When we arrived at the gymnasium the second time, the atmosphere was totally different. While the first time, it had been cool and liminal, this time, between the crowd taking up space and emitting heat, and the buzz and chatter between them in anticipation of the event, it was anxious and feverish. These were definitely the 'vibes' Kiki was talking about.
Speaking of Kiki, I heard her uncharacteristically excited voice from behind me. "Yo! They opened up the concession stand."
"All right!" hollered Mr. Pony above the background noise. "Mr. Pony's class, please follow me over to the gym doors. There the participants will split off from the others and -"
"Mr. Pony!" hollered back Owen from behind me, and also Kiki. "Can we go to the snack bar first?"
"Yeah," agreed William. "I wonder if they have sandwiches."
"What? No, not yet!" replied Mr. Pony. "So once we get there, we'll split up. The participants will go with the judges and everyone else will -"
"Mr. Pony!" hollered Owen again. "Where's the bathroom?"
Mr. Pony held up one hand with an irate expression. "Right over there! You were just there literally yesterday. If you need to go, make it snappy!"
"Okay! I'll do that." Owen split off from the line and Naruto ran towards the boys bathroom… or should I say, the boiz bathroom.
"No running in the gym lobby!" said Mr. Pony and Randy simultaneously. I felt like I was in a meme.
"Anyways! The rest of you follow me." Mr. Pony rushed us over to one of the sets of red-orange double doors. "Now, Julia, Randy, and Kristy, you three come with me to find a judge. The rest of you will need to wait here, it shouldn't be long."
"Good luck, you three!" said Kathleen, as the three participants and Mr. Pony left the party. "We'll all be cheering you on." I wasn't sure what to do while I was waiting. Mr. Pony and Randy probably wouldn't like it if I ran off without any notice, so we couldn't do much except stand near the doors. I depressed the bar on one of the doors, opened it, and took a quick peek inside to reveal that the gymnasium had been changed since yesterday. There was a massive, circular stage in the center with lots of chairs on it, and a strange mechanism above it. There were a few beings in there now, but it didn't look like anything important was happening yet.
"Hey Jordan," honked a familiar voice. I turned around, letting the door click shut behind me, to see Chuck, and the rest of the first graders.
"Whoa! Hi everyone," I said. I noticed that while for now, the line of first graders was still rigid and regimented, with no teacher, no assistant, and a few other missing students, our line had kind of just dissolved, making me a leader of nothing. I also noticed that their chosen three were still among them. "How come you guys haven't split up yet?"
"Because," inputted Tim from behind Chuck in the first graders' quickly dissolving line, "We haven't been told where to go yet. As our two classes mixed and intermingled like colored liquids in a container, I noticed Ms. Uni's class from the class swap also entering the building, recognizing the teacher, some of the angry looking boys, and quirky looking girls.
"Who from your class is participating?" asked Jenny from behind me.
"Myself, of course," began Tim, "accompanied by Emma, and… him." The utter disdain in the way Tim said that made it clear that he was not in fact talking about a hunky, romantic love interest, but rather -
"Jor-bah! How wonderful to see you again," I turned to the right to see shep approaching me like an excited doge.
"Ah. H-hey, shep," I said. "Is it really true that you're participating in the spelling bee?"
"Yes," he murmured, an expression of serene grace on his face. shep held his hands up like Lana Del Rey and did an impeccable Lele Pons impression. "It's such an honor to be participating in this, like, spelling bee. I mean, can you even?"
"Is he always like this?" asked Jenny.
"Un-fortunately," answered Tim.
"Oh, hey there," inputted Mr. Pony suddenly. I hadn't noticed until just now that they were back. "Tim, shep, Emma, it looks like you lot aren't in the right place yet. Here, come with me and I-"
"That won't be necessary," inputted Tim condescendingly. "Simply inform us of where we are required to be present. I am perfectly capable of guiding those two simpletons there myself."
Emma shot Tim a glare from the back of their line, but it simply bounced off him like a lazerbeam off a mirror of glass.
"Is he always like this?" asked Jenny again.
"Unfortunately," answered Chuck, sweating disappointedly.
"Foofoofoo," chortled Mr. Pony, like a bat. "Very well then. The judges are in the hallway to the right of the doors on the other side. Just meet them there."
Tim closed his eyes, crossed his arms, and smirked confidently. "So be it. Emma, shep, follow me. And try not to get lost along the way." He then stalked off with his rather prominent schnoz held high, and Emma a few paces behind him.
shep had calmed down a little. "Well, i'm off, since i'm a participant. i hope you spectators enjoy the spelling bee." It felt like there may have been a hint of a twisted barb of malice in the way he said 'spectators', but I couldn't be sure, since it seemed so unlike him. The spikes on his football cleats clicking across the tile floor, shep trotted off after Tim and Emma nonchalantly.
"Be careful!" shouted Kathleen. "You'll fall!"
"No, thank you!" responded shep, looking back over his shoulder with his eyes closed. "i'll be fine." And with that, he disappeared into the crowd of ever-growing students, like matryoshka dolls.
"Well, now that that's sorted, let's head into the gym," said Mr. Pony, pushing open one of the orange double doors and motioning for us to proceed through. "The event is starting soon."
We filed into the gymnasium and stood around on the floor near the circular stage, except for Kiki, who was so tired of standing that she just wanted to sit down on the floor… and soon the rest of us joined her. As we sat and waited, the rest of the gym slowly filled up with the rest of the student body.
Suddenly, the lights dimmed. The crowd fell into a hushed silence until they turned back up to reveal a new, never-before-seen being wearing a scrub, hat, mask, and sunglasses standing on the center of the stage.
The being dripped swag like a broken faucet, and spoke into one of the multiple microphones on the stage in a malevolent, grandiose voice that seemed older than Time, so at least 27 years old. "Greetings, students, faculty, and others," she began. "My name is Dr. Bear, and this is the three-hundred-and-sixty-second… Paige Prep spelling bee."
Finally. I almost couldn't believe we had actually gotten here.
"I'd like to turn it over to our three judges for the event, Mr. Sibba, Mr. Seal, and Ms. Uni, so they can explain the program." Dr. Bear reached for her sunglasses.
"Noooo!" shouted Mr. Pony, pushing through the crowd next to me. Dr. Bear removed her sunglasses, transforming her from a doctor… into a ninja. She then moved so rapidly that it was like she disappeared, and then reappeared crouching against one of the beams in the gym corner like Spider-man.
"Help!" ordered Mr. Pony to the other teachers. "We've gotta get her back into doctor mode!"
Mr. Seal flopped on stage, jostling his rainbow rubber beret from his head. Mr. Sibba pounced up next to him, his lasso whirling above him. Ms. Uni simply went 'emergency'.
Dr. Bear leapt with ninja-like reflexes towards the three opposing her on the stage. Mr. Seal caught his beret in his mouth and flung it like a frisbee, whilst Mr. Sibba flung the lasso. The beret splatted against Dr. Bear's face like a pie or a rubber pancake, and the lasso ensnared her, halting her ninja-like movements and bringing her down to earth. While she lay squirming and trying to escape the lasso, Ms. Uni returned the sunglasses to her face, turning her back from a ninja into a doctor and therefore calming her down. It just occurred to me that this entire thing was a farce. Or as some would like to call it, a farts.
"Ahem," coughed Mr. Sibba deftly. Through the microphone, it sounded like the web of blockage obstructing the entire gymnasium's throat was being cleared. "Indeed! When I first presented the spelling bee to each class, I explained the rules. 'For each round in the spelling bee, contestants will be split into groups, and each member of each group will be asked to spell one word by a judge. If they misspell the word, then they are eliminated, unless no one else is able to spell it. This continues until only one person in that group remains, and those winners proceed to the next round. The last person standing overall is the winner.'" He opened his eye intensely. "However, today, things will be different!" he roared. "Today, there will only be two rounds. Because we have eighteen contestants here, the first round will be split up into three groups of six, and the last two standing in each group advance to the final round."
"Huh?" I said out loud, though it was more of a surprised mumble. "six-person groups?"
"Y-yeah," whispered Eli from beside me. "Nothing in the r-rules says the groups h-have to be two people. Actually… This was the w-way I originally, uh, interpreted them."
I recalled what Mr. Sibba had literally just said, and realized Eli was right. The way Mr. Pony had set up our practice rounds had only led me to think that they would all be 1v1 style groups. I also wondered if Randy, Julia, or Kristy had considered this before now – a six-person group was bound to be much more difficult and chaotic than a two-person one, and it could be bad news if they weren't prepared.
"The final round will be one group of six, and the last singular person remaining will be the winner," continued Mr. Sibba. "Between the first round and the final round, we will take a short break for lunch, which is being graciously provided out at the concession stand." He flexed his fingers in front of himself as if he were feeling tha powah. "Now, it is time to reveal the first round groups!"
The curtain mechanism above the stage whirred as pulleys rearranged the curtains in the gym to split it into a 3-piece pie, dividing the chairs on stage into three equal groups of six, with one teacher for each group.
"Group A, judged by myself!" announced Mr. Sibba, as six students walked up onto one third of the stage. I recognized Kristy and Tim right next to each other, and the girl on the other side of Tim as one of Ms. Uni's students. She also looked familiar from somewhere else, but I couldn't put my finger on where.
"Group B, judged by the honorable Ms. Uni!" It occurred to me that I should probably get up and see the other groups too, so I hurried through the gap in the curtain to my left to watch a group with Julia, shep, one of Ms. Uni's students, and three others I didn't recognize finish walking up on stage. I continued through this section and into the next as Mr. Sibba finished his announcement. "And finally, Group C, judged by the honorable Mr. Seal!" The remaining six students walked on, and it was at this point I realized that Randy and Emma were in the same group. The last being in this group was a particularly eye-catching dude with sharp facial features and long, silvery black hair.
"So, with all that settled, we can finally get this spelling bee underway!" I heard Mr. Sibba's voice roar triumphantly from the first section. I had to make some quick decisions. Which group did I want to watch? I guess I could just keep moving between the three of them like I had just been doing, but for now, I figured I'd head back to rejoin the rest of my class.
After returning to the first section, I headed towards the familiar group of students and noticed William, Skylar, and Jeremy pass me walking the other way. They were probably just going to watch Randy's group, I thought as I settled back down with the rest of my class.
Mr. Sibba shuffled his deck of index cards before selecting the top one. "Kristy," he began uproariously. "Your first word is yacht."
"Hah, that's an easy one!" said Kristy, laughing bromeantically. "Y-o-t."
At least one third of the entire gym stood still and stared for a second in stunned silence.
"Is this a joke?" asked Tim incredulously. "Mr. Sibba, I demand to know the meaning of this."
"Incorrect," re-ignited Mr. Sibba, as a buzzer played in the background. "Tim, you are up next. Can you spell yacht?"
"Y-a-c-h-t," backhanded away the word Tim as if it were but a minor distraction.
"Correct!" blazed Mr. Sibba. "We have the first elimination of the first round!"
"What?" asked Kristy in shock. "I'm out already? But we just started!"
"Yep," spat Tim condescendingly. "Congratulations. You've somehow managed to eliminate yourself at the literal earliest opportunity. I'd be astounded by the depths of your incompetence were I not so vehemently disgusted."
Kristy looked a mix of confused and angry. "I don't even…" she pointed accusatorily at Tim. "Just… shut up!" She steamed off the stage and headed back to where our class was located.
"Play nice, Timothy," warned Mr. Sibba, hoping to put a parental edge on his comment by using Tim's full name. "You still have your own word to spell."
Tim snorted in disdain. "Your childish intimidation tactics are of no significance to me. Not after spending such time with him." I had a feeling he was talking about William's pen-pal, Zachariah, whose quirk was that he always called people by their full names.
"Very well," chortled Mr. Sibba, crossing his arms and closing his eye. "Your word is villain."
Tim closed his eyes, crossed his arms, and smirked confidently. "V-i-l-l-a-i-n."
"Correct."
"Man, that was bogus," grumbled Kristy once she rejoined our group. "Who knew the first word was gonna be a trick question?"
"Yeah," agreed Jenny, thinning her lips Britishly. "Sounds like you just got unlucky."
"Doesn't help that Tim is such a jerk, too," said Kathleen.
"I think the words for this spelling bee are harder than the ones we were using before," offered Jacques.
"Oh well," said Kristy, starting to look a bit better. "So… if I'm out then, now what happens?"
Kiki piped up. "Do y'all wanna get something from the concession stand," she said, although it was meant as a question.
"That sounds like a good idea," encouraged Jenny. "C'mon Kristy, let's go." The three of them headed off towards the gym lobby, while the rest of us chose to stay behind for now and watch the spelling bee.
"I suggest we move to a different section," said Rachel. "With our class's representative eliminated here, there is little else you would consider 'worth watching'."
That was true, I thought. I didn't really know anyone else in this group besides Tim, and I kind of didn't want him to win... so I'd be better off checking out Julia or Randy's group.
"Let's go watch Julia's group," said Kathleen. No one had any objection to that, so we headed through the left side of the curtain once more and emerged into Julia's section.
"Correct," squeaked Ms. Uni in her 2006 Justin-Bieber-esque voice. "Julia, your word is granite."
"G-r-a-n-i-t-e," spelled Julia, closing her eyes and raising a finger as if to give some sage advice while grasping her elbow with her other hand.
"Correct. shep, your word is ax."
"Ax?" repeated shep, looking a bit like a surprised doge. "Sorry, but what kind of ax are we talking about here? Like, acts of kindness, or like when you aks somebody a question?" That comment drew some odd looks from the other contestants.
Ms. Uni puffed up her cheeks, the ones on her face, embarrassedly, and put her hands to her mouth. "Neither, and that last one is actually 'ask', not 'aks'… The ax I'm talking about is the kind used for chopping wood."
"Ah," replied shep, putting up his hands disarmingly. "I had totally forgotten about that one." If the previous comment hadn't, that comment most definitely drew some odd looks from the other contestants. shep suddenly put his hand to his chin and looked to the side thoughtfully. "Though I believe a-x and a-x-e are both accepted spellings."
"Correct," said Ms. Uni, with tears in her eyes. "Scott, your word is supermarket."
I recognized Scott, the boy next to shep, as one of Ms. Uni's students. Rather than looking angry, like most of the other boys in his class, he just looked angsty… like the only things he was angry at were himself, his life, his parents, and the man, man. He flipped his shaggy black hair to the side and spelled "S-u-p-e-r-m-a-r-k-e-t."
"Correct. Bayun, your word is infrared."
Bayun was a large, barrel shaped boy wearing a camo shirt stretched tight across his body, camo pants, and a square camo hat. He had the thousand-yard-stare as he spoke into the microphone in front of him. "ah-ayun-ayuf-awr-aye-awr-ee-dee." The only thing thicker than his body, besides a bowl of oatmeal that is, was his south-American accent. Clearly, this man was one of the possum brothers.
Rachel observed in silence.
"It looks like no one has been eliminated yet," commented Jacques aloud on her observation.
"Yeah, it l-looks like Julia and shep are s-still in too," added Eli. "That's a relief."
"You think Julia's going to make it through this round?" I aksed – er, asked, hooking my finger to my chin thoughtfully. "She said earlier she thought she could win the whole thing."
"No doubt about it," answered Kathleen enthusiastically. "Don't you remember how easily she won the first practice round? She'll be fine."
"Look, she's up next," prompted Jacques.
"Correct. Julia, your word is inadequate."
"I-n-a-d-e-q-u-a-t-e."
A buzzer played in the background. Julia frowned, opened her eyes, but didn't change her pose.
"Correct," said Ms. Uni. Wait, so why did the buzzer play then? "shep, your word is spin."
"S-p-i-n," spelled shep slowly, taking the time to space out his letters as if he were creating a vaporwave title. Julia's frown disappeared and her eyes re-closed. Yeah, this group seemed to be proceeding as normal.
"Correct. Scott, your -" the buzzer played again, causing the five of us, minus Rachel, to look around in alarm.
"Ah! It's for another group!" Eli was the first to come to the realization. "Er, both of them were."
"Do you think it's for Randy?" asked Jacques.
"Let's check it out! Come on!" insisted Kathleen, and myself, Eli, and Jacques followed her quickly to the next section, leaving Rachel to observe Julia's group some more.
Little did we know, that once we arrived at Group C's area of the gym, we would bear witness to a terrifying sight to behold… at least in the context of the spelling bee.
Die Iesu Coniei… Die Iesu Coniei… Die Iesu Coniei… Die Iesu Coniei…
That was the chanting that occurred during the opera-like bridge of the background music that began playing as we entered the third section of the gym. I wasn't sure if it was supposed to be rap, death metal, gospel, or some unholy combination of all three, but it left me in awe, and gave me the sense that I was witnessing an Earth-shattering feat of power.
I only had time to catch the silver-haired guy's sharp lips speaking somebody else's word. "P-h-r-e-n-o-l-o-g-i-s-t."
"That is correct!" said Mr. Seal in his dulcimer tones. "Lucian scores a double-elimination!"
A purple pulsing aura swept through the room. The two students standing to the silver-haired guy's right both slunk offstage, and he sat back down.
"Whoa," said Eli, his eyes wide underneath his helmet. "He a-actually did it."
"Huh?" asked Jacques. "Did what?"
"The d-double elimination," explained Eli. "If someone m-misspells a word, it k-keeps going until s-someone gets it right. T-technically, this means you can get m-multiple people out at once, but I d-didn't think it'd a-actually happen."
I tried changing my perspective once again to the pluralized rules Eli envisioned. "He's right," I agreed. "Technically, you could get everyone else in the group out all at once, with the right word."
"Ah, but wait," resumed Mr. Seal. "You still have to spell your word. Apocalypse."
The opera music continued. "A-p-o-c-a-l-y-p-s-e."
"Correct. Randy, your word is pharmacy."
"P-h-a-r-m-a-c-y," spelled Randy, the gym lights and his chiseled cheekbones accentuating the nervous sweat on his face.
"Correct," stated Mr. Seal. That was right, I remembered. This is Randy's group. Shouldn't William, Skylar, and Jeremy be here? I took my eyes off the stage to scan the crowd and noticed William and Skylar standing together closer to the stage.
"Hey guys, look" I mentioned to Eli, Jacques, and Kathleen. "Skylar and William are over there." We wove through the crowd to meet up with them.
Skylar noticed the disturbance in the sea of people as we emerged and turned to greet us, but William still seemed entranced by the events transpiring on stage.
"D-i-s-o-r-g-a-n-i-z-e-d," spelled Emma. William mouthed the letters along with her.
"Correct," said Mr. Seal, and William nodded once in affirmation.
"Hey William," I asked. "What are you doing?"
"Huh?" he turned his attention half to me. "I'm, uh, spelling along with them."
"Avonte, your word is bureaucratic."
William and I both turned our attention back to the stage. Similarly to Scott, I recognized Avonte as one of the angry looking boys from Ms. Uni's class, but his anger was different, somehow. Beneath his molten red eyes and boxer-like build smoldered an anger more intense than anything I had imagined possible. It was as if he was in a constant state of rage. "B-u-r-e-a-u-c-r-a-t-i-c."
"Shoot, I would've missed that one," whispered William to himself. "That's five lives now." He turned back to me. "Randy told me to watch him during the spelling bee and try to spell along with the rest of his group. He said it'd help me get better."
I nodded. That did sound like something Randy would say. "Where's Jeremy?" I asked. "Wasn't he with you two?"
"I don't know," he mumbled, half paying attention to the stage. "Where's everyone else? I thought he was with you."
"Ah, the class kind of split up after you left," I said, remembering that he hadn't seen it happen. "Jenny, Kristy, and Kiki went to get snacks, and-"
"Wait, isn't Kristy, like, in the spelling bee?" inputted Skylar. "Don't tell me she got out already?"
"Uh," I began.
"She did," answered Jacques, his unblinking eyes looking downward sorrowfully.
"That b-buzzer you heard at the v-very beginning, was for her," added Eli. "It p-plays whenever someone misses a word." Skylar nodded, the recent double-elimination she had just witnessed supporting Eli's statement.
"Yeah, that's right," I continued. "and then Rachel stayed behind to watch Julia's group."
"Is Julia still in?" asked Skylar.
"Yeah," I confirmed. The buzzer played. "Well, maybe." We all turned back to the stage briefly.
"It's not for this group," reassured William, who was paying attention. We resumed our conversation.
"Where is it, then?" asked Kathleen.
"N-no way to tell," answered Eli. "We should split up and check."
"Sounds good," agreed Skylar. "Jordan and William, you two come with me to Julia's section. The rest of you, go check out the other one."
"I kinda want to stay here and watch this," refused William.
"Me too, actually," added Jacques.
The four remaining of us shared brief glances before Kathleen said, "Right, let's just do it this way, then." She took off towards the first section with Eli doing his best to keep up. Skylar and I similarly went back to the second section of the gym, where Group B was.
It wasn't until after I had emerged onto the other side of the curtain that I realized how much more light and open this section felt compared to the third section. There were actually windows to the outside here, and less of a crowd as well. I had a feeling that was important for some reason, so I made a mental note to remember it for later.
"Huh," said Skylar, bringing my attention back to the people on stage rather than the atmosphere of the setting. "So it must've been for the other group." She was right, all six contestants were still firmly planted, like a bunch of Kiki's trees, on the stage. I also glanced quickly to where I had been earlier, and sure enough, Rachel was still right where we left her, like Taylor Swift.
"Yeah, looks like Julia's still in," I said. "I think I'm going to check out the next group,"
"We literally just got here, Jor-bah," said Skylar. Was she going to start calling me that too? "Like, take a chill pill and watch for a little bit."
I really felt compelled to check out the next group, for a reason I couldn't quite place, but against my better judgement I decided to stay with Skylar to watch Julia's group for a bit. Speaking of Julia, it seemed to be her turn. "C-a-r-d-i-o-v-a-s-c-u-l-a-r," she spelled.
"Correct," breathed Ms. Uni. "shep, your word is other."
"O-t-h-e-r."
"Correct. Scott, your word is dysentery."
"D-i-s-s-e-n-t-a-r-y."
"Incorrect," squeaked Ms. Uni, and the buzzer played again. Scott bit the skin on his wrist in frustration.
"Bayun, can you spell dysentery?"
"Dee," belched Bayun, scratching his belly with one hand, "wah-ayus-ee-ayun-tay-ee-awr-wah."
"Correct," sniffled Ms. Uni, her eyes welling up with tears again. "Scott, I'm afraid to say it, but… you're eliminated."
"I'm… not okay," he began, "But... I understand." A dead-inside look in his pupil-less eyeballs, Scott slouched off the stage, his accessory chains clinking against the decorative buttons, buckles, and spikes on his ripped black jeans. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Kathleen and Kiki emerge from the side of the curtain leading to the first section. I waved them over to where I was standing.
"'Sup Jor-bah, 'sup Skylar," said Kiki, wiping her mouth on one of the sleeves of her oversized orange coat. "'Sup, Rachel. What's going on here?"
"Scott, from Ms. Uni's class, just got out," I explained, before turning to Kathleen. "Who's out in the other group?"
Kathleen looked down dismissively and shrugged her shoulders. "Dunno. Some third grader apparently. But me and Eli ran into Kiki, Jenny, and Kristy there, but we split up once we heard the buzzer again."
"Yeah," said Kiki. "We got back from the concession stand but there was nobody there, 'til Kathleen n' Eli showed up."
"How was the concession stand?" I asked, hoping to get some idea of what was for lunch. "Ah," I added, as I remembered. "Did you see Jeremy out there?"
"It was good," replied Kiki. "I got a hotdog, but I ate it already. And no, I didn't see Jeremy, but I saw Graham Turver."
Huh, I thought. So where the heck was Jeremy? Wait a minute. The buzzer went off, and I jumped out of my thoughts, turning my attention back to the stage.
"Cheyenne, can you spell acknowledgement?"
"A-c-k-n-o-w-l-e-d-g-e-m-e-n-t."
"That's correct," sobbed Ms. Uni. "Another elimination… why does this group have to go through such violence?!"
"Man," said Kiki. "There really dropping like flies, huh." The way she said that made it clear that she was intentionally using the wrong 'there'.
"Guys – er, girls," I began, awkwardly realizing that I was the only guy in the conversation. "Has anyone seen Jeremy since the spelling bee started? Or Owen for that matter?"
Kathleen and Skylar thought about it for a little, while Kiki kind of zoned out, but at least tried to look like she was thinking about it. Rachel continued silently observing. What about this group was so fascinating to her anyways? "No, I guess not," said Skylar. "I was with William or you for literally the entire time."
"Yeah, I haven't seen them either, now that I think about it," agreed Kathleen.
"Correct. Bayun, your word is groundbreaking."
"Jee-awr-owe-yew-ayun-dee-bee-awr-ee-aye-kaye-ah-ayun-jee."
"Correct." I felt my eyelid twitch a little.
"Ah," mentioned Kiki, looking upwards absentmindedly and putting a finger to her mouth. "Now I remember. Owen went to the bathroom when we got here. Maybe that's where he n' Jeremy are at."
"Maybe," I considered. When Jeremy passed me, I thought he was going to the third section, but he also could've been headed to the lobby, So it's possible he could be in the bathroom. It'd also explain why none of the girls saw him. "But they've both been gone for a long time. Do you think I should check up on them?"
Skylar's eyes lit up and she gave me the 'sup nod.
"That'd be kinda weird..." said Kiki.
"That sounds like, a good idea," said Skylar simultaneously, but more loudly. Did she… think I only had to use the bathroom? And was just trying to cover it up? Well, whatever.
"Yeah, I'll go now," I said, thankful for any excuse to duck out of the situation. "I'll just see if they're there, and then I'll be right back."
"We'll stay right here!" said Kathleen. I nodded and made a face-heel turn towards the first section by myself.
"C-h-r-o-m-e-o-s-t-a-s-i-s," I heard Julia spell.
"Correct. shep, your word is today."
"T-o-d-a-y."
"Correct." Any further conversation was whoofed out as I passed the curtain back into the first section where Kristy's group had been. I stopped for a second to observe my surroundings; after all, there was still a chance Owen or Jeremy was in this room and not somewhere else. The only people in the audience I recognized here, besides Mr. Pony, were Zak, Chuck, and Graham, who all happened to be standing together. I might as well ask them too, while I was at it.
"Hey guys," I said, approaching their group.
"Wagga-doo," said Zak, throwing up the Spider-man hang ten symbol. God, he was so cool.
"Correct," Mr. Sibba's voice drew my attention to the stage. "Wilma, your word is Afghanistan."
"What's up, Jordan?" asked Chuck, drawing my attention back to them.
"I, uh, was wondering if you'd seen Owen or Jeremy around lately," I asked.
"NEIGH!" uttered Graham Turver, drawing the attention of one nearby girl wearing a white cowboy hat. "I've seen neither head nor tail of the dwarvish jester since this tournament began."
"I haven't seen Owen either," said Chuck, "and I dunno who Jeremy is. Sorry"
"Zib-zab-zed-oh-dubbayu," said Zak. "Hop-padda-dee-pow." A thought suddenly occurred to me. How the heck did this ⍰ spell anything?
"O-n-o-m-a-n-o-p-o-e-t-i-a."
"Incorrect." The buzzer made us all look towards the stage. It was the last person in line for this group who had gotten it wrong, which meant that-
"Tim, can you spell onomatopoeia?"
"Certainly. O-n-o-m-a-t-o-p-o-e-i-a."
"Correct! Tim scores another elimination." Unfortunately, Tim still seemed to be going strong. With only three people left in his group now, he had a good chance of making the finals.
I couldn't afford to let myself get distracted though, before the buzzer noise attracted more of my classmates to this section. "Okay, thanks for your help though." I left them and headed towards the lobby.
"I'll let you know if I see him!" honked Chuck from behind me.
Compared to the various sections of the gym, the lobby was rather empty, save for a few people eating. There were multiple folding tables, folding chairs, and even a vending machine placed around the area, and the smell of food wafted from the concession stand. It reminded me of the food from the time before Operation: Nutrition. Nonetheless, I'd have plenty of time to worry about that once the lunch break started. For now, I needed to focus, like a ford.
Taking a deep breath, I entered the boys bathroom, the one closest to the double orange door I had just gone through. Making sure not to let the door make a noise as I shut it behind me, I crept silently through a short linoleum hallway before emerging into the main bathroom chamber to find… absolutely nothing. The bathroom was deserted – even all of the stalls were wide open, and there was no one to be found. I frowned. Where could they be then?
I figured I shouldn't let my trip go to waste, so waste was exactly what I did. As I went about my business, my every movement echoed off the cold, smooth walls of the silent chamber, leaving me eerily alone with my thoughts. I couldn't hear any of the normal hustle and bustle of the gym from within the bathroom, so would I also be unable to hear the buzzer? It would be easy to lose track of time in here, and I didn't want to miss any eliminations. I store at myself in the cracked mirror above one of the ancient looking sinks, making for an especially introspective experience. I turned on the tap to wash my hands… and nothing came out.
I blinked in surprise, my immersion broken. I twisted the tap the other way. Still nothing. I tried pulling, pushing, sliding, and just about every other unmentionable thing you can do to a Bop-It on that tap, and it still produced no water. Weird, I thought. This thing totally worked yesterday. Maybe Owen broke it or something. Shrugging, I simply moved to the other sink, which thankfully worked, before washing up and leaving the bathroom.
Just in case, I decided to do one more sweep of the lobby before heading back into the gym from the doors on the other side – the ones leading to the third section. It was unsuccessful though, as it turned up no traces of Owen, Jeremy, or anyone else I recognized, save for one of the students Lucian had eliminated. Disappointed and confused, though admittedly slightly unconcerned, I frowned, glancing around one more time as if that would magically make one of the beings I was looking for appear.
The buzzer played. I jumped to attention. That was right, I thought. Being in the bathroom had felt like being in an alternate dimension – I wasn't sure how much time had passed, or if I had missed a buzzer while I was in there. Leaving behind the welcoming light and aroma of the lobby I hurried back through the nearest doors to the gymnasium: the ones to the third section. Little did I know that I was about to bear witness to a sight arguably as terrifying as the last… at least in the context of the spelling bee.
As I bussed through the orange, metal double doors into the third section of the gymnasium, my eyes flew immediately to the stage. Who was out? Was it in this group?
Mr. Seal was speaking to Emma, who was right after Randy in line. "Can you spell absquatulation?" Ob-what?
"O-b-s-q-u-a-t-c-h-u-l-a-t-i-o-n?" spelled Emma. Had Randy gotten that word wrong?
"Incorrect as well." Mr. Seal's dulcimer, sultry baritones hit a note so resonantly harmonic that the frequency soundwave caused the metal beams holding up the gym to reverberate. I felt like I was hearing the one true tone. Truly, this was... echo-location. Or maybe it was just the buzzer.
Rather than narrowing in hostility, Emma's eyes widened in surprise. I felt a dark aura creep back into me as a reprise of the opera-like music in the background began playing. This time it was more tumultuous, and feverishly lurking beneath the surface, rather than grandiose and terrific like before. What exactly was going on here?
I sought out someone I recognized and quickly found William, Eli, Jacques, Jenny, and Kristy in a group where we had been earlier, so I headed towards them. Time seemed to slow down, in his old, 26-year age.
"Avonte," said Mr. Seal. The opera music stopped suddenly, as if it had been taken by surprise, and the world faded to a red and black bichromatic, stylized environment, complete with a dead black tree with only two red leaves dangling from its branches. "Can you spell absquatulation?" The wind of his breath dislodged the leaves from the tree, and they began fluttering towards the ground.
Avonte opened his molten red eyes intensely. "A-b-s-q-u-a-t-u-l-a-t-i-o-n." He rushed forward as a crimson blur, reaching into his red hoodie and drawing a blood-red katana from its black iron sheath before slashing at the leaves at a speed to fast to be seen with the naked eye, much like Julia's atoms. In an instant, he had completed his slash, and time was still moving slowly.
"Correct," announced Mr. Seal, beaming humbly. Behind Avonte, the two leaves not only split in half, but then in quarters before completing their autumn to the ground. All metaphorically, of course, he had only out-spelled them. "Avonte, also with the double-elimination."
Time had returned to normal speed, but by the time I had gotten to the rest of my friends it was too late.
"Aw, man," said William emptily, staring up at Randy and Emma exiting the stage in disbelief. "He's out."
"Uh, nother double-elimination, too," added Eli.
Mr. Seal spun around to address the crowd. "And with that, Group C is finished. Avonte and Lucian advance to the final round." This announcement was met with mild cheering and applause. "We will reconvene after our lunch break, so please feel free to check out the other groups until then." I spotted Randy slinking, like a purple lizard, away from the stage.
"Hey guys," I began, a bit more confidently now that I was addressing a majority male group, "Randy's over there." I quickly got their attention and we weaved through the crowd towards Randy.
"Randy!" I called, catching his attention. "Great job out there."
"Oh, hey Jordan. Hey everyone." His crêmê-de-la-crêmê-slathered voice was sounding significantly less crêmê-de-la-crêmê-slathered than usual.
"You did well," stated Jacques brusquely, his long arms held stiffly at the sides of his lanky body. "Don't feel bad."
"I don't feel bad," bristled Randy slightly.
"BAAAAH!" went Jacques, before covering his mouth in shame. "Sorry."
Randy winced, and then continued: "But I could have won that. They make it hard for the kindergarteners on purpose."
"How do you mean?" I asked, putting my hand over my nose and mouth thoughtfully.
"We're first in line, so we're set up to be quick eliminations. The fifth graders are also last, so it's not like one of us would be able to get one of them out."
"Yeah," agreed Eli. "It s-seems the only thing you can do is just n-not mess up."
"And I was the one that messed up," said Randy. "Just one mistake, and Avonte took me out."
"Don't be so down on yourself, man," said William, putting his hands on his hips and closing his eyes. "If that's true, you would've gotten me out, like, five times."
"Yeah," agreed Kristy, laughing bromeantically. "Heck, I couldn't even get out five times! I only got out once!"
Randy chuckled a little, and a glint returned to his ice-blue, elegantly eyelashed eyes. And speaking of blonde people with blue eyes, I heard Kathleen's voice behind me and turned to see her emerging from the crowd.
"Randy!" she said, joining up with the rest of our group. "I missed it! What happened? Who got out?"
"Me," admitted Randy, a combination of embarrassedly and annoyedly. "Avonte eliminated Emma and I at the same time, so he and Lucian won this group."
"Oh, dang!" she said, putting her hands over her mouth in wide-eyed surprise. "Another double?" she then crossed her arms and looked to the side thoughtfully. "Those guys are really good, huh?"
"Yeah," replied Randy. "I wouldn't be surprised if one of them wins the whole thing."
"Ah," I inputted, suddenly remembering something. "Kathleen, is Julia still in?" I had seen and heard the eliminations for this group, but couldn't be sure if I missed one while I was in the bathroom.
"Huh? Yeah," she answered. "Oh yeah, since she's the only one left from our class, we should all go cheer her on!"
We all looked between ourselves and nodded. "Right then," said Randy, the crêmê-de-la-crêmê starting to return to his voice. "Let's go."
Back in the second section, there were still the same four students remaining – Julia, shep, Bayun, and the red haired girl at the end of the line that I think Ms. Uni had called Cheyenne. What a peculiar name. We found the others and got up as close to the stage as we could to make sure Julia could see us, and we watched.
"Correct. Julia, your word is photosensitivity."
"P-h-o-t-o-s-e-n-s-i-t-i-v-i-t-y."
"Correct. shep, your word is cheese."
"C-h-e-e-s-e."
"Correct. Bayun, your word is multiprogramming."
Bayun looked into the microphone as he spoke. "Ayum-yew-ayul-tee-ah-pee-awr-oaw-jee-awr-ay-ayum-ah-ayun-jay."
Ms. Uni covered her ears and closed her eyes before speaking. "Incorrect!" The buzzer played.
Bayun's ah's wahdened. "BwaAaAaA!" he went.
"Cheyenne, can you spell multiprogramming?"
Cheyenne stepped up to the microphone as if it were karaoke night. "M-u-l-t-i-p-r-o-g-r-a-m-m-i-n-g."
"Correct," wept Ms. Uni. "Bayun, you're out."
"Dawh!" cried Bayun in surprise. "I'nt know thayers tew ayums." Despite all this, he managed to get his barrel-like body off the stage. And now there were three.
"All right!" cheered Kathleen from nearby. "Now Julia only needs one more person to get out."
"Yeah," said William. "It'd be cool if Julia and shep both make it."
As much as I wanted to share in their excitement, I was a bit more skeptical.
"Do you think that's going to happen?" Jenny voiced my thoughts allowed. "Randy said the fifth graders are last, right?"
Randy nodded. "Yes, so that m-"
The buzzer played, interrupting our conversation. We all looked back to the stage, but it didn't seem to be for anyone in this group.
"That must be for the other group," said Jacques.
"S-should we… go check it out?" asked Eli.
"Nah," canceled Kristy. "I'd rather stay and watch this." Silently, I agreed. The only person left in that group I knew was Tim, and even if he did win, I didn't want to give him the satisfaction of having us watch it.
"A-r-a-c-h-n-o-p-h-o-b-i-a," spelled Julia.
"Correct." Ms. Uni drew the next index card. "shep, your word is count."
"C-o-u-n-t."
"Correct. Cheyenne, your word is stoichiometry."
"S-t-o-i-c-e-o-m-e-t-r-y."
The tears started welling up in Ms. Uni's eyes once again. "Incorrect. Julia, can you spell stoichiometry?"
Julia paused until the buzzer had completed playing, before crossing her arms like a mummy in a coffin and chuckling drily. "But of course. S-t-o-i-c-h-i-o-m-e-t-r-y."
Ms Uni quivered. "C-correct. Cheyenne is out." The tears began flowing. "So that means… This group is over, and Julia and shep advance to the final stage."
"Yuss!" exclaimed William, pumping his fist. "See? I told you they were gonna win!"
"We'll… be right back after a short lunch break," sniffed Ms. Uni, "So please, feel free to visit our concession stand out in the lobby, or check out the other groups until then."
"Impossible. The other groups cease to exist," stated Tim's voice loudly from my right. I turned to see him entering our area through the curtain, accompanied by Chuck, Graham, and Zak.
"What do you mean?" I heard another student's voice ask.
"INDEED, FOOLS," roared a booming voice from somewhere we could not see. With an impossibly rotational friction, the vast and complex pulley system above the stage whirred, drawing the curtains instantly, reuniting the tercers of the gym and flooding the entire section with light. I saw Lucian hold up a hand to block the light from his eyes. I felt like I was at pride rock.
"Uaah!" said Kristy, holding up her arms like she was throwing some salt over her shoulder. Using my amazing powers of observation, I noticed that the sudden change in scenery seemed to have surprised her.
Taking up center stage, with his arms crossed, blue hat covering one eye, and the other closed, stood none other than Mr. Sibba. His deep voice projected throughout the gymnasium. "All three first stage groups have been completed, and we have our final group of six." His eye opened intensely and his mouth unfurled into a snarlish grin. "Let's get them up onto the stage so I can introduce them!"
Although Julia and shep were already on stage, along with Ms. Uni and Mr. Sibba, they were soon joined by four other students.
"From Group A," began Mr. Sibba, "Tim and Wilma. From Group B, Julia and Noam."
"Ah," inputted shep pleasantly, holding his hands up disarmingly and closing his eyes. "Please, call me shep. And please make sure you spell it with all lowercase letters."
"i like the way this guy rolls" mumbled Kiki.
"Very well," replied Mr. Sibba sternly, before continuing: "And from Group C, Avonte and Lucian. These six remaining contestants will compete using the same rules as before, with one exception: The spelling bee will continue until only one contestant remains." Mr. Sibba flexed his fingers in front of himself as if he were feeling tha powah. "They will then be declared the winner!" He returned to normal, crossing his arms and closing his one exposed eye. But first… we will take a short lunch break. We will reconvene at the start of fourth period, when the WATCH Tower bell tolls."
I was a bit surprised that the WATCH Tower bell could be heard all the way over here, on the other side of campus, but I supposed I didn't have to worry about that now. Right now, I had more important things on my mind… like lunch. It was almost time to go to the concession stand, but first, I wanted to congratulate Julia and shep on making it to the final stage. As the two of them descended from the, er, stage, myself and a few others from our classes approached them.
"Julia! shep!" I called, catching both of their attentions.
"Ah! Hello, Jor-bah," said shep, holding up his hand as a form of greeting. "I didn't see you there. Were you watching our group?"
"Yes, everyone in my and Julia's class was watching," I answered. "Well, almost everyone. But either way, congratulations on winning!"
"No one has won yet," corrected Julia. "Still, there is the final stage we have to get through. Or rather, I have to get through."
She really was set on winning the whole thing, huh, I thought to myself.
"I'm just surprised that I made it this far," said shep humbly. "I'm a terribul speller, so the taste of victory? It eludes me. But even just making it to the final stage? That's truly… sublime."
I sweated slightly embarrassedly.
"You two both did really well," added Jenny. "It's great that our class gets some representation in the finals."
"Hahah, it was nothing, sorry," giggled shep, holding up his hands disarmingly. "i only managed to stay in because of Julia here." He looked downward disappointedly and put one of his fists on his hip. "i feel bad for taking someone else's spot in the finals, especially since my class already has Tim. Maybe i should have let Bayun eliminate me."
I happened to shoot Randy a sidelong glance out of the corner of my eye. Although it seemed he had been recovering from losing in his group, the sight of Julia not only winning her group, but also getting the fifth grader out, combined with shep being so nonchalant about winning must have wounded his ego a few more notches, since his ice-blue eyes were starting to become dull again.
"Anyways," inputted Kiki, looking down and scratching one of her ears. "That announcement means it's lunchtime, right? We should go get some food. I'm still hungry."
"That's true," I agreed, putting my hand over my nose and mouth thoughtfully. Indeed, my tummy was a-rumblin'.
"Kiki's right," added Skylar eagerly. We should totally check out the concession stand before the final stage starts. And, before, like, other people get there."
With all of us in agreement to grab some lunch from the concession stand in the lobby, we strode out of the gymnasium. However, nothing could prepare us for the horror we were about to experience in the final stage… at least, in terms of the spelling bee.