Chapter 5
Attitude Problems
Jessie Brown
Tammy made her way upstairs to her next class. She had U.S. government. It was a great place for her to catch up on sleep. She didn't hear Frodo and Rosie yelling to catch up to her. Clearly, they were still lost.
"Tammy, wait up!"
"Tammy!"
"No, this is how you yell: TAMMY!"
Tammy jumped when she heard Rosie yell at the top of her lungs. She turned around and saw the two friends walk up to her. Students around them looked over curiously, while other rolled their eyes, and some looked like they just suffered a heart attack.
"Hi," Tammy said, though she felt embarrassed.
"We can't find our next class." Rosie said.
"Just follow the numbers." Tammy answered.
"Why do you use numbers for everything?" Frodo asked.
"I don't know," Tammy shrugged. "What class do you have?"
Rosie held up her schedule. "It says…Us Government."
"You mean, U.S. Government, right?" Tammy corrected. Rosie nodded, cheeks turning red.
"What teacher?"
"Mr. Duffy," Rosie replied.
"I can't hear you, honey."
"Mr. Duffy," Rosie repeated, a little louder.
"That's my class," Tammy said. "Follow me."
~jb~
Once they were in class, Mr. Duffy had Frodo sit next to Tammy, and Rosie in front of her. During class, Tammy occupied herself with a pencil. She went from taking out her notebook and writing the story she was working on, to balancing it on her head. After the third attempt, she got bored and started shaking it up and down.
"All right now," Mr. Duffy said in his loud voice. "Take out your books and turn to page R27 and answer these questions." He handed out a green worksheet. Tammy opened her book and took the green paper from Mr. Duffy.
"Now, after class," He said, addressing Frodo and Rosie. "Remember to go to the library and check out your books."
Frodo and Rosie nodded, and then looked at each other in confusion.
"Don't worry," Tammy said, waving them off as Mr. Duffy walked away. "I'll show you where the library is."
Frodo and Rosie looked at each other, shrugged, and went to their books. They struggled to find the right page, and then struggled to find the right answers. Frodo looked over to see Tammy had already finished the first page, but she had stopped to entertain herself by bobbing her pencil up and down.
"Tammy," Frodo whispered. "You're done already?"
"Nope," Tammy sighed. "But if you wiggle a pencil like this it turns into rubber."
Rosie turned around and smiled. She grabbed her pencil and started to copy Tammy.
"Wow!" Rosie gasped. "It's like magic."
"Yep,"
Frodo rolled his eyes and went back to his work. After a while, Tammy and Rosie stopped and went back to their work as well. Frodo started tapping the eraser of his pencil in frustration. What on earth was impeachment?
"Tammy," He finally whispered again. "Why is your government so…complicated?"
"I don't know," Tammy said, looking at the ceiling. "I wasn't at the meeting."
"What are you doing?"
"I'm counting the rectangles on the ceiling."
"Do you not like this class?"
"Nope,"
Frodo sighed. "Then why did you take it?"
"It's required."
"By whom?"
"By the district…or something like that."
Frodo tried his best to understand... but this world just seemed so strange.
"Aw!" Tammy exclaimed.
"What's wrong?"
"I lost count," Tammy replied. "Now I have to start over!" Frodo tried to look up and see what was so interesting about rectangles on the ceiling, but he was suddenly blinded by a bright light.
Frodo didn't like this class either.
~jb~
"So…you guys have never checked out a book before?" Tammy asked as they made their way out of the library.
"No," Rosie said.
"I'm so sorry," Tammy said.
"Don't be," Frodo said. "We've got plenty back home."
"I would hope so." Tammy said.
"You like to read?" Frodo asked.
"Yes!"
"Me too."
The two stayed silent for a long time as they made their way to the large locker banks which were saved especially for seniors.
"Did you guys bring lunch?" Tammy asked.
"Uh, no," Rosie said uneasily. "No one told us we had to bring lunch."
"Really?" Tammy asked, her eyes widening. "You can have some of mine then, I always bring too much, and I can't eat it all anyways. I have a small appetite. Wait here; I'll go get it from my locker." Tammy walked away into the locker banks.
"Small appetite?" Rosie whispered to Frodo. "Are you sure it's her?"
"I'm sure." Frodo replied.
Baggins
"It didn't seem like thirty seconds when you ran into her." Rosie replied.
"She ran into me," Frodo argued. "And I don't think that was by coincidence."
Baggins
"She did that on purpose?" Rosie guessed.
"No," Frodo said. "I think it's fate." He looked over at Tammy by her locker. It was decorated with all sorts of colorful pictures. But Rosie could see the look in his face, while staring at Tammy.
Baggins
"Frodo," Rosie said. "You like her."
"Of course, she's a nice girl and she's offering us food. She's a good friend." Frodo reasoned.
Baggins
"No, I mean like her!" Rosie said.
"No, not like that!" Frodo gasped. He was about to turn to Rosie to argue his point, when he suddenly felt a strange presence. His shoulder began to ache, and he suddenly saw a vision of the great eye that had been haunting his dreams for many weeks. He felt light-headed and knelt on the ground.
Baggins!
"Frodo?" Rosie asked, quite startled. "What's wrong."
Frodo would've responded, but he blacked out.
"All right, all right," Frodo suddenly heard a voice that sounded familiar. "Back up, give him some room." Frodo opened his eyes and looked up to see a strange person leaning over him.
"Are you okay?" He asked.
"I'm fine," Frodo said slowly. "Do I know you?"
"I can't say we've met." The stranger replied. "I'm Mr. Kochevar, and I'm the principal here. It was a good thing you were kneeling when you fainted. Are you sure you'll be alright?"
"Yes," Frodo said, standing up and finding his strength again. He and Mr. Kochevar held a stare for a long moment. Both of their faces were unreadable.
"Let's go," Rosie said. "Let's find a seat." Frodo followed Rosie, but his eyes did not leave Mr. Kochevar's.
"Is he alright?" Tammy asked, walking up to the principal.
"He's fine," Mr. Kochevar replied. "Did you just meet him today?"
"Yes,"
"What's his name?"
"Frodo,"
Mr. Kochevar stiffened. "I see...and what's your name?"
"Tammy Tims, sir."
"Well, Miss Tims," Mr. Kochevar said smoothly. "You best be careful; you don't want to make friends of the wrong sort."
"Er…thanks…?" Tammy said uneasily. She quickly walked toward the commons to find her friends.
Hope y'all enjoyed this chapter!