Chapter 15: School Coaster
The new kids schedules were strangely similar to Terra's. She nodded Harry and Hermione off to U.S. History, which she and Riku shared for fourth block. Ron had it second. The remaining three of them all had Geometry first block. Everyone had English second block, except poor Ron.
Ron, Terra, and Riku reached room 150, Mr. Cunningham's Geometry class. Black-topped tables, set in groups of four, were set all about the room. No one else occupied it. Even the teacher was gone. Terra walked to the very back of the room, where she had a pleasant view out the windows and of the whole classroom besides.
"No one else sits back here," she said. "I do because it's easier to avoid Cunningham."
"Why?" Ron asked. "Is he like Snape?"
"No, not exactly..."
"New students!"
Terra's mouth snapped shut. Mr. Cunningham raced toward them, a thin, ghost- like hand extended in welcome. Whispery white hair adorned his boyish face, which had shockingly few wrinkles in it.
"Your names are...Roku and Sordid, right?"
"No, Riku and Sora," Terra corrected. "Riku and Sora, sir."
]"Thank you, Ms. Jem. Yes, Riku and Sora, I will remember!" He thrust his bony chest out and slapped it hard. The combination of old man and bold boy was completely disconcerting. "Do you know much about Geometry?"
Void faces answered.
"Ah, no worries, no worries, you sit beside the smartest here! Ms. Jem, Jem, Jem, she's the most excellent mathematician in this class. Understands every concept before we even begin them. Most extraordinary, most extraordinary. Looks ahead in the books, I wager, but she still won't tell me. Ah, well. Ask her questions. At times, I think she knows more about geometry than I do!"
With every praise, Terra's face turned redder and redder, sinking below the table. Mr. Cunningham left at last, seeing to the bell work for the day. She swallowed hard and knelt to retrieve her bell work notebook. Ron and Riku followed her example, but soon, the work completed, Cunningham left.
]"What was that all about?"
"I'm the only person who's got a 'A' in this class," she said hoarsely. "He seems to believe things that aren't true. I just pick this stuff up faster than the others. I've never read a textbook ahead of time in my life. Though, I do want to start flipping through our magic schoolbooks. We get points for knowing stuff."
The trio worked through the bell work problems, with plenty of help from Terra, and finished as the five-minute bell tolled. Other people began filing into the room, many glancing back at the three. Terra's face burned crimson. Most of these people didn't even know she was in their class. Now that there were two new guys sitting with her, they all stared at her, as if she were a snake at the zoo. Her insane, happy-go-lucky cover was gone, as though it were a slashed bike tire.
The starting bell rang at last. Another kid ran into the room, late, and slid into a seat near the front. The intercom crackled to life, spreading a sense of woeful dread over the students.
"Please stand and join me in saying the Pledge of Allegiance."
Terra stood, it being so accustomed to her, she hardly thought of it at all. Riku seemed startled by the mere thought of it, but stood beside her, soft hand over muscled chest. Poor Ron, British and unknowing clambered to his feet. He was muttering under his breath about stupid Americans and their weird customs.
Terra didn't blame him.
Sitting down again, she listened to the announcements carefully. Nothing of interest passed her ears for about ten minutes of the droning speeches. Then, finally, the words she'd been waiting for played.
"The Society of Writers, Artists, and Poets has a meeting tomorrow in 245, Mr. Nitavidel's class. Please attend, all are welcome."
She smiled smugly, secretly.
Sora turned in the English paper, to Mr. Flint's ultimate surprise. He said he hadn't expected him to turn it in for another week, because of settling and such. Seated between the hyper, furtive Renee, and the serious, silent Blank, Sora had little problem paying attention to the lesson. Renee was a workaholic. Blank needed encouragement, but she refused to talk while Mr. Flint was.
Mr. Flint's first lesson for Sora was the beginning of a new novel, Brave New World by Aldus Huxley. The discussion was based on the morality of cloning humans, controlling how they acted and how they worked. Even Sora could understand this. His first assignment was to read the first chapter of the book. Blank and Renee wrote it in battered old blue assignment books. Sora had received a new one, which he followed their example in.
"What do you have next?" Renee asked.
"History, Mr. Elk."
She smirked at him. "Follow us, Mr. Sky."
World History turned out to be an extremely boring class. Mr. Elk handed Sora a book with the curriculum, telling him to take organized notes over the first part of it. The rest of the class was to organize Chapter 12 over the next three days. They'd have a quiz on Thursday and "free day" on Friday.
"You can copy my notes," Renee said. "This class is super-easy if you pass all the quizzes. Mr. Elk doesn't like to teach anything. We think he's getting fired at the end of the year."
"Thanks," Sora smiled. The class around him began to get noisier and louder as the time ticked away. "Is it always like this?"
"Yeah. Most people just read the section and leave it alone. He doesn't grade you on notes, anyhow. Most don't bother. You'll have to take tests one through twelve before next week, most likely. No worries, they're short, general, and easy."
"But I don't know anything about your world," Sora said. "So it'll be harder for me. Right?"
"I think so, too," Blank nodded. "We'll quiz you ourselves. We've got the copies. History ain't all that important to what you're doin'."
"I guess not."
Sora spent the rest of the hour copying Renee's notes, understanding and asking questions about a world he'd never seen. He learned about the Incas and the Aztecs, the Spanish, the Roman Empire, the British Empire, the French, the Industrial Revolution, the War of 1812. So many things, so many places. Blank pointed out them all on the map, and Sora was surprised to see that many of the places she talked about were centered in one little continent called "Europe".
Later areas included another two continents called "North America" and "South America". Blank explained in low tones that "we" lived in North America, the United States, in a State known as Kansas. The city of Wichita, a place where tornadoes were prominent and storms loved to play havoc on people's lives.
As confusing as it all was, it was fascinating, too.
They moved on again, heading toward a small corner of the school. Sora entered an enormous, circular room with ascending steps on which stood desks. Along the walls were canvases splashed with color. Papers held drawings pinned carefully into corkboard walls. A woman with short blond hair grinned as he came into the room.
"Good morning, Ms. Snow," Renee chirped. "See, we dragged the new kid here. He's got Terra's touch, I think."
"Really?" asked Ms. Snow. "I'll be the judge of that. Well, your name's...Sora, did I say it right?"
"You're the first one who has," Blank muttered under her breath.
"Sora! Hey, you got this class, awesome!" Terra, Riku, Harry, Ron, and Hermione walked into the classroom. Terra grinned broadly at him. "I was hoping the office would put us together for this class. It's the only one we have in common."
"Renee says this young man can match your skill, Terra," Ms. Snow said.
"We'll see," Terra winked jovially. "C'mon, let's get a seat. Ya'll love this class!" Her crazy crafty ways had returned.
The eight of them all sat in one corner of the room, closest to Ms. Snow and all of the supplies. Sora sat on the highest plateau, next to Terra, Riku, and Renee. Blank sat right in front of him, to the point where he could have easily reached out and petted her shiny black hair. So opposite to her brother's blond silver...
"Good morning, class," Ms. Snow said as the bell tolled. "To our new students, welcome to Drawing 1. Today we will begin discovering shapes and shadows." She turned on a bright white light, which illuminated a cone, a sphere, a box, and a cylinder. They were large enough to see from even at the back of the room.
"Try and get the shape and shadows of the objects on your page. Fill it with them. Do not attempt to draw only on one side or the other. Blank, can you please pass out the paper?" Sora looked at the four objects, shrugged, and started to draw the box.
It seemed like he'd only just begun when the bell rang for lunch. He had only finished drawing the four objects and started shading the sphere. Terra sighed and glanced over his shoulder.
"Did you somehow pick up Terra's artistry when you switched?" Renee whispered.
"I think so," Sora said, feeling heat racing up his neck and cheeks.
"I think I picked up his balance, too," Terra said, placing her drawing in the drawer of the desk. "I haven't once run into my car or my mom's or any doors. Interesting, really. Weird, too, but hey, I lived four hours in his body."
"I lived a week in yours," Sora muttered, throwing the pencils in his case a little harder than necessary. "I don't get it. How come I didn't change, too?"
"Sorry," Blank said, grinning sheepishly. "I think there are some glitches in this game."
"Game?" Riku glanced up from his own sloppy rendition of the shapes.
"Sweetie, don't sweat the game stuff," Renee said, throwing her hand out. "It's a saying here that life's all a game and a box o' chocolates. We're a society that loves to quote, kid."
"Kid?"
"That's just her way of talkin'," Terra said, shrugging. "C'mon, ya'll I'm starvin' somethin' fierce." She threw her pack over her shoulders and strolled toward the door with a backward smile. "See ya, Ms. Snow."
"Have a good day, Terra."
The new kids schedules were strangely similar to Terra's. She nodded Harry and Hermione off to U.S. History, which she and Riku shared for fourth block. Ron had it second. The remaining three of them all had Geometry first block. Everyone had English second block, except poor Ron.
Ron, Terra, and Riku reached room 150, Mr. Cunningham's Geometry class. Black-topped tables, set in groups of four, were set all about the room. No one else occupied it. Even the teacher was gone. Terra walked to the very back of the room, where she had a pleasant view out the windows and of the whole classroom besides.
"No one else sits back here," she said. "I do because it's easier to avoid Cunningham."
"Why?" Ron asked. "Is he like Snape?"
"No, not exactly..."
"New students!"
Terra's mouth snapped shut. Mr. Cunningham raced toward them, a thin, ghost- like hand extended in welcome. Whispery white hair adorned his boyish face, which had shockingly few wrinkles in it.
"Your names are...Roku and Sordid, right?"
"No, Riku and Sora," Terra corrected. "Riku and Sora, sir."
]"Thank you, Ms. Jem. Yes, Riku and Sora, I will remember!" He thrust his bony chest out and slapped it hard. The combination of old man and bold boy was completely disconcerting. "Do you know much about Geometry?"
Void faces answered.
"Ah, no worries, no worries, you sit beside the smartest here! Ms. Jem, Jem, Jem, she's the most excellent mathematician in this class. Understands every concept before we even begin them. Most extraordinary, most extraordinary. Looks ahead in the books, I wager, but she still won't tell me. Ah, well. Ask her questions. At times, I think she knows more about geometry than I do!"
With every praise, Terra's face turned redder and redder, sinking below the table. Mr. Cunningham left at last, seeing to the bell work for the day. She swallowed hard and knelt to retrieve her bell work notebook. Ron and Riku followed her example, but soon, the work completed, Cunningham left.
]"What was that all about?"
"I'm the only person who's got a 'A' in this class," she said hoarsely. "He seems to believe things that aren't true. I just pick this stuff up faster than the others. I've never read a textbook ahead of time in my life. Though, I do want to start flipping through our magic schoolbooks. We get points for knowing stuff."
The trio worked through the bell work problems, with plenty of help from Terra, and finished as the five-minute bell tolled. Other people began filing into the room, many glancing back at the three. Terra's face burned crimson. Most of these people didn't even know she was in their class. Now that there were two new guys sitting with her, they all stared at her, as if she were a snake at the zoo. Her insane, happy-go-lucky cover was gone, as though it were a slashed bike tire.
The starting bell rang at last. Another kid ran into the room, late, and slid into a seat near the front. The intercom crackled to life, spreading a sense of woeful dread over the students.
"Please stand and join me in saying the Pledge of Allegiance."
Terra stood, it being so accustomed to her, she hardly thought of it at all. Riku seemed startled by the mere thought of it, but stood beside her, soft hand over muscled chest. Poor Ron, British and unknowing clambered to his feet. He was muttering under his breath about stupid Americans and their weird customs.
Terra didn't blame him.
Sitting down again, she listened to the announcements carefully. Nothing of interest passed her ears for about ten minutes of the droning speeches. Then, finally, the words she'd been waiting for played.
"The Society of Writers, Artists, and Poets has a meeting tomorrow in 245, Mr. Nitavidel's class. Please attend, all are welcome."
She smiled smugly, secretly.
Sora turned in the English paper, to Mr. Flint's ultimate surprise. He said he hadn't expected him to turn it in for another week, because of settling and such. Seated between the hyper, furtive Renee, and the serious, silent Blank, Sora had little problem paying attention to the lesson. Renee was a workaholic. Blank needed encouragement, but she refused to talk while Mr. Flint was.
Mr. Flint's first lesson for Sora was the beginning of a new novel, Brave New World by Aldus Huxley. The discussion was based on the morality of cloning humans, controlling how they acted and how they worked. Even Sora could understand this. His first assignment was to read the first chapter of the book. Blank and Renee wrote it in battered old blue assignment books. Sora had received a new one, which he followed their example in.
"What do you have next?" Renee asked.
"History, Mr. Elk."
She smirked at him. "Follow us, Mr. Sky."
World History turned out to be an extremely boring class. Mr. Elk handed Sora a book with the curriculum, telling him to take organized notes over the first part of it. The rest of the class was to organize Chapter 12 over the next three days. They'd have a quiz on Thursday and "free day" on Friday.
"You can copy my notes," Renee said. "This class is super-easy if you pass all the quizzes. Mr. Elk doesn't like to teach anything. We think he's getting fired at the end of the year."
"Thanks," Sora smiled. The class around him began to get noisier and louder as the time ticked away. "Is it always like this?"
"Yeah. Most people just read the section and leave it alone. He doesn't grade you on notes, anyhow. Most don't bother. You'll have to take tests one through twelve before next week, most likely. No worries, they're short, general, and easy."
"But I don't know anything about your world," Sora said. "So it'll be harder for me. Right?"
"I think so, too," Blank nodded. "We'll quiz you ourselves. We've got the copies. History ain't all that important to what you're doin'."
"I guess not."
Sora spent the rest of the hour copying Renee's notes, understanding and asking questions about a world he'd never seen. He learned about the Incas and the Aztecs, the Spanish, the Roman Empire, the British Empire, the French, the Industrial Revolution, the War of 1812. So many things, so many places. Blank pointed out them all on the map, and Sora was surprised to see that many of the places she talked about were centered in one little continent called "Europe".
Later areas included another two continents called "North America" and "South America". Blank explained in low tones that "we" lived in North America, the United States, in a State known as Kansas. The city of Wichita, a place where tornadoes were prominent and storms loved to play havoc on people's lives.
As confusing as it all was, it was fascinating, too.
They moved on again, heading toward a small corner of the school. Sora entered an enormous, circular room with ascending steps on which stood desks. Along the walls were canvases splashed with color. Papers held drawings pinned carefully into corkboard walls. A woman with short blond hair grinned as he came into the room.
"Good morning, Ms. Snow," Renee chirped. "See, we dragged the new kid here. He's got Terra's touch, I think."
"Really?" asked Ms. Snow. "I'll be the judge of that. Well, your name's...Sora, did I say it right?"
"You're the first one who has," Blank muttered under her breath.
"Sora! Hey, you got this class, awesome!" Terra, Riku, Harry, Ron, and Hermione walked into the classroom. Terra grinned broadly at him. "I was hoping the office would put us together for this class. It's the only one we have in common."
"Renee says this young man can match your skill, Terra," Ms. Snow said.
"We'll see," Terra winked jovially. "C'mon, let's get a seat. Ya'll love this class!" Her crazy crafty ways had returned.
The eight of them all sat in one corner of the room, closest to Ms. Snow and all of the supplies. Sora sat on the highest plateau, next to Terra, Riku, and Renee. Blank sat right in front of him, to the point where he could have easily reached out and petted her shiny black hair. So opposite to her brother's blond silver...
"Good morning, class," Ms. Snow said as the bell tolled. "To our new students, welcome to Drawing 1. Today we will begin discovering shapes and shadows." She turned on a bright white light, which illuminated a cone, a sphere, a box, and a cylinder. They were large enough to see from even at the back of the room.
"Try and get the shape and shadows of the objects on your page. Fill it with them. Do not attempt to draw only on one side or the other. Blank, can you please pass out the paper?" Sora looked at the four objects, shrugged, and started to draw the box.
It seemed like he'd only just begun when the bell rang for lunch. He had only finished drawing the four objects and started shading the sphere. Terra sighed and glanced over his shoulder.
"Did you somehow pick up Terra's artistry when you switched?" Renee whispered.
"I think so," Sora said, feeling heat racing up his neck and cheeks.
"I think I picked up his balance, too," Terra said, placing her drawing in the drawer of the desk. "I haven't once run into my car or my mom's or any doors. Interesting, really. Weird, too, but hey, I lived four hours in his body."
"I lived a week in yours," Sora muttered, throwing the pencils in his case a little harder than necessary. "I don't get it. How come I didn't change, too?"
"Sorry," Blank said, grinning sheepishly. "I think there are some glitches in this game."
"Game?" Riku glanced up from his own sloppy rendition of the shapes.
"Sweetie, don't sweat the game stuff," Renee said, throwing her hand out. "It's a saying here that life's all a game and a box o' chocolates. We're a society that loves to quote, kid."
"Kid?"
"That's just her way of talkin'," Terra said, shrugging. "C'mon, ya'll I'm starvin' somethin' fierce." She threw her pack over her shoulders and strolled toward the door with a backward smile. "See ya, Ms. Snow."
"Have a good day, Terra."