Chapter 21: Among The Living
Let's go see what our lads are doing for school, as today was the day that everyone was going back to school. Everyone in the cul-de-sac, minus Sarah and Jimmy, were all going to 10th grade, and it was a bit of a step up from 9th grade for everyone. But that's not the main point, let's check up on everyone, as School is to start at 8:30 AM.
For Eddy, he woke up at 7:30 AM, but kinda refused to get up until 10 minutes or so later, and then he just got up and brushed his teeth before he proceeded to shower for around 10 minutes before getting all dressed up, wearing his signature yellow shirt with a red line, but wearing some jeans that were a darker shade of blue. He applied his usual gel that he would always apply, but didn't exactly do over summer, due to... basically having no reason to do so, unless say he went to a party. Either way, he puts that on, along with some body spray, although he "might" have gone overkill with the whole thing. Regardless, 8 AM exactly, and he decided to get the others to join him onto the trek to the school, deciding to skip breakfast.
As for Double D, he woke up at the same time as Eddy, but got up immediately to shower, and dressed up a little bit different. He still had his beanie that he always had since... who know how long, but he wore a black shirt and navy blue colored shorts, instead of purple. His red shoes still remained however, although he simply wanted to change up his look, just to give himself some change here and there. Either way, once he changed, he proceeded to brush his teeth, but after he had his cereal of course, because eating right after brushing his teeth would... well, not be a good mix. Although, while eating, he thought about Marie and him, because, now the situation is harder for her than it is for him. At the very least, his friends don't seem to have a problem with the relationship, after all, it's what Double D wanted in the end. But, what's gonna happen on Marie's side of things once her sisters find out? Little does he know that Marie told May, but lucky for him, May supports it too. Marie didn't mention this to him however, so... it'll be something to take in for him. Nevertheless, Double D had to tell Marie sometime that he would like to talk to her after school at his home, as they have, yet again, more things to resolve. One thing is for sure though my lads... he is not going to let this relationship go to waste.
For Ed... he got up randomly at 6 AM, and decided to not sleep and just watch movies until around 7:45 AM. He didn't even bother with a shower or a brush of his teeth, and he decided to still wear the same clothes he has been wearing for 2 weeks. He actually went into the bathroom... and forgot completely why he went in there. Either way, Ed went upstairs to eat some cereal just like Double D, but he seemingly threw it in a messy manner, spilling some milk in the process, and leaving some cereal pieces too. A clean breakfast, this is not. Regardless, Ed ate his breakfast and went to find his friends.
Lastly, Chris unintentionally woke up at 7 AM, when he meant to wake up 30 minutes later. Instead of going back to sleep, he simply said screw it, and started his preparations for school early, first showering, then brushing his teeth, and preparing his school attire. He wore a shirt showing Iron Maiden's "Fear Of The Dark" album, and put on a dark blue vest on top of it. To top it off, he put on some dark blue jeans to add to the look, and with black shoes as a last fit. Since he had some time to kill as it was 7:40, he spent around 20 minutes doing a few races on a video game, and once that was over, he grabbed some water from the fridge, along with a bottle of water to take to school. He didn't eat breakfast, mainly because since he brushed his teeth, it would mess with the taste, which annoys him. Either way, he goes out to find his friends. Although, he is not exactly fully confident to see what this day holds, considering the events of yesterday.
Once the lads all meet up...
"Ed! There ya are!" Eddy yelled out to Ed, who was currently walking down the sidewalk.
"Hi Eddy! Where's our other friends?" Ed asked Eddy.
"They should be coming soon. Surprised to see sockhead with ya."
"Hey lads, how's it going?" Chris said.
"Hey Chris, looking good my guy."
"Thanks. And Double D? Where's he?"
"Not to worry gentlemen, I am all ready." Double D, approaching the lads.
"Hey Double D. Sorry for how I acted yesterday, kinda went a bit off the edge..." Chris said to him.
"Not to worry Chris, we all have those moments of anger. Apology accepted." Double D responded.
They both share a fist bump, and with that, the four lads head down to the school, with the time reaching around 8:15 AM. When they approached the door, a paper read saying:
Please head to the middle of the building to find your schedules for the school year! :)
"Well gentlemen, we know what to do now!" Double D said.
"Alright then. Let's go!" Eddy said.
The boys head to where they are supposed to get their schedules, however they see a huge crowd of students gathering. This doesn't seem right...
"Hang on... shouldn't there be an area for the tenth graders?" Chris says, confused.
"Yes there is. Follow me good students." An assistant of the school told the boys. And, with that, they follow the assistant down the hallway, and up stairs, where it's shown that the 10th graders are supposed to go upstairs, the paper at the door failed to mention this.
"Great, already an error. Oh man..." Chris laughed a bit, but nevertheless, the lads went and got in their correct crowd to get their schedules. After a bit of waiting, around 5 minutes, they all got their schedules. Eddy then asked his friends,
"So guys, what we all got first?"
"I got Math first, in room B3. Great..." Chris said, obviously disappointed.
"Oh great, I have it first too!" Eddy said.
"I got Spanish guys!" Ed said.
"And I seem to have Spanish first aswell, in A8. Well, it sadly seems we won't spend the first class together gentlemen." Double D stated.
"Wait, the second classes?" Eddy asked.
"English, in A1." Chris, Double D, and Ed all said in unision.
"That's what I like! One class we all share!"
Chris continued to be read his schedule, until he sees that their break is after English.
"Third classes?" He said.
"I got Science!" Ed said.
"Same here Ed, which is in B8." Double D said.
"Chris? We all got Science, and you?"
"Hmm... yep! Same here my guy. Well, our labs are gonna be fun." Chris said, before laughing.
"And the last two classes after lunch?" Double D asked.
"For me that's Spanish and History, in rooms A8, and B1." Chris stated.
"Same here too Chris. Guys?" Eddy responds.
"Math, which is room A2, then History it seems." Double D says.
"Do two guys!" Ed said pointing at his schedule, which was the same as Double D.
"Well, we have an equal balance I suppose. Eddy, you and me are tag teaming it seems for the first class and the first class after lunch. I hope the teachers don't knock us for being kinda late..." Chris says, noting the time, 8:35.
"Not to worry Chris, the teachers understand if you aren't on time on the first days of school, as we are all adjusting and getting used to it." Double D said, reassuring Chris.
"That's good at least. Well, I guess we should head to B3 Eddy. See you guys at room A1!" Chris told Double D and Ed.
"Take care gentlemen! Good luck!" Double D told his friends.
"Same to you!"
Let's see Chris and Eddy's adventure to the Math class...
Chris and Eddy both went to their Math class, with both of them chatting about a couple things before entering. They enter and see that unfortunately for them, they all have assigned seats. The 10 tables, split 5 and 5, both had 2 chairs per table. The boys hoped that they shared a table, but... that wasn't QUITE the case. They were next to each other, but they both sat in the same row, which was the 3rd row, but different tables. So, Eddy sat in the right seat that was in the small hallway path splitting the tables, and same with Chris, but with the left seat. It was close enough for them, so they just took it for what it is. Eddy's partner, which, hey! Ended up being Kevin, so he was cool either way. Chris's partner wasn't there yet though. Probably late, he thought.
"Eddy, you ready? I think the teacher is coming up."
"Yeah yeah, let's get it over with."
"What's up Chris? Didn't see ya there pal."
Chris realizes Kevin is in the same class as them, and says, "Oh, hey there Kevin! What's up? Let's get ready for this lads. Even if I don't have a partner for this."
Oh, speak of the devil. Chris realizes someone taking a seat next to him, and... it's a sight to behold to him. He sees a girl with very dark red hair, that goes down to her shoulders. It's more crimson than anything. She is wearing a black sleeveless shirt, with a grey jacket on top, black jeans, and red white shoes. She is also wearing some dark red lipstick too, which seems to fit with her pure black eyes. Chris thought she looked amazing, but he had no time to think about that stuff, as he immediately caught himself and looked away, before he rattled himself out. Besides, the teacher just came up to the board, and started talking.
"Hello there guys and gals. My name is Mr. Muta, and today ladies and gentlemen, we will start our year with the new type of Mathematics. Hope you guys had a great summer! We will start by introducing ourselves, and providing a fun fact about ourselves."
And so, the class went like so, but Eddy, Chris, and Kevin occasionally had small, quiet convos between each other, but Mr. Muta told them to wait until at least the class ACTUALLY started, and to not interrupt. Before they realize it, Mr. Muta now proceeds to go to the boys.
"Alright, you, with the Iron Maiden shirt, your name and a fun fact about you?"
"Ah, well... my name is Chris and I'll provide two facts. One, this is my first year here, as I transferred from my previous school. Two, I've been a fan of heavy metal since I was 9, marking 6 or 7 years I've been listening to it."
"Pleased to meet you Chris. Also, that's quite some time you've been liking Metal. Hope you don't quit."
Chris gives Mr. Muta a thumbs up, before Muta moves on to Eddy,
"Your name and a fun fact about you?"
"Eddy, and a fun fact is I, love my cash!" Eddy said, with confidence and no sense of doubt in his voice, which gets the class laughing a little bit.
"An ambitious one aren't we? Well... don't fool yourself in the future Eddy. Pleased to meet you of course." Mr. Muta says before laughing a bit.
"Alright... next?"
"Kevin, and I guess you can say I enjoy fixing up bikes, it's something that's only for the rare."
"I bet. That's a good skill, I'm not gonna lie. Pleased to see you Kevin." Mr. Muta says.
The rest of the class behind the crew of 3 introduced themselves, and so, Mr. Muta decided to hand the whole class a piece of paper that asks the class questions about some things.
"Basically, the point of this paper I'm giving you is, mainly to understand your understandings of Math, as it's very important, as I don't want to just spit out nonsense to you guys, so... the more you write, the better I can learn you guys."
And so, Muta gives everyone the paper. Our crew of 3 lads started their work, and Chris got up to the last question, listening to music most of the time as he answered every question, until he was interrupted by a voice, who said to him,
"Iron Maiden, hmm...?"
Chris, confused, because he didn't hear the voice well, looks around before he realizes it's the same girl who is assigned to be his partner. Let's see how THIS goes...
"Umm... yeah. They're really great."
"My favorite album is probably Powerslave. Flash Of The Blade is the best song on there."
Chris's mind is blown away right now. Like... literally.
"What's your favorite?" the girl asks.
"Umm... Piece Of Mind. Yeah, that one! Where Eagles Dare is the best one in my opinion." Chris said, trying to sound confident, but he was obviously nervous as... he still think she looked amazing, and had a hard time composing himself. Oh goodness...
"What other bands you like?"
"Ahem... well... uh... hmm... I like... oh! Black Sabbath!"
Eddy and Kevin noticed what was going on, and Kevin, snickering a bit, says to Eddy,
"Yo, is Chris and that girl getting a little something going on?"
"He's getting into something." Eddy said snickering a bit, along with Kevin.
Back to Chris, the girl tells him, "Yes! They are incredible. Your favorite album?"
Chris pauses for a second before saying in a slightly low tone, "Master Of Reality, with the last song Into The Void being the best one."
"That's great dude. I love Vol 4 the most, and Under The Sun is the best one from there."
Chris is having a ridiculous time trying to focus on his words. But he realizes that he doesn't even know her name, or better yet because he wasn't listening during the intro of class, he missed it.
"That's great umm... what's your name?"
"You didn't listen during the intro did you?" She said messing with him.
"...no, not exactly... ya know..." Chris said extermely quietly.
"My name is Skylar."
"Hey Skylar, I guess you know my name already?"
"Yep. Chris, right?" She said smiling.
"Y-ya-yeah." Chris said, pausing between every letter.
Eddy and Kevin continued to watch and laughed a bit too loudly, to the point where Chris picks up on this and tells Skylar,
"Give me a second..."
He turns to Eddy and Kevin and says, "Guys, what's so funny? Hmm...?"
Eddy, laughing a bit more hard, says, "Nothing, me and Kev just came up with a great joke, I'll tell ya later..."
"Yeah! It's a killer one!" Kevin said, chuckling a bit too.
"If you say so." Chris says.
Chris turns his attention back to Skylar, and he is still not used to this. However, Skylar says,
"Your paper done?"
"Almost. Mind giving me a moment?"
"Sure. I'm done so, I can wait."
Chris finishes up the last question for his paper, which simply asked the worst part about Math. He gives his basic answer, and Skylar peeks over and sees what he wrote.
"Too much to understand with little explaination hmm...?"
"Yeah, I mean... maybe not in your case lad, but uh... trying to understand 60 concepts per class with small detail explaining the concepts themselves is just... no, that's just too hard man." Chris said, chuckling to hide his nervousness.
"It's fine, I can explain it more in detail for you if you need more help with it." Skylar offered.
"Hmm... sure, but Mr. Muta isn't teaching right now, so when it comes down to it, I'll take you up on that offer." Chris said, smiling a bit. Skylar smiles back at him too.
"Man... he might just have it with him!" Eddy said to Kevin, who were both STILL looking.
"Kevin, and Eddy, have you finished your papers?"
Eddy and Kevin were caught because... they didn't have a SINGLE thing written on their papers, because they spent too much time spectating what Chris was doing. Karma lads... it gets you. Eddy randomly says, "This work is too confusing!"
Muta laughs out loud and says. "Eddy, this isn't even Math! It's just questions for me to help you! Look, write what you can in five minutes sharp, got it?"
"Roger!" Kevin says, speaking for him and Eddy. And so, to sum up the whole time with the paper, the rest of class turned in their papers and Mr. Muta got collected them all and took them back to his desk. Muta proceeds to say,
"Alright ladies and gentlemen, I hope you got in your answers to these questions, and at the end of the day, I shall read them. For now, I'll allow you guys to have free time to talk to each other. After all, we are all just starting the school year."
Needless to say, the class IMMEDIATELY started talking the moment he said that it was free time. However, before anything else occurs, Skylar pokes Chris on his shoulder and says,
"What's your schedule?"
Chris takes out his schedule from his backpack, and shows her the details.
"Yeah. Next thing I have English. Along with my other friend there, Eddy."
Skylar passes Chris her schedule, and... his shock is unmeasurable.
"You and I have the same schedule. That's pretty cool, ask me." Skylar said, sticking her tongue out.
"...uhh... well..." Chris said, not knowing what to say.
"Why don't we talk about some more metal? How much do you know thanks to seven years? Hmm...?" Skylar said, attempting to change the convo.
The rest of the class was a blur to everyone. Chris spent most of his time having a long conversation with Skylar about several metal bands, and Chris was trying his best to try and not seem embarrassing, but good lord this was harder to do than say. Eddy and Kevin joked about too, but still poked fun at Chris and Skylar's little conversation. Well, if the studies aren't entertaining, the lads will have plenty of things to joke, fuss, and basically make the class entertaining. At least, when it comes down to the Math side of things.
Now that we've seen Chris and Eddy's side of the adventure... let's move on to Ed and Double D!
Ed and Double D went to Spanish class, which, wasn't going to be easy, like... at all, but they could only hope that the teacher wouldn't be heavy on the mistakes they both would inevitably make. Either way, Double D was up for learning it however, but Ed... yeah. They both go inside the classroom, and they are assigned to the front right seats, which, unlike the seats in Math, they are single chair and table. Luckily, they both are sitting next to each other, unlike the situation Chris and Eddy got in Math. Double D settles into his seat, but Ed asks him,
"Double D, do you have a pencil me can borrow?"
"Ed, didn't you bring your pencils?"
"I brought my comic books, gravy, and of course, buttered toast!"
"Alright, but try not to lose it, okay?" Double D told Ed.
Double D continued to organize his supplies for the class, which were mainly his pencils, and a notebook for this specific class. Once he is finished, he waits for the teacher, but he is broken from his thoughts until he hears a voice whisper in his ear,
"Hey."
Double D jumps up, but then he sees that that was just Marie, and accompanying her was May. They were both assigned to sit behind the two Eds. This could be slightly awkward.
"Oh, good morning Marie."
"Hey there, sorry for scaring ya." Marie says, before pecking him on the lips.
"Hi Double D." May says to him.
"Hello there May, hope you and Marie are well."
"We're fine. Hey, oven mitt, you got a second?"
Double D turns to her and says, "Yes Marie?"
"We need to talk after school at your home. Is that fine?"
"Funny enough, I was thinking the same thing. Alright Marie, I shall remember to talk to you after school is over."
"Cool." Marie said smiling at him.
Their conversation was cut early by the fact that the teacher came in, and began introducing herself.
"Good morning class. My name is Ms. Sofia, and I will teach you this next year of Spanish. I will start by asking you your name, and then ask you if you have any experience with Spanish."
The class presented themselves, and later on, it was Ed's turn,
"Gracias. And you, young lad?"
"Hello, my name is Ed. And I know umm..."
He quickly turns to Double D and ask him for a Spanish word, and Double D does give him one, but Ed doesn't hear him quite right, and then he says,
"Ley she?"
"Ahh... I think you mean leche, which is milk, young lad. But don't worry, we all take time to learn. Pleased to meet you Ed."
Ms. Sofia moves on to Double D, and asks him,
"What's your name?"
"My name is Eddward, or as I'm better known, Double D. For what I know about Spanish, I can say phrases for greetings and a handful of other things."
Double D cleared his throat before saying,
"Como estas Ms. Sofia?"
"So, I see you know the basics at least. That should help you out. Happy to see you Double D."
Ms. Sofia moves on to May and Marie, who are behind the two boys.
"Hello there blue-haired lady, your name?"
"Marie, and... I don't really know Spanish honestly. I know Hola, but that's about where it ends."
"Not to worry. If you need me to translate you something, don't hesitate to ask."
Ms. Sofia moves on to May, and says, "Hello, what's your name?"
"May, I am actually Marie's sister. I don't know much Spanish either honestly..."
"Well May, just like I told Marie, don't be afraid to ask for help, I'll be willing to provide it."
The rest of the class also introduced themselves, and Ms.Sofia said, "Okay class, I will now have you group up in groups of 4. Please pick who you would like to work with, I have an assignment, but it's not a solo assignment."
"Well, Ed, would you mind joining as partners for this?"
"You betcha Double D!"
Double D noticed that he still space for two more people, and so he turns to the sisters behind him and says,
"Would you like to join me and Ed for this assignment?"
Marie speaks for both her and May, "Heck yes! We will join!"
May wasn't fully comfortable with this, and neither was Ed, because they still haven't got used to each other, like... at all. The situation that they were in yesterday certainly didn't help either, but May tried to do as little as she could, by not annoying him. Ed didn't look forward to this, but he kinda realized that it would be too weird if he asked to join some other group. Regardless, Ms. Sofia assigned a task where within the group, two pairs in the group are assigned to make a conversation in Spanish, and it's a game of who can make the best sentence.
"Pick a person from the group you are in, and whoever makes the best conversation in Spanish, wins! Buena suerte!"
"Marie, would you like to partner up with me?" Double D asks.
Marie says to him, "Of course!".
She turns to May and whispers in her ear, "Try to talk with Ed okay? Just relax with it."
And with that, May goes and reluctantly pairs with Ed. She decided to start the conversation by saying, "Hey Ed. How are ya..?"
"Uh... o...k?" Ed said, pausing inbetween letters.
"That's good... umm..."
May was lost as to what to do, because if she couldn't get Ed to at least get on a basis to talk... oh boy, progressing this would be near impossible. Ed then says,
"How... does Spanish work?"
"It's just another way of speaking from what I know..." May said weakly.
"Really?"
"Y... yeah." She says.
"Is it just a... umm... a landscape?"
"Language Ed, not landscape." Double D said, hearing what Ed said.
"Ah." Ed weakly says.
"Do you know a word at least?" A curious May said.
"Umm... leche?" Ed said, getting the word correctly this time.
"That's milk, right?" May said.
"Hello, how is everyone doing?" Ms. Sofia said, asking the group of 4.
"Progress is going quite well." Double D said, speaking for both him and Marie.
"That's good. Do you need assistance, May and Ed?"
Both of them say yes to her, and she provides them with basic introductions in Spanish for them to practice a conversation with. May and Ed tried to make a conversation with each other, but the sense of awkwardness still stayed in the air between them. If it wasn't that, they didn't fully understand how to pronounce certain words. On the flip side, Marie and Double D worked together to get a basis for a conversation, and the latter helped the former with pronouncing certain words, as Marie mentioned before that she isn't the best with Spanish really. Either way, Ms. Sofia called up time after around 10 minutes, and everyone showed their conversations that they were able to make in Spanish. The winners ended up being a pair called Angel and Jacob, with Double D and Marie being 2nd place, and a pair called Zoey and Davie following in 3rd place.
"Congrats to the top 3! I would also like to appreciate the rest of you, class, for participating in this Spanish activity. I will allow you the rest of class for free time, enjoy!"
The rest of class, just like for Chris and Eddy, was a blur to our crew of 4. Double D spent his time explaining some more things about Spanish to Marie, as she had a mix of problems when it came to knowing the words, which also included explaining it to Ed and May, who then tried to talk to each other in such, but like previous conversations, it was awkward. It was a difficult process, but the both of them were taking baby steps to having a normal relationship between each other. That doesn't mean romantically, just normal for a start.
Once the end of Spanish comes...
"Alright class, thank you for your time. Please enjoy the rest of the school day!" Ms. Sofia said.
Double D turns to Marie and says to her, "What's your next class Marie?"
"English, May is also coming along. You?"
"Me and Ed share the same class aswell! Might we join you ladies, if that's okay?" Double D asked.
"Of course! Hey May! Double D and Ed are coming with us!"
And so, May nods her head, and Double D and Ed join up with the two Kanker sisters to English.
Wait! What about Chris and Eddy in Math? Well...
"Guys and gals, it's now time for you to go to your next class. Please leave and take care for the rest of the day!" Mr. Muta says to the class.
"Kevin, you coming with us to English?" Eddy asked.
"Nah, can't, I don't got that yet, I got Spanish next. I'll see you and Chris at break though!" Kevin told Eddy.
"Ah, alright! Chris, let's go! Oh... right." Eddy tells Chris, until he realizes that the former is still talking to Skylar.
"Right! Well... Skylar, would you like to join me and Eddy to English?" Chris asked her.
"Sure, I'd like to." Skylar responded in a low voice.
"Oh right, umm... Eddy, this is Skylar, and Skylar, this is Eddy." Chris said introducing the two lads to each other.
Skylar then says, "Yeah, I've seen him during the intro today. Nice to meet ya Eddy."
Eddy responds to her, "Pleased to meet ya! Let's go! We don't have much time, and I'd rather not have sockhead nag to me about being late."
"Roger." Chris says.
Eddy elbows Chris in his arm lightly and chuckles a bit, before Chris simply rolls his eyes. Eddy also maintained a certain amount of a neutral mood, because he secretly is poking fun at Chris, due to the latter's attitude when he was talking with Skylar. Eddy admits secretly too that she is pretty, but he's not fully interested. Besides... he is having fun poking fun at Chris.
This is gonna be a really wild ride... oh joy!