As the morning turned into early afternoon, the students, mostly freshmen, had entered the cafeteria for lunch. The lunch room wasn't anything important, at least in appearance, for it had tables and chairs, the occasional booth, and the line was at least decent, both in terms of length and upkeep, the owners believing that food is one of the most important parts of the education system.
The head cook, for he considered himself a cook since he actually cooked the meals, was Horace Horsecollar, who was standing over a large stove in the back of the kitchen area shouting things at Tiana, his protégé. Horace wasn't shouting in order to be mean or distasteful, but in order to be heard over the stove, which was incredibly loud due to its age.
"Hot patties coming through!" Horace declared, as he walked over, a plate of hamburgers in his hands, "We've got some seasoned with onions, peppers and cheese, some with only cheese, and plain."
Tiana inspected the burgers for any kind of defect and taste tested them for a moment, checking for quality. Tiana turned towards the spice cabinet and pulled out a bit of Worcestershire sauce and gave a confident nod to Horace, letting him know in her own way that this was what was needed without having to say anything and risk shouting.
"Good idea" Horace continued, raising his voice, "Why don't you finish these, and I'll work on the cake?"
Tiana nodded again and began pouring the Worcestershire, Horace moved back to the back counter, looking for the cooking pan. Scanning the shelves and opening every cabinet there was to open, Horace banging his head almost every step of the way, he failed to find the pan he was looking for. Instead he found several spoons, a few cooking pots, and Emile the rat, who was rummaging, searching for scraps of food.
"Get out of here!" Horace exclaimed, "How many times have I told you, no rats in the kitchen!"
Emile huffed and folded his arms, clambering out of the cabinet he found himself in and stepping on the counter.
"You let Remy in here all the time" Emile replied, "How come I can't be in here?"
Horace groaned and casually picked Emile up, holding him by the tail.
"Remy is a gourmet chef" Horace continued, "You're just a pest. Maybe if you did something beneficial to society it would be different. But no, you steal food from homes and bother people, both of which are incredibly annoying. Now get out!"
Horace walked towards the nearest window, opened it and threw Emile out, not really caring if he landed on his feet or on his back. Tiana, who was holding the pan that Horace was seeking, and had been doing so for the past few seconds, only looked on in confusion and disbelief that Horace could be so stupid as to miss the pan that was a shelf above him earlier, and could be dismissive of Emile, who at least in Tiana's mind, was only looking for a single bit of bread.
"Is this the pan you're looking for?" Tiana exclaimed, throwing it Horace's way and purposefully hitting him in the head, "Open your damn eyes fool, it was right there!"
Horace huffed and rolled his eyes, picking up the pan that had bounced off of his head, clanking on the floor as it were a symbol to a drum kit. Twirling it around for the sake of twirling it around, Horace finally set the pan down on the counter and began the process of making a lemon cake, which he would cut into squares and serve to ungrateful students.
It was at that moment that the bell for lunch began to ring, letting out the classes and sending a hundred and fifty kids, all of them hungry and most of them getting the only meal of the day, towards the cafeteria that was still in the middle of preparation. At the same time in Basil's classroom, Basil and Jack were having a very heated conversation about who was going to be in charge. The obvious answer was that Basil, being the teacher, was in charge indefinitely, Jack however, failed to see the significance that Basil carried with him and did not understand cartoon physics, refusing to believe that a mouse could do anything, let alone speak or having the brain capacity to teach chemistry.
"Honestly Jack I don't give a damn if you learn science or not" Basil exclaimed, finally having had enough, "That's not the point."
Jack huffed, insulted that Basil suddenly decided, for no particular reason, to switch to informalities, mostly likely in an effort to get him to lower his guard. It didn't work, but still, there was something to be said for the attempt.
"Then what is the point?" Jack replied, "If you ain't going to teach me then what the hell am I doing here?"
Basil shook his head, for Jack had missed the mark entirely.
"You are here because we believe that you can amount to something" Basil continued, "What that something is, is up to you, but it is our hope that it will benefit society in some way."
Jack rolled his eyes and hung his head, bored out of his mind, and wanting nothing more than to go to lunch, for he was incredibly hungry. Basil, seeing this, folded his arms, annoyed, and sighed, in his head trying a different approach in order to get Jack to care about something.
"I can make these speeches and tell you what it is I want you to do all day" Basil began, regretting himself that he was retracting, "But all of that won't mean a thing if you don't even bother to listen to what I have to say and take it to heart. Call me a bad teacher or a bad person all you want, I am not the one who is going to be stuck working as a janitor for the rest of his life."
Jack tensed at this, for he had seen the things that Pete had to clean and they weren't pretty in any sense of the word. The thought of mopping up vomit and taking out trash until he was in his sixties was something that he couldn't bring himself to live with. Jack had dreams, dreams of becoming the next star, of being something other than what he was in order to show the people who told him otherwise that he had made it, but as long as Jack remained where he was, how he was, he would get absolutely nowhere and those dreams would die before they even had a chance at life.
"I want to be the next big thing" Jack declared, "I want to sing."
Basil stopped, for Jack was the last person that he would expect to have musical aspirations, still, he supposed, stranger things have happened.
"Why?" Basil asked, confused, "You don't strike me as a singer Mr. Living. A football or basketball player perhaps, not someone who is musically gifted. Are you sure you're cut out for it?"
Jack nodded slowly, thinking about his answer and finding confidence in it. He still found it hard to believe in Basil, both in the fact that he actually existed and that he legitimately cared about his wellbeing, but he was willing to suspend his disbelief and simply accept whatever help Basil offered, if he offered any at all.
"You need to see Ms. Elsa" Basil continued, "She's a bit of an egotistical nut as far as I'm concerned but she can help you. You might also want to see Mr. Iago as well, being a parrot has its advantages. Mimicry is something of a specialty with him. Elsa can teach you notes, music, and structure; Iago can help you find your voice. Two different philosophies towards the same goal. You are to study with them every day for an hour and give them this-"
Basil handed Jack a piece of paper, on it were several boxes that Jack knew nothing about and a place for signatures, one for himself and the other for Elsa and Iago.
"They are to sign this paper" Basil explained, "After which they will take notes in the boxes on your progress. If you slip or slack off once you're done. Do we understand each other?"
Jack nodded and casually folded it, placing it in his pocket. Gathering his things, Jack nonchalantly slung his backpack over his back and headed for the door. Basil, knowing that he would feel uncomfortable if he simply left it there; ever the teacher, the mouse decided, for no particular reason, to part with one final piece of advice, before he could give it, Jack was already gone, heading to lunch. The mouse, resigning and accepting that he had done all that he could do in terms of Mr. Living, gathered up his materials, picked up his keys and walked out, locking the door and heading for the teacher's lounge.