Valhalla High (A Magnus Chase Fanfic)

Those Who Don't Learn History Are Doomed to Repeat It

February 9

"Today, we're going to begin learning about Reconstruction," Odin told us at the beginning of AP History class.

We had taken an exam last Thursday on the American Civil War. Odin was good about not having too many questions about the number of casualties at such and such battle or the exact dates of such and such events. A lot of the questions were instead about general themes and trends like causes of the the Civil War (slavery, the framers of the Constitution not outlawing slavery, and the South's unwillingness to give up slavery), why the North won, and the effects of the war on America.

"If the American Civil War represents the triumph of good over evil over the soul of our nation," Odin said, "then Reconstruction represents the moral degradation that was always there. Reconstruction began with promise, but when northern troops finally left the south, the era of Jim Crow began. How did that happen? That's what we're learning in this unit."

     Odin lectured like this for the next hour. He told us about the promise of forty acres and a mule and how slave owners were given reparations instead of formerly enslaved persons. He taught us about African Americans in late 19th century politics and how the ballot became less and less accessible as laws like the grandfather clause and poll taxes were created.

     I took notes as he spoke and doodled on the margins of the paper. When he finished his lecture, Odin told us we'd being going on a class field trip this month to the Boston African American National Historic Site. He passed out the permission forms. "Do we need our parents to sign this if we're eighteen already?" I asked.

     "Yes," Odin said. "You're still a student."

      Rats. Why did turning eighteen mean having to sign dumb stuff, but not being able to do stuff without your parents' permission? I was pretty sure my mother would sign the form, but I wanted to be treated like an adult instead of a child for once.

I had AP Calculus next. "We're onto our last unit," Saga said.

"But it's only February," Halfborn said.

"Cool," I said. "Soon, we'll be done with all these hard formulas and we'll being playing Cool Math for Kids during 6th block."

      "There will be no Cool Maths for Kids," Saga said.

      "But it's educational," Halfborn protested.

       Saga smiled thinly. "You can play Cool Math for Kids in your other classes and at home. Here, we're learning. Once we finish this unit, we'll be doing review for the AP Calculus exam."

     I gulped. I'd taken an AP Physics class last year and the exam had been brutal. I had stayed up till 4 AM the night before studying for it. Then, I only had one AP class. Now, I had four. Sometimes, I wondered if I was actually "gifted" or trying to fail by setting ludicrously high expectations for myself. Maybe there was not much of a difference.

Saga began the lesson with a pop quiz over our past material before she began teaching us some new formulas. A lot of them involved x and y. Why had mathematicians decided on those two letters as symbols in math? They could've chosen different letters like m and c; at least then neither symbol would be the same as the multiplication sign.

After the lesson wrapped up, we had lunch. Halfborn sat down at our table and let out a large sigh. "What's wrong?" I asked, looking up from my gyro.

"Third quarter slump," he said. "I've already applied and got accepted to colleges. Why do I need to continue going to high school?"

"I'm pretty sure the colleges will rescind your acceptance if you don't graduate," Sam said.

     "I suppose so," Halfborn said, looking unconvinced.

      "And you can't go to prom if you're failing your classes," Mallory added.

       Halfborn sat up. "I must go to prom."

        "It can't be all that different from Homecoming, can it?" I asked.

     Everyone looked at me like I'd said wolves are cute or something crazy like that. "Prom at Valhalla High is nothing like Homecoming," Blitzen said. "You can only go if you're a senior or if a senior invites you."

"That's the same at most schools," I said. "It's just an exclusionary Homecoming. No real difference."

"Prom is a really big deal here," Sam said. "Last year, there was a fight at prom after two guys tied for prom king. It involved a foam battle axe, cheesecake bites, and a high heel."

"A high heel?" I repeated. "Like one?"

Sam nodded. "A designer high heel. Four kids ended up in the hospital."

"Sounds like a good reason to avoid it," I said.

My friends gaped at me. "You can't really mean that," Jack said. "I've been dreaming of us all going together as a gang. You'd take the photos of me and Riptide."

"If it's the outfit you're worried about, I'll help you," Blitzen offered. "We can go shopping together or I can design you something."

"That's not what I'm worried about," I said.

"Come on, it's like the seminal high school experience," TJ said. "If you don't go to prom, did you really go to high school?"

I turned to Hearthstone and signed, "I'm surrounded by idiots. Please tell me you're not infected by this mad desire to go to prom."

He gave me a half-smile and signed back, "It beats being home with my father any day."

Okay, he had a point. At that moment, Alex asked, "so am I going to have to go to prom with someone else?"

"Of course not," I answered without thinking.

Alex smiled. "So you'll go to prom with me?"

My brain caught up to my mouth at that moment. "You got me there," I said, "but I'm not getting into any fights over plastic crowns or whatever else."

     Mallory shook her head as if she couldn't believe I had the audacity to say that.