're a classic example of the inverse ratio between the size of the mouth and the size of the brain." I told him as I crossed my arms. He looked confused, and I decided to further explain my insult. "In other words, you're all talk and no action. Do you even know anything about physics? Because I seem to recall you doing pretty poorly on...every physics test that we've had."
Andrew spoke up, raising his hand politely. "I know physics inside and out. Bo only knows the rudimentary basics." Classic Andrew, needlessly wordy.
"SHUT UP, ANDREW!" Bocarter shouted angrily.
"Yes, sir." Andrew gulped.
Yeah, they definitely aren't friends. Bocarter is the leader and Andrew is the spineless little yes-man that will do whatever Bo tells him. It kind of hurts to see my former friend reduced to….this. However, he made his choices and he has to live with them. No use feeling sorry for him. He could walk away whenever he wants.
Kevin strolled up to us and my jaw dropped. He'd gotten KEVIN to be on his team? That….that doesn't make any sense. "K….Kevin? Say it isn't so!" I gasped.
The redheaded teen in the black glasses looked bewildered. "Say what isn't so?" He asked.
"Hahaha, He's not on my team, you pint sized twit!" Bocarter laughed at me and I could feel my face growing hotter by the second.
I looked at the small box in Kevin's hands. Of course! He'd gotten to class early to drop off his history diorama too. That's why he was here.
I was about to ask Kevin if he could open the door for me when I heard Andrew call out. "Here he comes, Bo."
"Excellent." Bocarter grinned.
I felt a pit of fear building up in my stomach….and it only got worse when I got a glimpse at the person walking toward us. He was fair skinned, had dark brown hair and glasses, wore a pale blue shirt, he almost resembled me. Only on the outside though, on the inside he was a whiny and obnoxious little protozoa.
Jamie Jerkson, as my brothers have dubbed him. We don't actually know his last name. Was Bocarter purposely building a team of all my former friends!? Is that how he planned to beat me? I swore I would try my best not to let my emotions get in the way of the competition. I could NOT let Bocarter beat me!
I wouldn't go so far as to say I HATE Jamie. I just….strongly dislike him. We used to be very good friends, until he started ditching me to hang out with Alvin. He showed his true colors and we went our separate ways. I never really had the chance to talk to him about anything he did and….I may have accidentally never given him the chance to apologize.
The biggest issue with Jamie being on Bocarter's team was not even the fact that I had unresolved issues with the boy. Jamie was smart, extremely smart, and good at practically every branch of scientific study, including physics. With him opposing me, my chance of victory was beginning to seem improbable.
"H….Hey, Simon." Jamie waved at me nervously.
"Hey." I said back, trying to remain emotionless. I didn't want them to realize how angry and sad I was.
"Oh how I love a reunion." Bocarter teased us both.
Andrew grinned a very devious smirk. "Wanna see our fourth teammate?" He taunted.
"I've seen enough." I growled. "Kevin, can you get the door for me, please?"
"Sure thing." The short and somewhat gangly teen opened up the classroom door.
I picked up my project and dashed inside. To my dismay, Bocarter, Andrew, and Mr. Jerkson followed me.
"Ready to give up yet, Simon?" Bocarter and Andrew asked in unison. I gagged internally. Two blonde snooty rich kids, almost so similar looking they could be twins if it weren't for Andrew's different colored eyes and mass of pin curls. Both of them even wore suits. Bocarter's was blue and Andrew's was a turquoise color.
I set the bag with my diorama on it next to my desk and turned to glare at them. "I'm NOT giving up." I vowed out loud. "My team will demolish yours."
"Wanna bet?" Bocarter asked.
"No, I do not. I find the practice appalling." I retorted.
Jamie looked uncomfortable with this whole situation, but similarly to Andrew, he made his choices. I refused to let myself feel sorry for either of them.
Bocarter and Andrew taunted Kevin and I until Miss. Smith arrived. Then, they wisely took their seats and behaved the rest of class. I could feel a growl rising up in my throat as I thought about them. Those rotten, two faced, troglodytes!
I decided the best idea was to ignore them and focus on the lesson. They couldn't stop me from squeezing every bit of education out of this class. Even though, let's face it, I already knew the majority of the material Miss. Smith was covering. Every now and then she teaches something new, and that's when class is really enjoyable.
I'd go into the details on the history diorama presentation, but it really was quite dull, even by my standards. I got an A. Technically, Alvin got one too. An A he did NOT deserve. Kevin and Cheesy's presentation got a B minus because Cheesy had mixed up several of the facts during said presentation. Kevin wasn't thrilled about that. I told him at least he got higher than a C.
When the school day was over, I met up with Kevin, Cheesy, and Warren for Physics Bowl practice. Usually, we would meet in our standard hangout spot for a Mathlete meeting, but the Mathlete club was on hold until further notice. We all wanted to devote ourselves to the annual Physics Bowl. We had never won before, and I was positive this would be our year….despite Bocarter "stacking the deck" against us.
"Gentleman, good to see you." I greeted them, jumping up onto a desk in the middle of the room. "Have you been studying the flash cards I gave you?"
"Yeah." Kevin sat down at a desk and opened up a green colored spiral bound notebook. "I was up until 10:00. My mom was NOT happy."
"I have reviewed the material numerous times" Warren assured me.
Cheesy raised his hand.
"Yes, Cheesy?" I asked the larger boy in the blue shirt.
"Does anyone know when Alvin's gonna get here with the snacks?" He asked. Leave it to Cheesy to think about snacks instead of studying. He reminds me of Theodore, if Theodore were 10 times as annoying.
"I don't know. Alvin should be here by now." I answered. "We can start practice without him. He's just the alternate anyway."
Cheesy looked irritated. "Yeah, but he's the alternate with the snacks." He mumbled. At least, I think that's what he said. His lisp has a tendency to worsen when he's excessively emotional.
"Anyway, I was thinking, we should discuss our strategy….to make sure everyone's on the same page." I looked at Warren as I spoke. "Warren, you and I will handle the hardest questions, the ones where we really have to think deeply and extrapolate data. Kevin, you can handle the questions geared toward the science aspect of Physics. Cheesy, you can answer the ones geared more toward the mathematical aspect."
Kevin and Warren nodded. They understood their role on the team. Cheesy sighed. "Yeah, I know, I suck at everything except math. You don't have to remind me."
"Everyone's important to the team, Cheesy." Kevin reassured him with a confident smile. "We can win this together!"
"Indubitably!" Warren added.
"Does anyone need to look through my notes before we start?" Kevin offered, holding up the green notebook that matched his shirt.
As the three of them studied the notebook, I thought about how lucky I am to have them as friends. Out of the three, Warren is the one I'm closest with. He's not as aggravating as the other two and he tends to take situations more seriously.
Kevin and Cheesy might be incredibly annoying and not really fit my usual standards for friendship, but they definitely have my back. As much as I hate to say it, Alvin's closer with them than I am. Though, given their personalities and interests, it does make sense.
Speaking of Alvin, he strolled into the room while the three boys were still reviewing Kevin's notes. Late as usual.
"Hey, Action Fraction, Hypotenusaurus Rex, Snoop Logarithm, Statistical Mean! What's the haps? How's everybody doin' today?" He gave them all fist bumps and then got to me and hugged me like a boa constrictor. It was NOT pleasant.
"Hey, Al-gebrainiac." Kevin said, acknowledging my rambunctious brother.
Alvin stopped squeezing me and took off his backpack, tossing it up onto a desk with absolute precision. "Sorry I'm late, dudes. I had like no clue what room we were meetin' in."
I grabbed Alvin's arm and rolled up the sleeve. "I wrote the room number on your arm yesterday." Sure enough, there it was. The number 202. It was written in navy blue ink.
"Huh? You did?" Alvin looked at his arm, both bushy eyebrows raised in confusion.
He had to be joking, right? "You asked me to." I reminded him, in case he was serious. "Your memory cannot possibly be that bad."
"My memory isn't bad,..." My brother said stubbornly. "...just, err, unreliable." Well, that makes sense. Alvin is the poster child for the word Unreliable.
He continued to talk, going off on a tangent and wasting valuable time we could be using to practice. "Did you know I can name twenty different kinds of golf clubs, but I can't remember the passcode to unlock my phone? I have used it for years! It only has four digits and I remember ONE of them."
"Fascinating, Alvin." I told him dryly. "Now, before you so rudely interrupted, we were getting ready to start practice."
"Oh good! I haven't missed anything yet!" Alvin lept from my desk across to the desk his backpack had landed on. He opened it and took out a bag of cheeseballs. "Also, managed to snag some extra cheesy snacks for my pal the Cheester." He tossed the bag at Cheesy, who surprisingly caught it. "And, if you like those, I got some more snacks bein' delivered by Theodore later."
"Thanth, Alwin." Cheesy replied with his mouth full.
I groaned. "Gentlemen, can we PLEASE get started on the practice round?" I sounded more upset than I should have.
"Yeah, yeah,...uhhh….I'll read out the questions first." Kevin volunteered.
Thank goodness. With no more unwanted interruptions, we could finally begin to sharpen our minds and prepare them for the competition. Bocarter's team was going DOWN!
Alvin's POV
My school day was pretty forgettable. Can't say I learned much. I actually couldn't wait to get to Physics Bowl practice! Yeah, I know. I'm surprised too. When the final bell of the day rang, I raced through the halls, trying not to let anything distract me on my mission to get to…..crud...which room was it again? I turned around and zoomed into the Principal's Office.
"Brittany!" I yelled, trying to get her attention. "Any idea where the Physics Bowl practice meets?"
"I think it was the auditorium." The beautiful girl in pink said, looking down at me from her position at the computer desk. "But I might be wrong. I'm not totally up to date on nerd stuff." She smiled at me. Gosh, having Britt except my 2.0-ness is still so WEIRD.
"Thanks, Britt." I gave her a two fingered salute as I raced out of the office.
"Anytime!" She shouted after me.
Auditorium. I needed to get to the auditorium. I couldn't let anything get in my way.
"Hey, Alvin." Derek called out. "Wanna shoot some hoops with me?" He spun a basketball around on his finger. I was impressed. He was really improving. No more bully behavior for that dude.
"Sorry." I told him, still running. "I have Physics Bowl practice!"
"I don't really understand what that is, but good luck!" Derek shouted.
Eleanor paced herself and raced along beside me. "Where ya goin' in such a hurry?" She asked.
"To meet up with the Nerd Squad." I answered.
She laughed. "Have fun." She waved at me as I pulled ahead of her.
I had almost made it to the auditorium when some random kid jumped in front of me.
"Dude! Did you know your girlfriend has herself chained to a tree in the park?" He asked.
"Yes, and I support her." I jumped past him and opened the auditorium doors. "Aw nuts!"
Brittany had been right. There was a Physics Bowl practice in the auditorium, it just….wasn't MY team there. I took a look at the four human teens all standing behind super high quality looking podiums. Bocarter Humphrey, Andrew Rupert Wesley the Third, Arthur James Jerkson, and Alexa Eagle. Ooh boy. Stiff competition there. Three intellectuals….and Bocarter. Okay, okay, I know Bocarter IS smart, but he's like….an evil sorta smart….like a supervillain. And yes, Bocarter is good at trivia tournaments, but…..I dunno. He just doesn't seem very intellectual to me.
I left the auditorium before they could see me. Knowing Bogus-carter, he'd probably think I was purposely spying on them. Where was that room? 208? Was that it? 216? 222? Uhhhh….Drat. I didn't know it. Couldn't remember at all. So I just ran super fast to every room until I finally found them. They were in room 202. Obviously, they were all thrilled to see me. Simon seemed a little on edge, but he's like that pretty much every day. After I got Cheesy his snacks and greeted everybody, I was ready to watch the practice. I had expected practice to be dull, but….it wasn't as bad as I was expecting.
Kevin stood in the front of the room and read the first question from the flash cards. "At very small length scales atomic sizes and smaller, classical mechanics must be replaced by:
a. Quantum mechanics
b. Relativistic mechanics
c. Lagrangian mechanics
or d. Hamiltonian mechanics"
Warren and Simon practically pounded on their desks. It took me embarrassingly long to figure out they were pretending to hit imaginary buzzers.
"Warren was a little faster." Kevin told them.
"A. Quantum mechanics!" The guy in the purple shirt with a weirdly interesting pattern on it exclaimed.
"That is….correct!" Kevin took a step forward and high fived Warren. He read out the next questions, which didn't grab my attention. Simon and Warren answered most of the questions. Cheesy got a few.
Then, surprisingly Kev asked one that I knew the answer to! "Which seismic waves are transverse waves?
a. P-waves only
b. S-waves only
or c. P-waves and S-waves."
"Buzz." I said aloud, before anyone else in the room.
Kevin looked surprised. "Alvin?"
"S-waves only!" I answered, feeling really confident in myself.
"Alvin,.." Simon looked a wee bit frustrated with me. "You're here to watch and absorb the information. That's it."
"But shouldn't I practice too, just in case?" I questioned.
Cheesy licked his fingers and let the empty bag of cheeseballs drop onto the desk, causing a bunch of cheeseball dust to coat the top of it. "He knows this stuff too. I say we let him participate."
"You're awesome." I told Cheesy. "There is truly no cheese greater."
The redhead with the out of style bowl cut facepalmed with his still orange fingers. "No more cheese puns, please."
"Aww, but they're so gouda!" I joked, giggling.
Cheesy was not amused. "That better be the last one."
I pretended to draw a zipper across my lips to show that truly WAS the last cheesy joke I would make about my friend with the hilarious name...that he hates.
Simon let out a small sigh. "I suppose….it's not going to hurt anything to have you answer with us." He told me. "But, Alvin, you have to swear you'll take this seriously and not goof off."
"I swear." I was giddy with excitement. Finally, I was part of the action! Ohoho, it was gonna be STUPENDOUS!
Kevin read another question. "How do you calculate resultant force?
a. By diving all the forces that act upon an object
b. By multiplying all the forces that act on an object
or c. By adding together all the forces that act on an object"
Cheesy "buzzed" in by pounding the desk and sending a bunch of cheeseball dust flying at Simon, who was sitting next to him. "C! By adding them together!"
"Splendid." Warren commented.
"Nice work, Cheesy!" I said, giving him a thumbs up.
Cheesy shrugged. "What would be splendid is if I could get a non-math question right for once."
"I'm sure you will if you practice the flash cards I gave you." Simon told him, looking rather perturbed.
"Yeah, because I totally have time for extra homework." Cheesy said sarcastically. It seemed he was getting an attitude with my bro.
"Well, if you budget your time better…." Simon began before he was cut off.
"You don't know what I go through outside of school!" Cheesy said sharply. "Okay? If I tell you I don't have time, I don't have time. Plain and simple."
"Oookay." Simon looked shocked and surprised. "Is there….something going on you'd….like to talk about?"
Cheesy shook his head. "It's….family stuff. Mom's mad at dad again. I spent last week hanging out with Uncle Dangus and helping at the police station to avoid them. I just….I'm under a lot of stress, Simon. Sorry if I, you know, snapped at you."
All four of us flocked around Cheesy like the protective friends we are.
"Don't worry, man." I said. "Everything's gonna be okay."
"We're all here for you." Kevin added.
Simon bit his lip, as he usually does when he's thinking hard and making tough decisions. "If you don't want to do the Physics Bowl, you don't have to. I don't want to add to your stress."
"Oh I'm definitely still competing, and I'll try to look over the flash cards. Please, don't nag me about it though. You sound like my mom and then it reminds me of….the stuff." Cheesy explained.
"Alright then." Simon smiled. "Shall we return to the practice?"
"Yeah!" I chorused with my other nerdy pals.
The rest of practice went really well. I didn't answer as many of the questions as the others did, but I figure that's just cuz I'm new at this. I'll get better, you know, in the event that I need to.
Theodore arrived with the various selections of cheese and crackers straight from the Home Economics room, and we all snacked on them together at the end of practice.
"You know I do eat more than just cheese, right?" Cheesy asked me, as he crunched on the snacks.
I chuckled. "Yeah, I do. I just picked the snackiest stuff I could think of. Total coincidence." Yeeeeeah. No it wasn't. I sorta associate him with cheese cuz of his name. Luckily, I am smart enough not to tell him that.
"So how did practice go?" Theodore asked us.
"I think we're gonna crush Bocarter's team! Boo yay! We're bringing the pain!" Kevin announced.
"It's boo ya, actually." I corrected him.
"Close enough." He nibbled the edge of a cracker.
"I too, believe our chances of winning are fantastic." Warren added. "How about you, Simon?"
Simon frowned. "We can't get too far ahead of ourselves. Who knows what tricks the other team will pull. We're dealing with a mastermind, a yes man, a whiny jerk with a head full of facts, and….actually I'm not sure who the fourth person is."
Should I tell him? Eh, probably better than waiting. "I do. Alexa Eagle. Twin sister of Alyssa, girl that hates my guts. Super nice, but in a creepy sort of way that makes you think she's plotting to bury you in the ground."
"Not Alexa too." Simon groaned. "He really HAS stacked the deck against me."
"Maybe they'll play nice." Theodore offered his usual sunny outlook on the situation.
"I doubt it." Kevin stacked two of his crackers against each other to make something that resembled a tent.
"You guys are probably gonna laugh at this." I felt myself flush. This whole unreliable memory thing was driving me crazy. It's not this bad every day. It's totally inconsistent. I was just having a really rough time with it lately. "What day is the actual competition again? I totally forgot to write it down."
Simon rolled his eyes at me. Well, sorry I don't have a super computer-like memory like you, Si. "It's May 11th." He informed me.
I jotted the information down in my notepad, a physical notepad since I still couldn't remember the passcode to unlock my phone. It'll come to me, I'm sure. If not, I'll ask Simon to jailbreak it later.
Warren looked sad all of a sudden. "You guys, if it's May 11th, I can't make it. I'm getting my wisdom teeth taken out on the 10th. There's no way I'll be recovered in time. I thought it was the 21st." Well, at least I wasn't the only one who didn't know the date.
"No no noooo." Simon jumped up from the desk and began to pace the floor. "This cannot be happening! Warren is essential to our victory! We're a TEAM! Warren, any chance you could ask your mom to reschedule?"
The asian boy shook his head. "When my mom schedules something, it stays on the schedule or she gets….very very cantankerous."
"Does that mean cranky?" Theodore asked. Warren nodded. "Yes!" Theo squeaked happily. "I got it right."
"What are we going to doooo?" Simon wailed. It isn't often when he gets this emotional in front of everyone. It reminded me….of me. Almost disturbingly so.
Kevin gestured to me. "We already have an alternate."
I suddenly realized what this meant. I, Alvin, was about to ACTUALLY participate in my very first Physics Bowl! For real! I was no longer the alternate!
"Think you're up to it, Alvin?" Cheesy asked me.
I smirked. "It'll be easy peasy, Cheesy."
The heavyset boy groaned. "You just had to say that, didn't you?"
I gave him a tiny pat on the arm. "I did."
"Well, Alvin 2.0,..." Simon looked at me with a glimmer of hope in his eyes. "I guess you're officially in. This means you're really going to have to study hard though. No slacking."
"You have my word, bro." I held my hand to my chest, over my heart. "After all, I am like The Physics King!" I bragged. "What could go…..wait, no, almost jinxed it. Not gonna finish that sentence."
Ohoho, I was hyped. However, there was a tiny voice in the back of my head whispering doubts. What if I mess up? What if I let the whole team down? What if I'm not as smart as I've convinced myself I am? What if I suddenly can't be 2.0 anymore? What if my brain's being slowly eaten away by an alien brainslug that crawled into my head? What if that's why I'm losing my memory? Wait, hold on. That's dumb. I have NEVER had a very reliable memory. It's not because of extraterrestrials. It's because of my brain's dopamine shortage or something I looked up when researching ADHD. I can't really recall it now. It's written in my notes, somewhere. Luckily, my brain can usually pull through when it's something I'm interested in. I'm fascinated by physics, so logically it SHOULD be fine, right? Right?...Right?