Hey, all you wonderful readers!

Somehow, I finished yet another chapter within the same month. It's been a while since that's happened, haha! Welp, this'll probably be my last When We Were Young chapter for 2018, so enjoy!

Today's topic was suggested by a guest reviewer a long time ago.

Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon in any way, shape or size!

Spelling Combee

Grade Two

Trip (7)

May (7), Misty (8), Gary (8), Ash (8), Paul (8), Drew (7)

Today was the day, and Trip was prepared.

Early in the school year, the teachers of the two grade two classes, had announced that there would be a spelling Combee at the end of March. For months, they'd emphasized that everyone should review their spelling words even after spelling tests, because they'd need to remember them for the Combee.

And Trip had. This was his chance to show everyone how good he could be at something. Other kids sometimes made fun of him for being short, and adults often mistook him for a lower grade student. But once he won a contest like this, where both grade two sections would be competing, he knew he'd get some recognition for his abilities.

After months of waiting, it was finally time, and Trip was sure he would succeed in the best way.

"Okay, here are the rules," said Ms. Beatrix. She was the other class's teacher. "First, everyone has to stand in a line, my class on this side, 2B on the other." She gestured to each side as she spoke.

Trip went to the 2B side. Their teacher, Ms. Pattison, had made an order for them ahead of time, so at least Trip didn't have to struggle for a place in line like he usually did. Opposite of him, the 2A class was getting into a line as well, though the process was a lot more chaotic because Ms. Beatrix hadn't made a line order for them beforehand. Two students Trip knew, Misty and Paul, ended up directly in front of him.

"All right," Ms. Beatrix continued. "We will ask the first person of 2A's line to spell something. If they spell it correctly, they can stay for the next round, but if not, they will have to sit down. Then, we will ask the first person of 2B's line to spell something. Again, if they spell it correctly, they stay, if not, they take a seat. Then, we go onto the second person in 2A's line, and then, the second person in 2B's line, and so on. Are we clear?"

Paul raised his hand.

"Yes?" said Ms. Beatrix.

"So I get to sit down if I don't spell the word right?"

Ms. Beatrix hesitated. "Well, yes, but please try not to misspell anything on purpose. After all"—she smiled—"there's going to be a prize at the end. Won't that be nice? Don't you want to stick around for a prize?"

Paul looked thoughtful for a moment, and then he shrugged and didn't say anything else.

"There's going to be a prize?" said Iris, a girl from Trip's class.

"Yes," said Ms. Pattison. "Whoever does really well on the spelling Combee gets bonus points for their spelling final grade. The top three will also get prizes, and whoever is the last person remaining, their class will get to have a pizza party."

A lot of kids seemed to brighten up at that.

"What kind of prizes?" someone asked.

"You'll have to find out," said Ms. Pattison, winking. "All right, time to begin."

They started with easy words, like 'sit' and 'hat' and 'bat'. When it was Misty's turn, the word she got was 'bug'. She made a face of disgust, but spelled it right. Then, it was Trip's turn.

"Spell 'art'. I like making pictures in art class."

"A-R-T," said Trip without missing a beat.

"Good." The teachers moved on. Paul spelled his word correctly too.

No one had to sit down in the first round. In the next rounds, however, the words got a little harder, and more and more kids made mistakes.

"All right, Misty," said Ms. Beatrix when it was her turn again in one of the rounds (Trip lost track of which). "Spell 'pepper'. I love having green peppers with my meals."

"No I don't," Misty muttered. But she spelled it right. Then, it was Trip's turn.

"Okay, Trip, your word is 'number'. The winner of this contest will be number one."

"N-U-M-B-E-R."

"Good job. Next, Paul..."

Trip looked down his row. There weren't many people left. Some of them had gotten words even Trip wasn't sure of how to spell, but at least so far, he hadn't gotten anything he couldn't handle. He just needed to remember the basics: how to spell a word out with its sounds, which kind of words followed some kind of spelling rule. He'd be fine if he did that. Then, he could win for his class.

He looked down the other class's row as well. They had fewer people than his row. It gave him a boost of confidence. He would make sure his class won by being the last one standing!

"Okay, Drew, your turn," Ms. Beatrix said to one of 2A's students. "Spell 'bright'. It was a bright, sunny day."

"Um." Drew hesitated. "B-R-I-T-E?"

"I'm sorry, Drew, but that is incorrect," said Ms. Beatrix. Drew looked a little down as he went to take a seat. Trip couldn't help but feel a little smug. He knew how to spell 'bright'—it was a pretty common word, after all. Maybe Drew was a bad speller.

"It's okay, Drew," called his friend, May. "I'll win for the both of us!"

No, I'll win for my class, thought Trip confidently.

"Clemont," said Ms. Pattison. "Your word is 'write'. It is important to write neatly."

"W-R-I-T-E."

"Wow," said Ms. Beatrix, looking from her row to the other. "You're class is doing pretty well, Ms. Pattison. You're going to have to tell me your teaching strategies."

"Of course," said Ms. Pattison politely, though Trip thought she sounded rightfully smug.

"Anyways," said Ms. Beatrix, turning to the next person in line. "We'll just have to show how the remaining 2As are just as good as the 2Bs, right, class? Okay, May, your turn."

May ended up having to sit down.

Things were looking good for 2B, Trip thought. His class might really win this! It didn't take as long for the teachers to reach Misty again.

"Misty, spell 'carrots'. In the spring, I like growing carrots in my garden."

When Misty spelled it correctly, and the teacher began to approach him, Trip heard Misty mumble, "Why are all my words things I hate?"

"Trip, your word is 'spinach'. It is important to eat your greens, like spinach."

For a second, Trip blanked out. But he did his best to recall his vocabulary words, focused, strained his memory, and finally, the word came to mind.

"I think it's S-P-I-N-A-C-H?"

"Correct."

Trip let out a sigh of relief. That was close! He'd almost lost. Not only that, more and more of his classmates were beginning to misspell words. Unfortunately, it seemed the few remaining 2A students were doing better than his remaining classmates. At this rate, he'd have to work extra harder to win. The pressure was building...

"It seems we only have a few students left now," said Ms. Beatrix. "From 2A, it's Misty, Paul, Ash, and Gary. From 2B, it's Trip, Ritchie, and Clemont. You six are doing really well!"

2A had more people standing, but Trip wasn't planning on losing anytime soon. He was going to come out on top, to win the whole thing...

Before he knew it, it was his turn once more.

"All right, Trip. Your word is 'straight'. You use a ruler to make a straight line."

Straight? Suddenly, Trip found himself blanking out again, but this time, his memory was failing him. He knew the word—he remembered reading it this morning. But the spelling...

He needed to think back to the basics. It started with str-, he could tell. Was it S-T-R-A-T-E? No, that didn't sound right.

"Do you have the answer, Trip?"

"Wait," he said, trying not to lose his train of thought. "I almost know."

He was internally panicking now. What came after str-? He tried to think harder. 'Straight' sounded like 'eight', and he remembered how that was spelled. Maybe it was similar?

"It's S-T-R-E-I-G-H-T."

"I'm sorry, but that is incorrect."

Trip blinked. He'd gotten it wrong?

"Wait, not that. It's S-T-R—"

"I'm sorry, Trip, but you only get one chance."

"But Ms. Pattison, I almost know it!"

"Trip." Her voice became a little sharp. "Please go take a seat."

Trip didn't have a choice. He sat down, miserable. How else could it have been spelled? Maybe S-T-R-A-T-E had been right after all?

Now, there were five remaining. Misty misspelled her word next, and then, even Gary made a mistake. After the next person lost, there would be three remaining, and those three would get the top three prizes. Trip had been so close. If only he'd remembered 'straight'...

"Ritchie, your turn. 'Hospital'. If you get hurt, you go to the hospital."

"H-O-S-P-T-A-L."

"So close! I'm sorry, but that was incorrect."

"Aw man!" He gave the others a thumbs-up as he took his seat.

That meant the top three were Ash, Clemont, and Paul. They'd won the top-three prizes. Paul seemed to take that as a cue to stop trying, because when he got 'midnight' for his turn, he shrugged, and said, "I don't know."

Ms. Beatrix frowned. "Don't you want to give it a try?"

"Not really."

"Not even to win the pizza party for your class?"

"Nope."

There was a ripple of annoyance amongst his 2A classmates, but it didn't seem to faze him in the slightest. Trip was annoyed too. He'd worked so hard to try to win, but Paul, who could win, wasn't even going to try.

"All right, Paul, I guess that means you'll have to—"

"Yes, that means I beat Paul too!" Ash cheered. "I can spell better than him!"

"Ash," Ms. Beatrix said warningly.

Paul gave him a long stare, and then said, "Midnight is M-I-D-N-I-G-H-T."

Ms. Beatrix blinked. "Well, that's correct. Looks like you're still in the game."

And that annoyed Trip even more "No," he said, standing up. "He still has to sit down."

"Trip." Ms. Pattison gave him a stern look.

"But Ms. Pattison," said Trip. "I didn't get a second chance to spell my word. He said he didn't know on his turn. Why does he get to try when he already said he wasn't gonna answer?"

"He hadn't tried to spell it," said Ms. Pattison, but Ms. Beatrix stopped her.

"No, I think Trip is quite right," she said. "It isn't fair. Paul, I'm afraid you'll have to sit down."

Paul shrugged. "Okay. But I knew how to spell it." He gave Ash a hard look. "Got it, Ash?"

Ash rubbed the back of his head, grinning sheepishly. "Yeah, I got it!"

As Paul took his seat, the teachers looked between the final two contestants. "Looks like it's Ash and Clemont."

"Wow, Ash did really well," Trip heard May say to her friends. "I didn't know he could spell that good."

"He's been practising a lot," said Misty. "He didn't do good on the first spelling tests, so he wanted to win the spelling Combee to get bonus points. He studied so hard, he's an even better speller than me now."

But was he better than Clemont? They were about to find out.

For a long time, it didn't seem like either side was backing down. The words were getting harder too, and they were even being asked words they hadn't had on their spelling tests.

"Clemont, your word is 'technical'."

"T-E-C-H-N-I-C-A-L."

"Ash, 'electric'."

"E-L-E-C-T-R-I-C."

"'Marshmallow'."

"M-A-R-S-H-M-A-L-L-O-W."

"How do they even know these words?" Iris muttered.

"Hm," said Ms. Pattison, tapping her chin. "You two seem to be getting all the answers."

"Maybe we should have a final round," said Ms. Beatrix. "We'll say one word, and both will have a chance to answer. Whoever answers it right first, wins. That sound good?"

"Yes, we'll do that."

Ms. Pattison and Ms. Beatrix secretly decided on a word. Ash and Clemont got ready to answer.

"Okay, boys," said Ms. Pattison. "The word... is 'spaghetti'. I love to eat spaghetti."

Both hands shot up, but Clemont was a bit faster.

"Clemont?"

"I think it's S-P-A-G-E-T-T-I."

"Not quite. Ash?"

"I know this one!" said Ash excitedly. "My mom always makes some in her restaurant. She—"

"Do you know the spelling?"

"Yup! S-P-A-G-H-E-T-T-I. I see it on the spaghetti packets all the time."

"That, Ash... is correct! Congratulations!"

2A erupted in cheers. Ash cheered too, then went over to Clemont to say good game. But Trip sighed and leaned back in his chair. Not only had he lost, but his class didn't win the pizza party...

The teachers decided to give everyone bonus points on their spelling grades, and everyone got a sticker for participation. The prizes for the top three turned out to be a box of chocolates and a sticker sheet for first place, and a sticker sheet for each of the second and third places. Paul didn't seem particularly interested in his, and gave it to May, who happily shared it with whoever asked.

2A ended up having the pizza party, but their class invited Trip's to join them. So, in the end, everyone had the party, which, Trip thought, defeated the whole purpose of the spelling Combee. What had been the point in trying to win a party if they were going to get one anyways?

But it didn't matter. Trip had overheard from the teachers that there might another spelling Combee with the grade threes next year. Next time, he was going to be prepared. And he was going to win.

And this chapter's done!

It's been a while since the other class got the spotlight. I was going to make it entirely centering on the main eight, but then Trip popped up in my head, and I thought, hey, why not have it from his perspective?

Tell me what you thought in your reviews, and thanks for reading!

Bye bye for now! Have happy winter holidays, and be sure to smile all the way! :D