Empire High School

Students Being Forced to Read For English Class

"Alright students, for your next class, we'll be working on a reading assessment," handing them a packet. "Read and respond to most of the questions, and we'll see how much you understand for next year."

"Hold on, a test already?" Everyone but Arlene and Felice panicked.

"Think of it as less of a test, and more of a measuring stick. It's not how you start. It's how you finish. You may begin."

Simon adjusted his glasses, but got bored immediately.

"Crud, brain, don't shut down on me! What did my psychologist say again?"

"It's more like a mental block. The more you make yourself mentally interested, the easier it is to break down those walls."

"Get in touch with the story," whispering to himself. Pressing his palms together and taking a deep breath, he imagined himself in the story, running alongside several starving people his age eager for food, only to start tearing up.

"Simon, what's wrong," Mr. Daksh asked.

"What monsters put a teenager through this?"

"Well it's an excerpt from a World War but-"

"That's even worse!"

Felice brought out napkins and slid it over to his table trying to concentrate.

"Focus on what the story is trying to convey, the themes, the setting, the era, and what words to substitute that are trying to trick our young minds. I can do this," annotating alongside the way.

Mince yawned. "This is too hard. All of these words are too much! It's only the first week, why are they giving us this much? Why can't it be short like a tik tok? Wait, just play it in my head like a Tik Tok, I'm a genius!"

He started reading it out but paused and refreshed reading the first sentence too many times to count.

Devlin chuckled, already circling the answers to Len's intrigue.

"You read it that fast?"

"As if. Just read the questions, then read the text to solve it, easy," snickering as he answered with no worry at all.

Bennett gulped at his paper. "My babysitters never taught me about this. Wait, is that vital, or vitamin? No or Snow? Hypothermia or Hypotenuse?"

Mr. Daksh walked over to Haejin's table.

"Mr. Oxford, why are you holding up your desk?"

"Well, I can't strain my neck looking down, so now I can read it in front of me."

"Okay, well how are you gonna answer the questions with both your hands holding the desk?"

"Please, bro, I got this," letting one hand go to turn the page with his finger and circle an answer. However, his hand shifted and the desk fell on top of Nikia's, cracking the desk and ripping her paper in two.

Everyone watched the poor girl's face of terror. "Seriously?!" Her shout even distracted Felice. "I have to read it and answer it all over again? I had notes there!!"

Devlin snickered. "I guess this reading really had you splitting hairs."

Simon, Mary Kane, Mr. Daksh, and Kirby tried to hold back their laughter while Nikia's penance stare burned Devlin's face with the sight of her rage.

While their teacher tried fixing that, Monte and Jarrod grew anxious.

"I don't think we're gonna do well," the latter claimed. "Should we start the plan?"

"Later," cocking his hands around his hand. "Simon. Simon!"

The spectacled boy far in front of them barely heard them, too distracted to work.

"Ignoring me? Fine," crumbling up his packet and tossing it at Simon. The latter was too frustrated at what he was reading and smacked it back, flying into Monte's mouth. He swallowed it by accident, falling on the ground while trying to cough it out.

"Monte!" Kirby rain to his aid, diving to the floor to give him her....best attempts at CPR until he started coughing it back up. She sunk her nails and pulled it out, resuscitating his lungs and blew into his mouth until his breathing calmed down.

"You okay?"

His dizzy head fought to see straight. "Angel," shaking it off. "Oh, Kirby, thanks. I was wondering after this is over, would you like to-"

"Kirby, thank you but back to your seat. Mr. Bane, I'll get you a replacement too."

Arlene's head jerked up and down randomly looking at the clock, so much so Sharell had to stop her from rocking her head onto the desk.

Mary Kane snuck her phone out, typing the name of the text.

"MK," Edith quietly whispered, "tell me the answers."

"Tch, do it yourself."

"Hey, I'm the leader of our group. Fine," raising her hand. "Mister-"

"Fine, keep it down," rolling her eyes at Edith's grin. "Okay for question one-"

Elize panicked, trying to get the answers. "Jenzie, you're not worried?"

"It's about our understanding, not answering the reading. If we do bad, we'll just level up for the future."

"Well ok~ay," she shuddered.

A few minutes later, Mr. Kaysar Daksh asked them to stop.

"Alright, good job, and we'll be working on your comprehension skills. Next week you'll be in for a surprise, so your homework will be to complete the reading for Animal Farm," handing them the books.

While the others groaned, Simon wiped the seat off his face. "We did it."

"You found it a valuable learning experience about being a survivor of the war?"

"I mean that, but put yourselves in their shoes. I don't think I'd have the will to survive that. At least," turning around to see the other men in the classroom, "they survived so we won't have to experience anything that bad. I hope." 

He sucked his teeth. "Watch me score higher than you in both this, and next time," earning a scowl for her he couldn't help but laugh at.