Chapter 43: Edmund's Other Surprise
Normal POV|
Edmund pulls into the Reefside High parking lot. After he turns off the engine, Tracy quickly takes off her seatbelt. They get out, walk back inside and go to the main office and sign back in. Principal Randall walks up to them and asks, "Well, Miss Burlew, what did the doctor say?"
"That I don't have a concussion, but he wants someone to monitor me for the next 24 hours. Plus, I'm not allowed to overexert myself. He gave me an excuse note for gym class," Tracy answers.
"That's great, now get to music class young lady," Principal Randall orders.
'"Yes, Ma'am," Tracy says.
She and Edmund leave and walk down the hallway leading to Miss May's music class. When they enter, Miss May steps out from the bench behind the piano and walks over to them.
"Tracy, I'm glad that you're okay. Kira told me what happened," Miss May says.
"So am I, Principal Randall wanted me to give you this note," Tracy says.
She unzips her purse and hands it to her. Miss May nods and says, "Thank you, Tracy. Could you and your cousin sit down in the empty seats in the front row? Kira, Hannah and Nick are about to perform."
They nod and go over to the chairs Miss May told them to sit in. She walks back over to the piano, sits down on the bench and places her fingers on the keys. Kira, Hannah and Nick line up, shortest to tallest. Hannah is 5'3'', has green eyes and chestnut brown hair. Nick is 5'8'', has dark brown eyes and short, curly black hair. A few seconds later Miss May begins to play "America The Beautiful."
Nick and Kira sing the first verse. Tracy is impressed by Nick's range since he had to sing an octave higher so his voice would mesh well with Kira's. She and Hannah sing the second verse. Tracy notices that Kira is singing in a lower key than when they sang together. She is a tad jealous that their harmonies sounded even better than her and Kira's. Nick and Hannah sing the third. Their harmonies are a bit out of tone. The class starts to cheer and whistle when the three sing together for the last verse. They stand up when Miss May finished playing the last notes. The group takes a bow.
"Alright class settle down," Miss May says as she holds her hand up.
The class quiets down and takes their seats again. Kira, Nick, and Hannah turn around to face their teacher.
"Good work, Nick and Hannah. You two need to tighten your harmony. Hannah you were flat. Nick, you were over only to sing the notes you've learned." Miss May says sternly.
"Yes, Ma'am," Nick and Hannah say.
The group heads back to their seats.
"Tracy, if you're up to it, would you like to sing something?" Miss May asks.
Tracy nods. She walks over to Miss May and whispers her song choice into her ear. The teacher flips through the sheet music in the folder on the music rest and finds "God Bless The USA." Tracy stands behind her so she can see the words and starts to sing the first verse after the introduction ends. Edmund waits till she gets to the chorus before he gets up and walks over to her. He starts to sing with her after she sings the first line. He puts his arm around her when they sing "And I gladly stand up, next to you and defend her still today."
Tracy lets him sing the second verse. They sing the chorus together. When the song ends, they get a standing ovation. Miss May holds up her hand to quiet the class down again.
"Mr. Browning, I'm impressed you and your cousin sound amazing together." Miss May compliments.
"Thank you, Ma'am," Edmund says.
They go back to their seats. The group sings "God Bless America." Five minutes later, they finish singing and go back to their seats. Miss May takes her place in front of her students.
"Good work everyone, I'm looking forward to seeing your final performances at the end of year concert," Miss May says.
A minute later the bell rings, and the class calmly walks out of the room. Tracy and Edmund go to her locker while Kira heads to English class. After Tracy gets everything she needs for math class, they head to the gymnasium after going out to Edmund's car so he can get a duffle bag with a change of clothes for gym class. On the way, Conner and Amber walk up to them.
=Welcome To Reefside=
The group enters Tracy doesn't see Grant standing with the other students near the bleachers. Amber is the first one to notice the obstacle course set up in the middle of the room.
"I wonder why Mr. Jonas has an obstacle course set up," Amber says.
"Don't forget this week we're doing something special in all our classes for Armed Forces Day," Tracy reminds her.
"I know that, but that still doesn't explain the obstacle course," Amber says rolling her eyes.
"During basic training, we do PT- Physical Training every other day and one part of it involves running through an obstacle course," Edmund informs.
A minute later, the bell rings and Tracy sees Mr. Jonas walk in. She leaves the group and goes over to him.
"Principal Randall email me about Grant," Mr. Jonas says.
"So you know about our 'fight'?" Tracy asks nervously.
"Yes, so what did the doctor say?" Mr. Jonas replies.
Tracy takes out the note Dr. Anderson wrote out of her hoodie pocket and gives it to him. After Mr. Jonas reads it, he lifts up the clip on his clipboard and places the note under it so he wouldn't misplace the small sheet of paper.
"I'm glad that you don't have a concussion. I've had a lot of football players in class over the years. It takes them a week to get back into their daily routine." Mr. Jonas says in a relieved tone.
"Thank you Mr, Jonas, so what am I going to do today?" Tracy asks curiously.
"You can help me by writing down the other students times as they run through the course," Mr. Jonas answers.
They walk over to the rest of the class. After Mr. Jonas finishes taking attendance, he clears his throat before announcing, "Class, today, we'll be running through a short simulated course of something similar to what all incoming members of any branch of the military-run through on their physical training day."
"Is someone going to run through as an example, so we know what to do?" Amber asks.
"Yes. Miss Torres, I will, and I'll try my best not to show off." Edmund answers confidently.
"Thank you, Mr. Browning," Mr. Jonas says, "All right everyone go change,"
Tracy sits down on the bleachers while Mr. Jonas goes to his office to put the attendance list and Tracy's note safety in the big front drawer of his desk.
=Welcome To Reefside=
Meanwhile in the boy's locker room, Conner and Edmund overhear two other students, John, and Austin, talking about what they heard about the fight between Tracy and Grant from their friends.
"Dude, I heard from Mac that Tracy and Grant got into a fight in Dr. Oliver's first-period science class," Austin says.
"Yeah, Sammy told me that Tracy used some sweet karate moves to fight Grant," John adds. "I can't believe that Tracy didn't get in trouble for starting the fight."
Conner clenches his fists before he slams his locker shut. He decides to walk over to them to help his friend to make sure that Tracy doesn't get stuck with a bad reputation - thanks to the rumors other students are spreading around the school.
"Hey, I hate to tell you this, but your friends are wrong," Conner says.
"What do you mean?" John gasps.
"Tracy and I are in Dr. Oliver's first-period science class together." Conner answers. "Grant asked if Mr. Browning was related to Tracy because they happen to have different personalities."
"Then what happened?" Austin asks curiously.
"Tracy calmly asked Grant why he picks on other students. Grant freaked out and tried to punch her in the face. Tracy only used her karate skills to defend herself." Conner answers.
"Wow," The boys gasp.
A few seconds later, they hear the tweet of Mr. Jonas's whistle echo through the room. They take their hands away from their ears before heading back to the gymnasium. The group walks up to the rest of the class and Tracy stands next to Mr, Jonas. She is holding a clipboard.
"You ready Cuz," Tracy asks.
Edmund nods. He walks over to the starting line. Mr. Jonas blows his whistle and Tracy starts the stopwatch after her cousin starts running. He effortlessly steps through the tires. When he gets to the push up station, the class watches Edmund drop into the pushup position and does ten one armed push ups.
"We don't have to do them that way, do we?" Amber asks nervously.
"No," Mr. Jonas answers reassuringly.
A few seconds later, Edmund gets to the jump rope station. He picks up the longest one and jumps over it ten times, before carefully setting it down, before running towards the next station. He picks up the exercise ball and does ten deep squats. The last obstacle before crossing the finish line is weaving in and out between a line of cones. Tracy stops the stopwatch when he crosses the finish line and writes down Edmund's time - 1:45, next to his name.
"Hey Cuz, how did I do?" Edmund asks as he walks up to them.
"One minute forty-five seconds, but you promised not to show off. Then you do ten one arm push ups," Tracy answers.
"Sorry, I thought I was back in basic training," Edmund apologizes.
"It's okay, so who's next?" Mr. Jonas asks.
"I will," Conner answers.
Conner's final time is 1:57. After John, Austin and the rest of the boys run through the course, Mr. Jonas switches out the exercise ball to a lighter one for the girls in the class. Amber is the last girl to do the course. Her time is 2:15. The class quickly runs up to Tracy to find out who got the fastest time.
"Who had the best time?" Amber asks.
"For the boys, it's a tie between Conner and David." Tracy answers.
"What was my time?" David asks.
"1:57," Tracy says.
"What about the girls?" Amber asks.
"The fastest time was 1:15," Tracy answers.
"Who had that time?" Amber asks curiously.
"You did Amber," Tracy answers.
"Sweet," Amber says.
"Good work everyone," Mr. Jonas compliments.
The class leaves to change again. Tracy hands Mr. Jonas the clipboard. He goes back to his office to put it away. Tracy sits back down in the bleachers.
I'm sure after Zoey finds out that Grant got expelled because of me, she is going to come after me I know it. Tracy thinks.
She picks up her notebook for PreCalculus to review for the quiz. She is confident that she knows the correct formula to use to solve the problem that will be on it. The only problem is she is one of those students who don't test well. No matter how much she studies, once the quiz or test is in front of her, she immediately forgets everything she spent the past few days studying. Conner, Edmund and Amber walk up to her.
"Tracy, you know there is such a thing as studying too much," Conner says.
"Yeah, besides it's just a quiz," Amber adds.
Tracy looks away from her notes and says, "I know, but I want to do better than the 'C' I got on the last one."
"You need to relax. I know you'll do fine," Edmund says reassuringly.
"Speak for yourself, Cuz. You're the one member of the family that has a photographic memory." Tracy says.
Tracy gets about five more minutes of studying in before the bell rings. She closes her notebook, picks up the rest of her things, and the group heads to the cafeteria for lunch. Kira, Ethan and Trent walk up to them as they enter the room.
"Hey, Cuz, you said that you had another surprise," Tracy gently reminds him.
"Sorry, Cuz, I guess I forgot about it after what happened between you and Grant," Edmund says. "So, I asked my commanding officer to talk with Principal Randall about letting me give you your diploma at graduation."
"What did she say?" Tracy asks eagerly.
"That I could, so instead of being in the bleachers with the rest of the family. I get to sit on stage with Principal Randall and a few of the others teachers." Edmund answers.
"Sweet," Tracy says gleefully.
"It sure is. I'm going to head over to your house Cuz. I still haven't surprised your parents yet," Edmund says.
"Okay, Cuz, see you soon," Tracy says.