Chapter 27: Learning Challenge
Another morning comes and goes like the autumn leaves. Lunalei ends off class rubbing her eyes, an unprofessional gesture all things considered, but not many were paying attention.
She noticed that her students were whispering about her as they left. You'd think they would cut this out after she proved herself unwilling to quit, but alas!
Before everyone snuck off she pushed through the fatigue and announced, "Don't forget that next week will be your first major tests for the year!"
Whether they would be prepared or not was a constant plague in her thoughts, as if she didn't have enough crap to worry about with her second job…and she's not even getting PAID for that.
She gathered up her books and began to head for her office when she caught that airheaded cousin of hers palling around with Damian, no doubt prepared to pump iron into her head instead of knowledge.
"Right. Damn it…" With a disgruntled tone she flopped the books down and pushed her small legs through the dwindling crowd to get to Serra and bar her path.
"And YOU." She said, voice as solid as the Great Wall in its prime.
"This weekend. STUDY. My place. Got it?" She has been playing this patience game with her cousin too much now. At the VERY LEAST she would've expected her to understand the language of her determination.
But she wore that same goofy smile, like to purposefully mock her as she said, "Is it REALLY that important?"
"Yes!" Lunalei roared, shaking her to the core.
She then glared at Damian, one of the tomboy princesses' many enablers, and told him, "If I see you within ten yards of her pal, I'm giving you a suspension."
Damian flinched, "Y-You can't do that!"
Lunalei squinted and muttered, "...No you're right."
She then stepped aside and remarked, "Just…make sure she gets to my place."
After the two were off she rubbed her forehead and muttered aloud, "That backbone of yours ain't meant to be her shield, pal."
With her confrontation over and gossiping begun among the parting students, she had to admit…that was another moment of unprofessionalism to add to the tally.
"I need a damn drink…"
She returned to the office and made do with her coffee machine.
"One year to go…" She said as the roasted aroma tickled her nostrils.
She definitely couldn't replicate THAT feeling with alcohol.
After a few sips to lower her tension she took out some paperwork she had been meaning to get around to and dealt with it.
Nothing major, just signing off on a field trip to an ocean museum a couple weeks out.
She was happy to see how many people were interested. It was her suggestion to do this in the first place.
Though there was one noticeable absence: Violet.
The girl wasn't doing it out of rebellion. She had approached her personally a few days ago, and as politely as a proper princess said, "Sorry teach…museums make me nervous."
It's not like the trip was required, but that was a weird excuse. But she wasn't going to pry.
Violet had been making good attendance ever since being confronted about it.
"Serra could stand to learn from her…" She threw out a snicker and then filed away the last paper.
She then took out her lunch and was prepared to enjoy it when she got a ring from her intercom.
"I need you in the office, right now." Spoke the vice principal, blunt and crass as always.
She furrowed her brow and then muttered, "Could at least say please."
She put her lunch away and headed on over. That pain in the ass was currently handling affairs while the principal was on vacation with his wife.
As she entered the office, he was turning his chair with a set of papers in his hand.
Once he faced her, he leaned over the desk for a moment, a bare and wily smirk on his face as he withdrew.
Lunalei glared at him, but in THIS moment she was going to try her damnedest to be professional.
She crossed her arms and raised a brow inquisitively, "What's the problem?"
The vice principal pursed his mustard stained lips and glanced at the papers, "Oh, nothing too important. It's test time soon, so I thought I'd check the current grade averages. I chose no one in particular-"
"Bullshit." She wanted to say.
"-And something caught my eye immediately."
He leaned all the way over the desk and handed the papers over to her, "Check the lowest score."
Lunalei figured this was a good opportunity to see how well her students were doing. She HAD been curious, and embarrassingly had lost track of the numbers in her head.
But she remained cautious of the man's clear intent to be an obstacle as she looked the papers over.
On average…her class was actually performing rather spectacularly. It was a moment worthy of a prideful smirk, hidden from sight.
It was annoying to realize that Erin was at the top of the class, but the runner-up stunned her a bit.
It was Violet, just 1 point off from tying Erin despite missing a few days.
Alex was in third. He was pretty naturally smart, if only he applied himself a little more outside of school.
Leo was in the top 10, not too surprising. He struggled with history, but excelled at math.
Zelene was near the middle. Which wasn't a bad thing necessarily, but maybe she would need to pull her aside and see how her studying is going.
Damian was right after her. If he didn't get distracted by his obvious crush on Serra, maybe he'd be closer to Leo.
Selina was dead in the middle. Just perfectly average.
Bang, much to her surprise, actually had a decent enough score. Guess he's got at least some room for smarts wedged between all those other muscles.
And then finally, who would've guessed it…Serra was dead last, by a very noticeable margin. Heck, it was entirely possible that if you cut out her score, the class average would've been at the top of the entire school.
Lunalei slowly lowered the papers and tried to keep her cool as she asked, "What about her?"
"That is a VERY bad score. And with tests coming up I can't imagine she'll perform on par with her peers. But YOU are her teacher, would you mind explaining why she's falling behind?" The vice principal was obviously fishing for something to strike her with, but she nibbled the bait just to unravel his little game.
"To put it bluntly, Serra's not attuned to education. She cares more about physical development. I have TRIED to tutor her on multiple occasions, but it's never stuck."
The vice principal then folded his hands and wondered, "She's also your cousin, from what I heard. Are you sure there's not something more going on here?"
Lunalei pinched the side of her glasses and murmured, "Implying?"
"That you MIGHT be letting personal feelings get in the way."
Lunalei glared back, "That's ridiculous. Or did you somehow 'conveniently' forget when Serra was brought in here a few weeks ago? You KNOW what she's like."
He gestured his hands in a downward motion and whispered, "Settle down."
Lunalei growled, then sealed her mouth.
He then remarked, "Our institution is important for a lot of reasons. Being one of the first to utilize the new means of educating students our President put into effect means we're being held to certain…standards of success. It would reflect poorly on us if one of our students were to flunk out."
Lunalei crossed her arms and, having finally realized what he was up to, refused to let him worm around the issue any longer, "No. It would reflect poorly on ME, and then I'd become the scapegoat for this failure."
The vice principal then whispered arrogantly, "I'm glad you see the bigger picture."
He then leaned back in his chair and turned around to face the window, waving his hand out in a dismissive gesture, "You tried your best, but come back in ten years when you're a little older and more…developed, perhaps."
Lunalei started to head out, but right as she put her hand on the knob she turned back and said, "If intelligence was tied to our breasts, then maybe you'd be a little smarter than this, vice principal."
She left the scene before she could take in his fuming face. She then gave herself a light slap on the face for not maintaining her professionalism, but then was proud of herself for not sacrificing her damn dignity.
"Still, this isn't good. I don't want to believe he has the pull to get me fired over Serra's grades, but if he DOES…I only have three days at best to get her up to par…with middle schoolers at the bare minimum! AUGH!"
She quickly reviewed all her options on the way back to her office and finally had to admit that she's running into a brick wall trying to deal with Serra on her own.
Her dignity may have survived this day, but her pride was about to take a HUGE blow.
Cause to rein Serra in, she was going to have to turn to the one person she absolutely didn't want to inconvenience…
"UNCLE MEW!"
At the end of the day she immediately headed down the street to her uncle's house and started banging on the door.
And when nobody was answering, she realized, "Damn it, he must be out of town…"
Fortunately, she knew a way to get him right back over.
She reached into her pockets and pulled out a microscopic laser, then used it to slice through the locks cleanly. She then opened the door and headed inside.
After a few steps she patiently tucked her hands into her pockets and faced the kitchen table.
A dark portal opened up and Mew came whispering, "Alright, who's the wise guy trying to…"
He pulled back with his eyes wide in surprise, "Lunalei?!"
She let out a painfully awkward sigh and lifted her hand up, "Hey."
He then turned to look at the melted lock on the door and chuckled, "You could've called. I wasn't busy."
Lunalei shrugged, "Couldn't take the risk. Time's wasting. Plus I can just…buy a new lock."
Mew waved his hand, "Nah, I'll fix it myself. Cool new tech by the by."
Lunalei smiled with a blush, "T-Thanks. And…don't worry, I'm not using it for criminal activity."
Mew smiled back with a wag of his finger, "Atta girl. Alright…SO!"
He then walked up to her, his gentle touch on her back enough to make her feel like she was in the comfort of home just by itself, "What's this 9-1-1 call about?"
After guiding her over to the couch he sat on the chair opposite it and stretched back with her hands behind his head.
Lunalei leaned in and sighed. It was difficult to break his heart saying, "It's Serra."
He immediately broke out of his comfort to sit up and stare in disbelief, "Oooooh boy, what did she do?"
"She's being very, very difficult." Lunalei said with a grumpy face.
Mew bobbed his head and kept his cool, "And this time, it's not in the name of playful fun."
Lunalei pinched her forehead and groaned, "Understatement of the century, uncle…"
She looked him dead in the eyes and said, "Her grades are doing poorly. And with tests coming up, there's…a very high possibility she could flunk."
Mew folded his hands before his mouth, and Lunalei ended up venting some of her extra frustration out towards him, "And that DUMBASS vice principal is going to try and use this as an excuse to get ME fired!"
Mew jolted upright with a tone of righteous outrage, "What?! That's ridiculous! He can't do that!"
"YOU…are absolutely a good teacher, NO, a GREAT teacher." He said with so much sincerity that she would've fallen for him right there if not for the obvious.
"T-Thaaaanks…" She said, her voice melting as her face was bright red. But once the moment passed she held onto the sides of her head and growled in frustration, "But if I'm so great, then why can't I get through to that dumbass?!"
She froze with an embarrassed look at her uncle, whose mouth hung agape. She then clicked her tongue and remarked, "...Sorry."
She then slapped her hands together, bent her head forward and pleaded at the top of her lungs, "PLEEEEEASE, you got to have SOME tips to deal with her!"
"Heh heh, well lucky for you, I'm the encyclopedia on Serranesse!" Mew said, proudly pointing his thumb against his chest, only to slowly deflate into a dryer tone, "Uuuuunfortunately, I…don't think my advice will help you out here."
Lunalei threw her head up and uttered, "W-Why not?"
"Our relationship has always been a back and forth of fun and competition. Kairi has always handled the maturity part. Leo can attest to that."
He itched his cheek, "But I've always believed that Serra'll be fine without an education. I mean look at how strong she's gotten!"
He was full of pride, but she had to burst his bubble, "Yeah. But strength isn't everything in the job market."
Mew paused for a moment to let her talk some more, which she appreciated.
"I want to make sure ALL my students have options when they graduate. Uncle Joe has managed to reduce the qualifications for jobs a little, but the employment rate still isn't as high as it should be because students aren't getting the right preparation to tackle their futures."
"Serra is strong. Too strong. And she gets too fired up when she competes. Sports teams aren't going to keep her for long. And what does she have beyond that to fall back on?"
Lunalei sat up and adjusted her glasses with a heavy sigh, "I wish I could just…quit and give up all this stress…but damn it…!"
"You care too much." Mew summed up softly.
"YES!" Lunalei shouted in a slumped admission of defeat.
Mew grinned and told her, "I don't plan to give up on my kids' futures either. And that includes yours."
"But…" Mew closed his eyes and got out of the chair with a humble smile, "I'm smart enough to know when I'm not qualified."
He then turned and whipped out his phone without her seeing it, dialing up and putting it near his ear.
"Isn't Aunt Kairi busy?" Lunalei wondered.
Mew smirked, "Wrong sister."
After a few rings he answered the other line, "Heeeey, Shina! Are you busy at the moment?"
He turned to Lunalei with a playful uncle sort of smile and remarked, "I got a niece who could use a little advice, teacher to teacher."
"You'd be glad to? Awesome! I'll make a path over." He then hung up the phone in a confident way and took a bow.
"Who's the best Uncle?"
Lunalei got up and was tempted to hug him but froze at the idea, "You're a lifesaver!"
She had honestly forgotten about Shina, cause they hadn't seen each other since she got back.
She worked a substitute teacher job with elementary school kids at Sancturia's schools. She'd absolutely know how to tame a rowdy soul.
A few seconds later, Shina strutted out of a dark rift Mew created. She had cut her hair. It was honestly a nice look on her.
Mew and her passed by and slapped their hands, the sound they made resonating with a powerful bond that made Lunalei…a tad envious.
"Adults get to have such cool relationships!"
Shina then turned and said, "Oh, Mew. The door!"
Mew swerved away from his rift and with a wave of the hand, repaired the lock and closed the door.
He then turned and waved goodbye, "Good luck, Lunalei! I know you can do it!"
Once he left, Shina sat down on the couch on the opposite end.
She was so pretty, and child-like in her energy. She could go with any flow, but also had a lovable quality of spontaneity capable of breaking through the toughest guards.
"Alright! Let's put our teacher brains together to solve this problem!" She said with a tough and kind smile and her fists raised.
Lunalei immediately told her, "First off, this is about Serra."
Shina closed her eyes and nodded, "Kinda figured. She's got no interest in high school education, I take it?"
Lunalei nodded with more energy, "And if I don't get her somewhat smart by the tests next week, she'll flunk!"
"And you've tried to teach her?" Shina guessed.
"MULTIPLE times, but nothing sticks!"
Shina nodded some more, "I wanna hear your methods."
Lunalei leaned back, crossed her arms and shrugged, "Standard issue stuff. You know. Sat her down. Brought out the books. Patiently explained what was in them."
"Did you try and do things in a way that speaks to her?" Shina asked politely.
"What, did you get that from the same book as Leo?" Lunalei vented out, "...Sorry. That was rude."
"But I simply CAN'T with her. You don't try to cross circuits with a bad connection!"
"True true!" Shina said in a fairly agreeable tone, "But if I can offer a counterpoint, and pardon me, I'm gonna have to play the 'Senpai' card."
Lunalei pouted with embarrassment, then let her say her peace.
Shina smiled and then held her hands together, "She has to deal with polar opposites every single day. But she always finds a way to expertly get around the problem by meeting them in the middle. Within reason, duh."
"If you want to help Serra," Shina unfolded her hands and created an arch with a beam of silver aura and one of blue, "You need to find the center point between genius and tomboy."
Lunalei squinted with heavy resistance on her mind and face, "I don't have it in me to be stupid."
"Lunalei, we ALL have a little stupid inside of us," Shina said, having a chuckle at her own expense, "Sis'd tell you plenty of stories about my goofs."
Lunalei gave a tiny smile, and true enough she wasn't perfect. Nobody is. But even so…
"Maybe…my inability to understand Serra is a failure on my part as a teacher." She admitted.
"I don't think it's got anything to do with that. You've just had a lotta time to get to know her. Now all you gotta do is flip the switch, and embrace the positive sides of her instead of the negatives."
"I…think I get it. Reverse the polarity instead of dimming the lights." Lunalei said, mildly amused at her expert choice of words.
Shina nodded in agreement.
Lunalei smiled, "Uncle Mew was right, you were the right person for the job."
Shina grinned, "Heh heh! Us nerdy adults gotta look out for one another!"
She raised her fist and Lunalei gave it a light bump, and then she immediately swung her arms out and shouted, "Now gimme a hug!"
Lunalei froze up, causing Shina to put her arms down and pull her head back with a hiss at herself, "Oh. My bad. I forgot…"
"I-It's ok…" Lunalei said with a blush.
After letting the awkwardness settle a little, Shina then asked, "Y'know, I'm flattered you asked for help, but why'd ya not ask your parents first?"
"W-Well, they're so proud of me for getting this job, so-"
Shina put her hand up, "Say no more! We'll leave it at that. How are ya doing otherwise?"
Lunalei winced, "Ah, shoot, she must've noticed my aura is stressed…"
"It's rough…the students keep taking potshots at my size behind my back. And…I also miss hanging out with Senpai ever since she became Vice President."
"But ya still got her number, right?"
"S-Sure, but it's not the same. I like getting infected by her energy, and working on machines together!" Lunalei lowered her hands between her legs and huffed, "...But I know. She's got to save the world with Uncle Joe."
Shina clapped, "I ain't a perfect fit, but if ya need some company, I'm your gal!"
"Ha ha, I'M the one who needs the free time, Shina…but thanks. Let's exchange numbers!"
The two did such, after which she headed off through the dark rift Mew left behind to return to Sancturia.
And then it closed, likely after giving Mew a call.
Lunalei then left the house, locking the door behind her. She returned home and decided to spend the rest of the day thinking about Shina's advice while working on gadgets in her room to give to S.A.N.C.T.U.M.
"Bridge the gap between genius and tomboys…Is such a feat even scientifically possible?"
"This isn't like a conflict of ideologies. It's our personalities that are at odds."
"I can multitask without ever losing focus. But you expect Serra to focus on anything other than sports, exercise or challenging others and she just looks at you like a deer in headlights!"
"I'm constantly thinking of the future, she's always stuck in the now."
"She's tanned and toned, I'm white and kind of flabby in parts…Wait, I'm getting off track here!"
"Arrrgh, the moment I try to think like her, I can already feel my focus slipping away! It's impossible, I can't do it, I simply can't!"
She flopped her head back against her bed and let her body slide along the floor, rolling her metal parts away from her legs.
Right at this moment she wished she was off dealing with that headache of a mystery regarding Dregs.
"Why's reality got to hit harder than fantasy…?"
She paused for a few moments and then widened her eyes, forcing herself upright, "Wait a minute, rewind…"
There was something she thought that she tried desperately to recall, "Focus on anything other than sports, exercise or challenging others…"
"Oh MY GOD I'm stupid AFTER ALL!" Lunalei shouted as she stood up and slapped the sides of her face.
Then, finally facing forward with a determined grin once more she squeezed her fists and declared, "Yes! I can make this work! And you can be damn sure I'm gonna keep my job, fat lips!"
The next day, Serra came to the house thanks in part to Leo's push.
Lunalei was ready, with books in hand and a good night's rest to boost her confidence.
Even Leo recognized that she had solved the equation of Serra Whiter, and gave her a quick thumbs up before wandering upstairs to hang out with Zelene.
"Alright Serra, I got a way to make learning fun. Are you gonna hear me out?"
Serra looked at her like she was being weird, and admittedly Lunalei did dump like three cups of coffee into her stomach this morning butthat'sbesidethepoint.
"Well golly, Luna, you seem fired up today! Sure, I'll hear ya out!"
"Yes!" She had already cleared step one. Now for step two, she took her to the living room, where her mom whipped them up some smoothies.
Lunalei, however, focused entirely on her student, her cousin, her polar opposite, and told her directly, "You think learning is a bore, and I get it. I bet there was a time I laughed at the idea of reading books-"
Serra was already wandering with her gaze.
Lunalei shook her head and skipped the rest of the story, "School's not just about learning. Think of it as…a competition between fellow academics."
Serra's ears perked and twitched, and she turned her full attention back on Lunalei with a clear glint of fire in her eyes.
Lunalei smirked and pushed the center of her glasses up, "Knew it. This is going just as planned."
She then put an open book in front of her and remarked, "Right now, you're at the very bottom of the class. But if you dedicate yourself to studying, absorb aaaaaall this knowledge I teach you, then maybe, just maybe, you can rise to the top and beat Erin."
Serra's eyes widened a little more, "Eri's at the top? Good for her!"
"Yeah yeah, good for her," Lunalei slapped her hand atop the book and remarked, "So? Are you a little more interested now?"
Serra pumped her fists and declared, "I never thought about learning as a competition!"
"It's really not, buuuuut academics are harmless enough that lighting a fire shouldn't cause an inferno."
"Now, let's give your brain a workout!"
Even for all the confidence she had going into this, she was still fighting a major uphill battle.
She was essentially working to catch Serra up on years of education in a couple days time. And even if her theory was right that Serra's INSANE focus could be weaponized for educational purposes, whether she'd retain all this information for the tests was a coin flip.
Yep, the whole thing was still RNG upon RNG even after putting all this work into getting her down and learning.
If she had even one more week to work with the odds would've been a hell of a lot better, but this just showed she had a lot to learn about being a teacher.
The weekend came and went before she knew it and she had to take a mostly hands-off approach to school the following week for tests.
Every day was a nail-biter as she wasn't allowed to know what each student had on their tests. It was determined years back that it would be easier to give each student different questions per sheet. While there was overlap, it would be hard for students to pass answers to their peers.
The night before the results would be revealed was going to be a sleepless one, so she rested in the pod and used S.A.N.C.T.U.M. as an excuse to patrol around for any signs of 'Dregs'.
And finally, the day of fate had arrived, and the test scores were posted on the private server. By the vice principal no less, who was smug as could be when she came into work.
The teachers were going to be the first to take a look at them, and then the students.
Lunalei took one last deep breath with the guillotine of work hanging over her threadbare neck.
Then she dove right into the posting and scrolled all the way down to her class, and searched for Serra's name.
Her heart nearly skipped a beat as she saw her at the bottom of the roster…Until she looked at the score itself.
Yes, it was at the bottom…but it was a passing bottom.
"S-She did it…!" Lunalei fainted back into her chair and let out a week's worth of stress in one quick unhinged laugh, "Ha ha ha, that son of a bitch did it!"
"Which means I did it! GO ME! I AM the best!" She threw her fists up and spun around in the chair, "YEAH!"
She enjoyed basking in the lap of luxury for a short time, but then once word got out about this stunning miracle of hers suddenly students weren't only whispering about her being vertically challenged.
It took a little brain grease and refusing to give up, but she's finally starting to prove that she's got what it takes to give the future a fighting chance in the hands of future generations.
And honestly, after all that crap with Zinai, Hamazaki, and Julius…she definitely earned this victory.
Next Time: The Doctor and the Newscaster