Dora Claire Current (17) D3F
"Well, I don't know. I'm not usually a coffee person - my friend just dragged me in here. What would you recommend for someone who doesn't much like coffee?" The woman in front of me was clearly nervous, upset to have taken so long at the register. With a bit of a line forming behind her, I could understand her discomfort. That made it a lot easier to keep my welcoming smile on my face - I could do it for as long as I needed, no matter who the customer was, but it was a lot easier when the customer was being nice. If she was taking all the time in the world without a care for those around her, it would be a struggle.
"Well, we do offer tea and hot cocoa here, with several different flavors of tea, but my personal favorite non-coffee drink would have to be our mocha mockup. It's basically just a chocolate shake if you decide to get it blended, and if it's hot, it tastes like melted chocolate!" I said, my eyes bright and my hands moving as I spoke. People loved confident employees, the ones who shined at their jobs and could always chat and smile. It was what got a coffee-shop employee good tips.
"Oh, I guess I'll take that! Hot, please. And... uh, a medium? Yeah, that sounds good. Medium, please."
"One medium mocha mockup coming right up!" I said as I typed the order into the computer. The customer handed me her cash and I directed her to where Ion stood, already halfway through with making her mocha. I was impressed with him; he normally dillydallied, but apparently he was as nervous about the rush as I was.
As the rest of the customers came I felt myself slipping into a rhythm. That was the best part of working. The times when I could do my work automatically, my brain free to wander as I said the same phrases with the same faces I used for all my customers. As I worked in the rhythm, yelling out any orders I was worried Ion would miss, marking cups as customers came and went, hearing the clink of coins entering the tip jar, I could fade away and think.
Clink. One more coin brought me a little bit closer to my dream. Clink. The paychecks did more than the tips ever did, but I appreciated every little bit, every percent of a percent. Clink. I was one of the lucky ones, able to save every bit of money I made. My moms and dads didn't make me pay rent like some Three families needed. Clink. Which meant that I would give back what I could once I had my own franchise. I could help my family live a slightly richer life and I could help others start their businesses. Clink. By investing in them.
Archimedes Einstein (12) D3M
If 3x-y=12, what is 8^x/2^y?
A) 2^12
B) 4^4
C) 8^2
D) Answer cannot be found
I glanced at the question only passively, knowing I didn't need to take long to solve it. 8 = 2^3. 8^x = 2^3x. 2^3x/2^y = 2^3x-y. 3x-y = 12. 2^3x-y = 2^12. A. That was supposed to be a ridiculously difficult math question. The textbook said it was something the pre-Dark Days students would try to do once they were seventeen, and many of them would get it wrong. I thought for sure the textbook was lying. Nobody could possibly find that kind of work difficult. It was the simplest math worth doing. It took no thought at all.
That was the end of the textbook, the last of the supposedly "difficult" problems that book held. Advanced High School Math. What a lie. The books from Three generally offered no better. My only goal in life was to make it to the Capitol, where, maybe, something would be difficult. As I got up to switch textbooks, the only child in the library this late at night, I saw a man approaching me.
Three didn't have much crime, but I tensed nonetheless. I looked around instinctively for other people, only slightly calmed by the sight of the librarian approaching me. Then he flashed a very official-looking badge and sank down to a squat, looking me in the eyes. "I have some grave news for you," he said, clearly wanting to be anywhere but where he was. "Your parents were in an accident in the electrics factory. You're going to have to come with me to become a ward of the state."
I shrugged. The man clearly knew nothing about emotions, and the same went for me. Emotions were worthless, only existing to slow people down. "You know, I thought about the possibility of that. Everyone tries to expect the worst sometime. Calculating how often accidents happen and how often they're fatal, including how many people are in Three, the odds of both my parents dying in an accident is about .00463%. Isn't it crazy how sometimes ridiculously unlikely things happen?" I said, not really caring. My parents didn't like math. They always said I should live a "normal childhood" and "make friends." Without them, I'd be able to really study.
SO I was kinda stuck with writer's block but my good friend SilverflowerXRavenpaw wrote this chapter, full credit to them.