Cascore's Note: Thank you to MarioLuigi25, Mr Wang 330, Fyras14, and SugarBullet for the new comments. I greatly appreciate the support and I hope you enjoy this next chapter.
Chapter 4: "The Project"
As usual, students crowded the hallways of the high school as they shuffled between their first and second period classes for six minutes. Some pushed and shoved their way through the congested halls, trying to reach their next class located clear across the school on time while others stood around in front of their designated rooms, acting as the congestion that the rushing students had to push through. There were grunts. There was cussing. There was almost a fight that broke out. The normal flow of things that people had to go through just to get to their next class. Really quite the laborious task given that, probably about fifty-five percent of the time at the least, these students were headed for a class they didn't even like. But alas. What had to be done simply had to be done.
Daisy knew she was prepared for the day though. Having aced her Algebra quiz just minutes ago, she was ready to tackle whatever challenges English brought her way. As a matter of fact, if she remembered correctly, the class would be starting a project today. About a book of course. Some three hundred and something page novel she would have to read and evaluate over the next few weeks. She wasn't quite sure about the details, but no use in wondering when she was going to find out for sure in just a few minutes anyway. Whatever it was that she had to do exactly, she felt she could achieve it anyway.
Daisy managed to get within the classroom with four minutes to spare. Plenty of time to go stand out in the hallway and watch people do their thing if she so pleased. People watching was always a fun activity. Especially in a high school. Never a dull moment when you're a fly on the wall in these contained pathways. Perhaps she would witness a student yelling at his teacher for no readily apparent reason. Or a girl who was in an established relationship with someone but allowed herself to be subtly cradled in the arms of another. Confrontation and secrecies were always abundant within the school, and always committed in plain sight for all with eyes to see, if they paid attention.
She wouldn't get to witness any of these events take place though. There was someone inside the room that she didn't expect to find, sitting alone at her desk in the very front of the room as the Bumpty teacher sat behind her own desk opposite of the student, thoroughly ignoring her as she read the day's newspaper with a criticizing look peering through her small, round spectacles. Daisy spread a smile across her lips as she slipped her bag off her back and took a seat to the right of the lone girl.
"Hey Peach, didn't expect to see you here," Daisy greeted, making Peach look over at her and smile with a mildly surprised expression on her face. The complete silence of the room dulled her senses enough to not realize that someone had entered.
"Oh, hello Daisy," she returned the greeting. The small penguin teacher glanced up from her newspaper for a small second, finding the girls' chatter to be distracting. Before the final bell rang though, she could do nothing about it and decided to simply try her best to ignore them. "Yeah, I missed this class yesterday because my father made such a fuss about my first day in public school. I barely had time to make it to the gym."
"Hehe, yeah, I get how that is," Daisy said, understanding Peach's situation completely. "It's cool that we have two classes together though, and the same lunch."
"It is nice," Peach agreed as she looked down at her slightly scratched desk. Apparently someone decided it was important to let everyone know that "ass" was indeed part of the English language. They probably felt that it was a word they should have learned about during the course of the class and decided to carve their grievances into the desk's top. Despite never seeing anything like this before, Peach really wasn't surprised. "My last two classes after lunch...honestly weren't so great," she admitted with a sigh, making Daisy raise an eyebrow at her.
"Something happen?" she asked. Peach looked back up at her, and the Bumpty teacher slowed her reading so she could eavesdrop on the conversation a bit easier.
"That boy from our gym class..." Peach began, looking away from Daisy again. "What was his name? Boog?"
"Doog?" Daisy corrected, causing Peach to nod her head.
"Yeah, Doog," she said before continuing. "Well...he's apparently in every one of my classes. We were seated right next to each other for the two classes after lunch, and this morning he kicked another student out of their seat just to he could sit next to me again."
"Geez. I'm sorry," Daisy stated, remembering that Doog was in this class as well. Only having two classes with Doog herself, Daisy found it difficult to remain sane around him before he decided to hit on her the previous morning. Thankfully, that event appeared to shut him up pretty well. But, looking at Peach, she simply knew that the girl wouldn't be able to deter him as easily as she did.
As if waiting for their moment to enter, Mario and Luigi strolled into the room. Feeling more aware now that Daisy stimulated her senses, Peach looked over at the two boys shortly before Daisy did. Peach, Mario, and Luigi all seemed to slightly blush at the same time as Daisy obtained a smile.
I didn't know they had this class, all four of them thought simultaneously. Of course, Peach wouldn't have known about Mario and Luigi, just as the brothers wouldn't have known about her, but Daisy and the boys not even knowing about each other being there was something of a feat. They'd spent a full two weeks in the same class together and never once did they recognize each other before the occurrences yesterday. It was rather astounding how they never discovered each other in the class of twenty-five students, but, really, the situation wasn't a rare one. Students often didn't acknowledge each other if they didn't have a relationship prior to entering the class or if they weren't forced to work together at some point. But Daisy didn't care. An idea sprung to her head and the boys would work perfectly for the plan.
"Hey you two, perfect timing," Daisy greeted with a sweet smile on her face.
"Uh, hey Daisy," Luigi said in return, immediately taking a seat in the very back row, as far away from her as possible.
"Hey... And hiya...Peach, was it?" Mario greeted, pretending to have forgotten Peach's name for the simple pleasure of having her interact with him. When Peach responded with an "Mhm" and a small nod, Mario gave her an awkward smile and took a seat in front of his brother, which was closer to the girls, but still too far away. Daisy rolled her eyes, wondering why they were being so antisocial all of a sudden. Well, she could probably understand Luigi's case. But Mario was just making things more difficult for no reason.
"Come over here you two, I want to ask you something," Daisy urged, wiggling her extended index finger towards herself, indicating that she wanted the two to approach her. Mario got up from his seat immediately but Luigi hesitated a moment, wondering exactly what Daisy wanted to ask. Figuring he wouldn't find out until he went over though, he reluctantly stood once more and took the difficult six steps to the front of the class.
"What's up?" he asked, sticking both hands into his pockets as he slumped his back, appearing to make standing look like the most taxing ordeal ever. All he could think about was yesterday. And he started to seriously hope that Daisy wouldn't bring it up at all during this conversation. Or ever again for that matter.
"Would one of you sit behind Peach and one of you sit on the other side of her for this class?" Daisy asked, taking everyone aback, including the eavesdropping teacher. However, Luigi did feel slightly relieved, for he thought, for a moment, that Daisy had decided it was time to scold him. Letting out an internal sigh, he allowed himself to stand a little more naturally, straightening his back slightly as he leaned against the desk behind him.
"Why should they do that?" Peach asked, chancing a quick glance at Mario before fixing her gaze on Daisy. Of course, Mario managed to look her directly in the eye as she did so, and both of them felt awkwardly embarrassed for actually making eye contact for that fraction of a second.
"Because Doog's in this class too," Daisy answered, causing Peach to slightly pout. Daisy smiled though as she leaned across the thin aisle and placed a hand on her shoulder. "And as long as I'm around, he's not gonna get to bug you."
The two-minute bell rang now and Daisy looked as both boys expectantly, as if nonverbally asking "Well?" The brothers looked at each other for a moment before giving shrugs.
"Sure. Why not," Mario agreed as he stepped back to the desk where he dropped off his backpack. Luigi nodded and went to grab his backpack as well. As he did so, Daisy decided to tease him.
"This'll make up for you assaulting me yesterday," Daisy commented jokingly.
Damn it, she brought it up.
The teacher didn't know what to make of this comment, but it was apparently funny, since everyone chuckled except for Luigi, who let out a small whimpering groan as he picked up his backpack and slumped to the desk behind Peach, his brother having occupied the one to her left. The teacher didn't quite understand what was so funny. As far as she knew, assault was usually a bad thing. But she was from a completely different generation. She didn't know what was "in" with the children now.
Kids. They just didn't make sense these days.
As expected, those four were the only students to appear until roughly a minute before the late bell rang out across the school. With less than sixty seconds standing between being on time and being tardy, students filed into the room in droves; twos, threes, even groups of four entered the room until nearly everyone was present. With only two empty desks, one behind Daisy and the other in the back of the room, it was likely that one student was absent for the day and that Doog was simply being his average barely-on-time self.
However, today, the teacher did something she didn't normally do until the final bell rang. Folding up her paper and resting it on the desk before her, she stood from her seat behind the desk when there were only ten seconds left for any further students to arrive. Knowing that Doog was the type to wander in just as the bell was in mid-ring, the teacher strategically positioned herself directly next to the door to the room, placing a hand on it in anticipation.
As classes always did, everyone kept their eyes on the teacher, despite the fact she wasn't yet commanding their attention. However, her iron fist for silence in the past trained them well, and they immediately ended their conversations as quickly as possible upon entering the room anyway, giving them nothing more to do than stare at their instructor as she made these non-routine movements.
Doog could be heard coming up the hallway, giving his snarky chuckle after apparently just saying his goodbyes to a friend. The bell began to ring and just as Doog was about to step foot into the classroom, the teacher slammed the door shut immediately, making it smack Doog's full body all at once and force him down to the ground roughly. Nobody in the class could keep a straight face as Doog swore loudly in the hallway.
"From here on out, I will have no further tolerance for lateness," she stated with a serious tone as Doog continued to swear just outside. It wasn't long before a teacher from a neighboring class shouted down the hallway at him, threatening to write him a referral if he continued with the foul language. Smartly, Doog countered with a strategic "F" Bomb, sinking the teacher's submarine, but summoning his destroyer to float out and smack him with a large "R" Nuke and calling in his carrier to escort the offensive young man to the court, where he would be found guilty of improper use of the English language and sentenced to three day's suspension.
All "Battleship" references aside, the students couldn't help but find the situation hilarious, and the teacher allowed them to laugh as she made her way back to the front of the room. She even cracked a small smile and shot a clever glance at the quartet of students sitting in the front rows that were talking about protecting Peach from Doog just minutes ago. Only Daisy seemed to understand though and smiled back at her. The teacher successfully blocked Doog from even entering the class at all, spontaneously deciding upon the action as she listened in on the conversation about him. Peach looked like a sweet girl, and even the teacher seemed to think that one could only have so much of Doog in their day.
Once she was ready to begin though, the teacher commanded attention immediately. The students contained themselves as quickly as they could, falling silent as their teacher lifted a small box filled with paperback books. She took one from the top of the pile and held it up for the class to see.
"As you all should know by now, today we will begin our first quarter projects," she announced as the students observed the cover of the book. The illustration was rather dramatic, and rather stereotypical of the classic handsome hero and the weak yet beautiful heroine. With the back of her hand resting on her forehead, the gorgeous Koopa woman in a flowing white dress was supported in the arms of a strong, good-looking Toad man dressed in a white tuxedo. Apparently the woman's legs had given out, for it looked like she was falling into the man's arms.
Daisy immediately lost her excitement for the story. It was obviously a romance. Complete with a suave hero and a flawless (although helpless) damsel in distress. In other words, a dramatized fairy tale. That's all romance stories were in the end. Everything came to a satisfying conclusion, and everyone was happy. She already felt herself losing interest in the book before even looking at the first page.
"You will all be reading the story of Clemante by Toader Smith," the teacher informed. "It is a novel based in the early eighteen-hundreds, a time you should all know of well thanks to your history classes."
The particular history in question pertained to a time in the Mushroom World's past where every race on the planet segregated themselves from each other thanks to a four-way war that broke out between the Mushroom Kingdom, Sarasaland, the Darklands, and the Beanbean Kingdom. During those times, it was illegal for races to interact with each other for fear of the widespread insecurity and the constant threat of spreading information that might work for or against one particular land. Daisy had to admit that some facts were fuzzy to her, but she did know the most important aspects of the war: it was a time of incredible separation and it eventually resulted in the standing alliance between Sarasaland, the Mushroom Kingdom, and the Beanbean Kingdom. Of course, the Darklands would remain an enemy. And with a name like that, Daisy doubted it'd make any allies anytime soon either.
"This story is considered a classic among readers around the world, and, though I'm not forcing you all to like it, I hope you can appreciate it for the timeless literature that it is," the teacher continued. "Who knows, you might even have some fun reading it."
Most of the students silently scoffed at this comment. Like the teacher ever cared if they had fun reading a book for school. She even managed to suck the fun out of a game they played on the first day of class that was meant to introduce everyone to one another.
It was a simple game: the students would spend the hour playing a specialized round of Bingo. The teacher would give the definition of a word and it was up to the students to figure out which word the definition described and if they had it on their board. It was simple enough, and even pretty fun for a time. When someone got a Bingo, they would have to stand and introduce themselves to the class, imparting their name, their hometown, and an interesting fact about themselves. After their introduction, they would receive a pen as a prize and they were no longer required to keep up with their Bingo board.
The students found themselves enjoying the game as they went along. But, when one student wasn't quite sure of the word that was supposed go with a definition, he made the mistake of not only asking for the answer, but asking without even raising his hand. He quickly learned that doing this was a one-way ticket to the teacher's bad side. But he was foolish enough to actually argue with her.
"But I'm just not sure if this is the right word," he retorted after the teacher threatened to seat him in the corner of the class and take away his Bingo card. However, uttering that only made the teacher carry out her threat, pulling the student's card from his desk and asking him to sit in the far corner of the room at a desk that faced the wall. What's worse was that the boy was only one space away from being the first Bingo winner and the word he thought was correct was just what he needed.
"This is bullsh-"
"Excuse me Mr. Harrison, we will not tolerate that kind of language in this classroom," the teacher cut him off with a piercing glare. "Now please, take your seat at the corner of the room."
"Oh come on, it's just a Bingo game!" the boy shot back as he stood up in an attempt to intimidate the short penguin, standing at least two feet taller than her. "All I wanted to know was if this word was right! Why the hell couldn't you just tell me whether it was or not!?"
"Take your seat Mr. Harrison or I will be forced to send you to the principal's office," the teacher said, trying to maintain her composure in the face of her student.
"Well if I can't even get a simple answer out of my teacher without getting a threat in return, why the hell should I stay?" Harrison responded as he grabbed his backpack roughly. "I'll gladly leave. I think it'd make both of us happier wouldn't it?"
And that marked the end of the first fifteen minutes of the English class on the very first day of school. A welcome greeting for the class of incoming Freshmen, who wondered if something like this would be a regular occurrence for the duration of their time in the school. They would later discover that what they just saw was a rather uncommon event on the student's part, but the teacher would always be like that. Every day.
Soon after, she immediately ended the game and firmly established that any talking without her permission would be punished immediately. A few students were bold enough to test her on an occasion or two over the course of the few days after the incident, but they quickly learned their lesson after obtaining a day of suspension and returning home to a verbal thrashing from their parents, who wouldn't stand to hear the story behind why the punishment was given. Nobody dared to speak up to her without permission again.
"This project will encompass a broad range of topics," she informed. "Twelve to be exact. And since there are twenty-five students in this class, that means I will be splitting you all into groups of two so you may work on your projects together. Of course, one group will have three in it, and that group will be Tara, Randy, and Doog."
A few students turned in their seats to get a glimpse at a green-shelled Koopa girl sitting in the back row and to the right of an empty desk. She opened her mouth and furrowed her eyebrows, but refrained from saying anything. It was obvious she objected to this grouping, but speaking out would have only made things worse.
The way the teacher assigned the groups was from right to left from her own point of view, then left to right and repeat until she grouped together all five rows of students in pairs. This meant that Tara was automatically placed with Doog and Randy because she sat next to an empty desk and neither of the boys were present. She slumped in her desk and silently grumbled to herself as the teacher called out the rest of the names, starting in the front row.
"Kal and Sophie will be a group," she continued, indicating the two student's sitting to Mario's left. He looked over at them for a moment before he realized who he would be grouped with himself. "Mario and Peach," the teacher called out.
The pair glanced at one another once their names were announced. They seemed bewildered for a small moment as they both gave goofy smiles to each other before promptly looking down at their desks nervously.
"Daisy and...Luigi," the teacher continued, noting that the desk behind Daisy was empty and Luigi occupied the seat next to it. At the mention of their two names paired together, a look of horror immediately struck Luigi's face. He couldn't help but blink stupidly as his neck slowly turned to allow him a look at Daisy, who turned to take a look at him as well, a smile occupying her face. The two shared the moment for a couple seconds before Daisy turned back to face the teacher, Luigi following her lead shortly thereafter.
Luigi could feel himself breaking out in a sweat as he looked back at the teacher in front of the room. This was just perfect. Only a day after secretly vowing to stay as far away from Daisy as he could, not only did he discover that they had a class together, but they were even partners for the project due by the end of the quarter. How could life be so utterly cruel to him all the time?
But why did he consider this to be cruel anyway? Seriously, Daisy was the only girl he'd ever met that could actually put up with his unluckiness. She was the only one who laughed everything off and continued to speak to him in a friendly tone. If anything, one would agree that he should be ecstatic that she was his partner. She was cute, she could tolerate him, and she was always so nice to him. Luigi even had something of a crush on her, and this was his chance to put that day in the past and try to start fresh with her. But did he really want to?
He was just so used to being disliked and thoroughly ignored by girls all his life. Sure, he had his eye on his fair share of females in the past, but he never had to be around them very often, and even if he did, he would somehow manage to completely mess things up. Hell, Luigi was so bad with girls that he never even had one that considered him as a simple friend before. That's just how life was. He was used to it. And he really didn't expect anything to change anytime soon. But this project...and Daisy...
Ugh, was all Luigi could think as he dropped his head on his desk with a thud, wondering why he couldn't be partnered with the boy sitting to his left just so he wouldn't have to think about Daisy anymore.
"Luigi, head up," the teacher scolded, making Luigi shoot back up into his regular sitting position immediately.
Well, maybe this wouldn't be all that bad. Maybe Daisy would turn out being one of those partners that didn't really act like a partner. Yeah, maybe they would end up reading the book and working on their own parts of the projects separately, only checking in with each other once in a while to make sure everything was getting done. That would be great. It'd really cut down on having to actually interact at least.
Luigi gave Daisy one more glance. She was keeping her eyes focused on the teacher and he let out a minute sigh. He could only hope she would feel inclined to keep her distance from him.
"Now that we all have our groups in order, it's time to draw from the Topic Hat," the teacher announced as she withdrew behind her desk for a moment and emerged with a plain brown cap. She held it upside down, revealing a plethora of folded white slips of paper. "One person from each group will come to me take one slip, write the topic down on a piece of paper, and set the slip aside. I will come around and pick the slips up after every group has drawn. We will go in the order that I assigned your groups. So Kal, you're first."
One by one, a single student from each group stepped to the front of the class and withdrew a topic. They would look at the slip and read the words contained to themselves quietly as they retreated to their desks, where they would show the topic to their partner shortly before writing it down.
With topic in hand, Daisy leaned across the aisle at an angle to show Luigi what she picked out. Luigi leaned in as well, though he would have preferred to simply take the paper off her hands.
"How it pertains and relates to real life today."
Both partners wrote the sentence down and Daisy placed the strip off to the corner of her desk. She just knew this topic would be a breeze. Considering that this story was probably a romance, she knew exactly how it pertained to real life. It didn't. Well, unless she brought her aunt and uncle into consideration. But they were an exception. They were part of a lucky few.
The teacher walked amongst the students and collected all the strips once she was sure everyone had written the information contained on them. She returned them to the hat resting on her desk and soon grabbed the box of books.
"We will be spending class today reading the first chapter of the book together," she declared as she walked down the aisles once again, handing the books out to everyone along the way. Once she obtained her copy of the book, Daisy immediately observed the back cover in order to scan the synopsis. It didn't take her long to find the words that confirmed her suspicion of the genre: "star crossed lovers". That was all she needed to see.
The students buried their heads into the book as the teacher read aloud for the next forty minutes. The first chapter was a hefty fifty pages long and they only managed to get through the first half of it by the time the final five minutes of the class had come around. Granting her students these five minutes to pack up and prepare to leave for their next class, the teacher announced that the rest of the first chapter had to be completed before Friday's class and that there would be a quiz on the chapter that same day. Everyone took heed to the words and soon the bell rang out, allowing them to leave the room and head for their next destination.
Luigi stood outside of the room next to the doorway, waiting for Mario, who stayed within the class to talk with Peach about the book and their topic. He tapped his foot impatiently, praying that his brother would hurry and come out before Daisy did so they could leave as soon as possible. He just had to get out of there before-
"Hey Luigi," Daisy called out as she stepped into the hallway and planted herself in front of Luigi with a smile. Luigi suddenly broke out into another nervous sweat as his heart raced and he stuck a hand into his pocket.
"What's up?" Luigi asked, trying his hardest not to let his voice weaken as he spoke, for he suddenly felt an uncomfortable lump in his throat.
"I was just wondering if you're doing anything after school today," Daisy answered, maintaining her cute, attractive smile that Luigi simply couldn't take his eyes off of. He took in a deep breath.
"Well..." Lie! Lie lie lie! Make something up! Tell her you have to get a tumor removed or something! Tell her anything that isn't the truth! "No, I'm free after school today." Damn it!
"Oh cool. Well, I was just thinking that we should get together and read the rest of the chapter with each other," Daisy suggested. "You know, just to make sure we're both in the same place and everything."
"Sounds good," Luigi managed to say, despite his internal struggle.
"Alright, I'll meet you after school then," Daisy confirmed brightly. "Out in front okay? Where everyone gets picked up and dropped off."
Luigi nodded, allowing Daisy to head off down the hallway alongside Peach, who emerged from the class along with Mario. Mario looked after her for a short time with a smile before looking over to Luigi, who appeared to be completely stiff up against the wall.
"You okay bro?" Mario asked, nudging his little brother on the shoulder. Luigi snapped out of his slight trance and turned to his older brother.
"Oh, yeah, I'm fine," he responded as nonchalantly as he could.
It was odd how he could lie to his brother, his lifelong best friend, yet he couldn't lie to Daisy, a girl he'd hardly known for two days.