I know it's been a little while since my last update, but hopefully not too long. This chapter's actually quite lengthy compared to the rest, most likely because there are a lot of little scenes. I hope you like it! :)
PS THANK YOU SO MUCH to everyone who reads and reviews this story, I made it to my 200th review! :D
Chapter 15: My First A
I never understood school. You go, you listen to old people talk, you go home, stare at the work they gave to you, go to bed, and start over again. It really is a boring cycle.
Since I don't really care about school, I don't feel a need to try hard either. I'm not stupid, so I'm not failing, but I certainly don't have As like Carly. When she gets a B, she flips out and practically dies in horror; if I get a B (which occasionally happens) I'm happy, but it doesn't really matter since I have no one to show it off to.
But, the other day in history class, my work ethic changed. It changed enough for me to look up the word 'ethic.' Sitting in class, almost on my way into a nice peaceful nap, I heard my teacher say, "you will get money."
My attention was grabbed and I perked up a little bit, still slouching, but forcing myself to stay awake. He repeated himself. "As I just said. Whoever has the highest grade in the class will be rewarded with money."
Some kids asked how much they would get, but he claimed he wasn't sure yet. "I may base it on how well you did."
I wanted the money. Looking around, I realized how unrealistic my dream was. I was sitting next to Carly and Freddie, two nearly straight-A students, and I was surrounded by several others with equally or almost just as good grades. Sure, there were people worse than me in the class, but they probably didn't even hear the teacher, and if they did, there was no way they would try at all.
"Hey Carls," I started, walking through the hallway with her and Freddie to lunch. "I wanna win the money."
Carly gave me a nurturing smile, "That's great, Sam. You should try to do as well as you can."
She was always encouraging (trying to force) me to get better grades, but I was never motivated enough to do so. "What? You don't think I can do it?"
"I never said that."
"But you implied it."
She looked at me apologetically. "I'm sorry Sam, it's just that there are so many smart people in the class, that I don't even know if I have a chance."
I looked at her sadly but realized what she said was true. "I guess you're right. Well, I can just keep giving a half effort."
"Sam, just because you're not being paid, doesn't mean you shouldn't work hard," Carly chastised me.
"Yeah, yeah," I waved my hand in indifference and she shook her head.
"I have to win the money," I plopped onto Carly's couch.
"Sam, we already went through this. I thought you decided to go back to barely trying." She sat next to me, her eyes filled with confusion and slight sadness.
"That was when I wanted to win the money. Now I have to."
"What?"
"Last night, the fact that whoever gets the best grade earns money somehow came up. My mom told me I had to win the money."
"Well did you tell her it's not that easy?"
"Yeah, but she threatened me. She told me that if I didn't get the money, she'd put me on a diet of beans and lentils for the whole year. A whole year! Two to three meals of lentils and beans every day for an entire year!"
"Are you sure she's not exaggerating?"
"Carls, this is my mom we're talking about. I don't think it was a joke."
"If you want to get the top grade, why aren't you studying right now?"
"It's Thursday, and the test isn't until Tuesday. Why would I start studying this soon?"
"I don't know. Maybe to, say, get the highest grade in the class?" Carly shot me a look that said 'study-now-or-this-will-never-happen.'
Grudgingly, I lay down. "I can't learn all of this stuff just from staring at a book!"
"What about your- Oh wait, you don't take notes in class, you sleep instead." She made me feel guilty, though I knew she didn't do it on purpose.
"Why don't you help me?"
"I have to study too if I want to do well on this test!" Carly proclaimed indignantly.
"Fine, then I guess I'll just live off of lentils for the rest of the year. Unless…" I paused for a moment, realizing how I could twist Carly's arm. "Unless I can find someone to cheat for me…" I put on a serious face, but smiled inside. It had to work.
"Sam!" Yep. It worked. "Cheating is never acceptable, and if it's going to take me helping you to make that message clear, then I'll do it." She crossed her arms.
"Are you sure, Carls?"
"Yes. In fact, by helping you study, I'll be studying myself, so it will be a win-win."
"Thanks." I actually was thankful. Carly was my best shot at keeping a wholesome non-lentil-infested diet.
"If you want to do well, we have to start studying now." Carly said firmly.
"Can we have a snack first?"
"No."
"Not even a lamb chop?"
"No, Sam. C'mon, you have lots of work to do." She grabbed me and pulled me up the stairs, my gaze lingering on the fridge full of delightful meaty items.
"Don't fall asleep, you have to study." I felt Carly's foot prod my side to make sure I was awake.
"But Carly," I whined. "There are only so many things one can learn about history. Surely not all of this is going to be on the test. Aren't I ready?"
"Who was the 28th President?"
"Uhhhh…"
"I thought so. You're not ready, Sam."
"But what about the rest of the presidents? Who says we have to know the 28th?"
"Our teacher. We're learning about World War I."
"So what does the 28th President have to do with the war?"
"He was President during the war!" Carly cried out, exasperated by my lack of interest in learning.
"Sorry I'm late, my mom was trying to give me a-" Freddie stopped, looking around the room. The door clicked behind him, the only noise in the entire studio.
"What's he doing here?" I asked maliciously.
"I thought that he could study with us. We're all studying for the same test, and so I figured we could all work together." I groaned. "I know you don't really get along, but you need to put aside the fact that he bothers you and let him study with us. His brainpower can only help you to get a better grade," Carly offered.
Oh, he bothers me, alright, in more ways than one. Freddie bothers me because he's Freddie, a compete nub who constantly wastes my time with his techy-talk and other annoying conversations and habits. But he also bothers me because I can't figure out what I think about him. It used to be plain and simple; I hate Freddie. Not complete hate, he's more of a frenemy than a friend, but that's only because he is occasionally caring and helpful, and mostly because I'm forced to be somewhat friendly to him since we're both Carly's friends.
Now, it's not so simple. Why? I have a crush on him. I don't even want to think about it, it's too weird and gross of a thought. Unfortunately, I can't hide from my own feelings as well as I can hide them from others. So, I'm mean to Freddie. I don't fake my meanness; I really do hate him. There's just a tiny stupid inkling tucked somewhere in the complex and super annoying thing called my mind that's attracted to the nub. I try to forget about it as often as possible, yet unfortunately denial of your own feelings is not completely possible all of the time, so I stick to not admitting to them (to myself and to others). So yes, I would say that Freddie most certainly does bother me, and him being here right now is not exactly helping me clear my thoughts.
Freddie stood in place at the door, bracing himself for any arguments or attacks that could arise. He shifted his gaze uncomfortably in between Carly and me, uncertainly juggling his laptop in his hands.
"Fine." I rolled over on the beanbag. "If it will help me win the money, I'll let the nub study with us."
Slowly, he made his way over toward us, eyeing his tech cart as he passed it. He sat down, making sure to be just far enough away in case I decided to lunge at him. I don't think he understood the fact that I really did need the money.
As we continued our study session, I began feeling more and more uncomfortable with Freddie's presence. I couldn't figure out my feelings; I desperately wanted him to leave, both because I hated him and because I liked him. I wanted him out of the studio because he was an annoying nub, but also because I didn't want to face my other feelings for him.
As I became more and more uncomfortable, I became more and more grouchy, and Carly became more and more frustrated with me.
"Sam, concentrate!" She sighed, slamming her book against the ground. "What's up with you? I thought you were serious about winning the money, but you've been distant and insufferably uncooperative all day!"
I was shocked. Carly was normally so kind, and even when she was mad at me, she still tried to help me. I felt bad; after all, I wasn't purposefully not cooperating. "I'm, I… I just don't normally work this hard. It's hard for me to use this much brain power." It wasn't a lie; I don't normally put much, if any, effort into studying or work in general, it just wasn't the only reason I was struggling to pay attention.
I glanced at Freddie. He was looking down at his book, but his eyes were unmoving, and I could tell that he was caught off guard by Carly's sudden outburst and had been listening to her complaints.
"I get that you don't like working, but since you're the one who decided you must get the highest grade, you have to work really hard for it. You've never put in much effort as a student, so you have to start now. I truly want to help you and see you do well, but I need to study too, and if you're not going to take this seriously, then I'm going to have to go study on my own."
"But I am serious. I haven't been goofing off." I started to worry that I would never learn enough to do well on this test. I knew Carly always wanted an A, and if that meant locking herself in her room, she'd do it.
"No, you haven't, but you also haven't been paying attention," she reprimanded me.
"If I start paying attention now, how am I supposed to learn all of this on my own? How am I supposed to know what's going on?"
"You won't be alone. Freddie's here." Oh. My. Gosh. No! No no no! Please don't leave me here with Freddie; he's the problem.
Carly was so clueless (luckily) as to the reason I couldn't focus, that she was making it worse by forcing me to think about my conflicting feelings. Before I had a chance to think of a plan, Carly left the room, leaving Freddie and me sitting silently, him with his head turned toward a textbook, and me lying aimlessly on a beanbag, worrying.
After a few more awkward seconds passed by, Freddie broke the silence, "Well, if you're going to study, you should crack open a book." It was a harmless suggestion, at most just a distracted prod at me, but it was still irritating.
"You should crack open a book," I said in a mocking tone. I decided that being mean to him was the only way for me to disguise my crush, and the only way for it to go away. Truthfully, I didn't think it was going to go away, but I was desperately going to try.
"Sam," he started ridiculing, "don't start anything now. It's not worth wasting your time fighting. You have to study if you want to have a chance at doing well on this test." He mumbled, "or any test for that matter."
I let out a long sigh because I didn't want to study, and also because I knew he was right, and him being right could only mean two things: one, I was wrong, which I hate; and two, he was right, which I also hate. Reluctantly, I forced my arms to extend to the nearest book and drag it across the floor in my direction. Then, I put my head down, opened to a random page, and stared.
Several minutes passed before Freddie moved. He picked up his head, looked in my direction, and chuckled. I turned to face him, wondering what was so funny.
"What're you laughing at, Benson?"
He scooted closer to me, "first of all, you have to actually read the things on the page in order to learn them." He reached in my direction and grabbed hold of my book, flipping back the pages in groups of twenty. "Secondly, we're learning about World War I, not the Clinton Administration." He stopped on a page titled Chapter 4 – World War I "There you go," he told me. "Now you can actually start studying."
Feeling awkward, I turned silently to face the text, hoping that he didn't hate me for being such a bad student. Ugh. Freddie's feelings shouldn't matter to you, I reprimanded myself. But, unfortunately, part of me cared what he thought. He was no longer just a nubbish friend of Carly's who I could use as a punching bag when he annoyed me, no longer just my frenemy. As much as I vehemently tried to deny it, other feelings resided inside too, not just the hateful ones. Did I love him? No, definitely not. But my slight liking of him was weird and scary enough to make me worry for my mental health.
"What's the Lusitania?" I asked after actually reading the book for several minutes.
"Huh?" Freddie looked at me, dazed from his own studies.
"The Lusitania. Why's it so important? I get that people sank it and that's not good, but why do we care?"
"Oh," Freddie propped himself up, obviously happy to show off his brainpower. "The sinking of the Lusitania was an underlying cause of why the Americans entered World War I."
"What?" I looked at him with a puzzled look on my face.
"They thought it was carrying arms, so they sank it. American journalists embellished the story, making it sound like an even worse attack than it was. That angered the American people and brought them together against a common cause. It was one of several reasons that influenced Americans to want to join the war."
"Oh, okay." At least someone's helping me. Even if it is the nub, without anyone helping me to figure this out, there's no way I would do well on this test.
We continued studying throughout the afternoon and into the early evening. Every now and then, he would lean over and explain something in the book, or describe the connection between two events. He really was helpful, and as much as I hated being anywhere with him, especially being alone with him, I couldn't deny that if I was studying by myself, I would have drawn smiley faces on all of my toes and started telling stories by now. It would have been nice if Carly was the one helping me study, but she does get a little cranky when she studies, and I admit that I wasn't exactly making it easy to help me when we first started studying.
"So when the Central Powers-" Freddie was interrupted by a knock on the door. The two of us looked up, seeing Carly's figure as she entered the studio.
It was silent at first when she walked in, everyone still concentrating on what they were thinking before she had knocked.
"What's up, Carls?" I asked, cautious in case she was still irritated with me.
"I came up to, well, I came up for two reasons." She walked over to where I was sprawled over a beanbag. "I wanted to say I'm sorry Sam. I realize that I wasn't that kind to you. I know that you want to get the best grade you can, and I'm glad that you asked me to help you; it's just that I occasionally get a little frustrated when studying. I want you to know that it wasn't your fault."
"No, it was my fault." I flipped over, sitting up. I don't apologize that much, but Carly didn't deserve to guilt herself into thinking my lack of interest in working was her fault. "I wasn't even trying to study. It wasn't even until you got mad at me that the seriousness of all of the work I have to do sank in."
Carly looked at me strangely.
"What?"
"It's just that… I don't think I've ever heard you form such profound sentences before."
"All of this reading must be making me sound like a nerd. I better stop before I start sounding like Frednub over here," I gestured in his direction.
"What was your other reason for coming up here?" Freddie asked, diverting the attention away from himself.
"Oh, yeah. Would anyone like dinner now?"
"Is that even a question?" I jumped up and pushed past Carly, throwing open the door and heading toward the kitchen. As excited as I was to not be alone with Freddie, I was even more excited to eat. Food really is the best part of any day.
"How was your studying going, Sam?" Carly asked over our dinner of lasagna.
I gulped down a forkful. "Good. Did you know that there was a First World War? No one ever talks about it!" Carly laughed, shaking her head. "It's true, all you ever hear about is World War II!" I was indignant.
"Well, Professor Sam, what other facts can you contribute?"
Freddie had explained a lot, and I had read any more, but some facts just came more easily when I was focusing on history, not when I was focusing on the meaty cheesy goodness that is lasagna. At least I still had four more days to work. "Um… I know the Lusitania was a boat that people thought had guns on it but didn't. Boy, were they stupid."
Carly and Freddie laughed, exchanging knowing glances and probably telepathically communicating in some secret smart-people code. "And do you know who the 28th President was?" Carly asked me the same question as earlier.
"Roosevelt? No, wait, I know this. He's the guy with the weird glasses, and he his initials are WW. I remember that because they're just like in 'WWI' AND because they're the acronym for Warner's Weiners. You know, the hot dog company? Warren Wilson? No no, Wood Wilson? Woodrow Wilson!"
Carly clapped half-jokingly. "I'm really proud of you Sam, I've never seen you work this hard for anything that didn't directly involve food."
"Well don't get used to it," I said. "Once I'm guaranteed normal meals for the rest of the year, I don't think I'll use this much brainpower over the course of the next two years." I wasn't stupid, but I didn't have as much will to be a hard-working student as Carly did.
"Okay class, pick up your pencils. You may begin in three, two, one, now!" My teacher returned to his desk, stacking his files in orderly piles as we whizzed through pages upon pages of facts about World War I.
"How'd it go?" Carly asked after the test was finished.
"Pretty well. Between the book and Freddie, there was nothing on there I didn't know. I can't guarantee my essay was that great, but at least I knew some facts. Now I may not have to live off of lentils!"
"Your mom should know better than to threaten you into giving her money." Carly's motherly ways started to show as her concern grew.
"You should know better that it's never gonna happen." I laughed, heading toward my locker.
"I guess you're right," Carly reached in her backpack, digging out a textbook and putting it neatly away.
"How'd you do, Carls?"
"97. You?"
I stared at Carly with my jaw hanging open. There was no way this was possible.
"You okay?" She tilted her head, inspecting me.
"97.5"
"What?"
"97.5. I got a 97.5 on the test."
There was a sudden shriek, and before I could realize what was happening I was being suffocated in Carly's arms.
"That's fantastic! Now we just have to hope that no one else did that well." She glanced around the room, eyeing the three smartest kids in the class (besides Freddie and herself). None of them seemed too excited, but none of them seemed let down either. We sat impatiently, waiting for our teacher to make the announcement.
"I know all of you want to hear who won the money, so I'm going to get my grade book and tell you right now." He stooped down and swiped the book off of his desk, opening it to the corresponding page and scanning down the list.
Everyone in the class (except for those who didn't put an ounce of effort in) held their breath. "The student with the highest grade in the class is-" He paused, his eyes searching wildly around the page. He mumbled something to himself about a "mistake" and his "glasses." He put on his glasses and reread the list, looking up with a look of disbelief once he had rechecked the list for the fourth time.
"The student with the highest grade on this test was… Samantha Puckett." There was a long silence. The words didn't sink in to anyone's minds, and everyone sat there quietly, as if the real winner hadn't been announced yet. It was Carly who broke the silence.
"Sam, you did it!" She held up her hand and I high-fived her, the two of us sporting matching stupidly large grins.
The rest of the class started to move, looking at each other curiously. "How much money do I get?" I got immediately to the point. There was no way I was going to live off of lentils for the rest of the year.
"Uh," our teacher was still dazed after finding out that I had the highest grade. If that were true at any other time, it would mean that the rest of the class didn't do so well, but this test was different. This test provided me with a proper diet. Once I got that money, it was back to minimal effort.
He pulled his wallet out of his pocket and rummaged through it. "100 bucks?" I snatched the money from his hand before it was even fully extended.
"Ew, Sam, don't rub money against your face! Do you have any idea how many people have touched that?"
"It doesn't matter Carls, I no longer have to live off of lentils. The sink will still be around next week when I get to cleaning my face."
Normally Carly would be grossed out and give me a speech on proper hygienic behavior, but she was so caught up in my high grade that she didn't pay much attention to it.
"Congratulations, Sam. You did well on a test, and now you won't have to live off of lentils." Carly raised her smoothie and tapped it against mine, and Freddie added his to the clump.
Carly continued as I sipped my smoothie, "Freddie must have somehow managed to get you to pay attention. Well done, Freddie."
Freddie smiled, "I think it was you yelling at her that really got her to pay attention, I was just there to explain things."
"Wait a minute." I looked between both of them. "I know I studied for this test, but so did you too. Freddie studied with me, and I'm sure even more on his own, and you, Carly, you locked yourself up." I was stumped, and my puzzled expression let it show. "How is it possible that I did better than the rest of the class, including you two?"
Carly eyed the ground nervously, "I forgot Woodrow Wilson's name. I called him Warren Wilson."
"You did that on purpose!" I was mad, but only to a small extent. I knew that Carly had flubbed the President's name throughout her test, hoping it would let me get the best grade. Plus, she still got the A+ she wanted. "What about you Freddie?"
"It seems that I thought the Lusitania was a German ship with Russian arms on it."
"But that make no sense, you- You did the same thing, didn't you?" I can't believe they both made mistakes to help me get the money. Carly still got an A+, but Freddie… I'm surprised he even helped me. Maybe Carly convinced him to help me get an A.
I ended up pulling them both into a hug, something that we very rarely did. But, if it wasn't for them, I would be going home to a dinner of lentil soup for the night and all of the following nights.
"What about the rest of the class?" I was still curious.
"Well, we know that those who don't normally do well probably didn't try. You can get good grades; you just normally slack off. Some of them may be the same way, but just weren't as motivated to get the money. The other smart kids were probably too sure of themselves that they didn't try any harder than usual. Freddie and me, well you figured that out." Carly was always ashamed of breaking rules, and to her, me finding out that she faked not knowing something on her test was not a good thing, and the color rose to her cheeks to prove it.
January 16th, 2010: My First A
I quickly stuck my list back behind the mirror. There was something more important I had to do. Quickly, I dashed down the stairs.
"Mom! Mooooom!" I ran around the house searching for her. Finally, I found her lying on her bed with a gel mask on and a room full of hairspray.
"Samantha, I would very much appreciate if you didn't raise your voice. I'm trying to relax here, and you're hollering throughout the house."
"Mom, I got the money!" I didn't care how relaxed she was; there was no way I was living off of lentils for the year.
"What?" She raised a hand to her face and removed the gel mask. I stuck the money in front of her face.
"100 dollars. No lentils for me." I grinned and waited for her response.
"Oh, that?" She ripped the money from my hands. "Fine. You can make yourself some eggs for dinner."
Happily, I left the room, content to be eating eggs.
As I mushed the eggs around in the pan, I contemplated the day. I had earned an A on a test, an A! I didn't expect to ever do it again, but it made me very happy. I did well, not that anyone other than Carly and Freddie was proud of me (or even cared) and I also managed to keep my normal diet.
If it hadn't been for Carly and Freddie's help, I'd probably be sitting at the table with a bowl full of broth, beans, and lentils, dreading every meal I ate at my house for the rest of the year. Instead, I was placing some scrambled eggs onto a plate, and my mom was $100 richer. It was a good way to end the day.
I hope all of you liked the chapter!
For any of you who support Seddie, I know this chapter didn't contain much progress, but at least Sam is starting to acknowledge her feelings. :) There's more to come... ;)
Thank you for reading, and please review!