February 15, 2030, Venomous Agendas High. With the girls' basketball team advancing to the second round of the state tournament, the town feels like their hopes are still alive. That VA can hope to go deep in the state tournament, which no team has done post-pandemic.
The following day, Audrey delivers the afternoon announcement, regarding both the quiz bowl team and the basketball playoffs.
"Tomorrow, the quiz bowl team will attend the Leesville High School Spring Tournament. And let's not forget about the game against Livonia on Monday, whose tickets are now up for sale!" Audrey announces before returning to her classroom.
Oh boy, Audrey will have a busy life in the coming few days. I ought to ask her about her exam schedule when I'll meet with her next, and maybe, you know, study if possible. However, I think that, going into the playoffs, she will be subjected to more training sessions, even on the weekends, Pablo muses upon hearing about the implications of VA's girls' basketball team going deeper into the playoffs.
But since Pablo isn't in the same Algebra II section as Audrey, he starts taking the test for that course. The teacher passes around test copies to everyone, face down.
"Begin!" the Algebra II teacher orders.
What awaits students is multiple-choice questions formatted and structured much like ACT test items about probability and statistics. And he is reminded of how fortunate he is compared to some of his football teammates almost with every item on the test. While, of course, he is no mathlete, and neither are his football teammates, he doesn't find the material hard. However, since there are no questions of that style in quiz bowl, he feels differently about this material vs other subjects coming up more often in quiz bowl.
He then takes mental notes of what items his teammates could be struggling with, believing their struggles not to be uniform.
However, as he progresses through the test, he loses track of who could struggle where. If I want to help my football teammates taking Algebra II, I may as well go over the whole chapter with them, and not try to help them piecemeal! Pablo tries to discard his mental notes of who could struggle where on the test.
When he finishes the test early, the teacher lets him go to the library until the bell rings, as with just about anyone else who finish early. However, he can only meet with Audrey during recess.
"Since you're not in the same section as I for everything, I might be wondering what tests you have left. We might study together on the way from and to Leesville if neither took it"
"Algebra II, World History, AP Bio, English" Audrey answers him.
"I have the other three still left to go, but I'm done with Algebra II for a while"
Pablo then attempts to remember who, among his teammates, is in Audrey's Algebra II section. Which amounts to juniors since no other sophomore football player is accelerated in math.
"One more thing: I might be wondering who else is on the football team with you in your Algebra II section..."
Somehow, Audrey seems to remember the positions footballers in her Algebra II section play more readily than their names. Presumably because they tended to keep quiet in that course, and/or they didn't interact with Audrey much in an academic context.
The starting left wide receiver, Valter, the starting fullback, Orson, and the starting strong safety, Pablo then sets out to message them on their phones to schedule a meeting after class with these players regarding, well, Algebra II. And then notify his parents about both the after-school meeting with his football teammates and the sleepover at Audrey's place later.
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Can't Stop the Questions
RomancePablo, a sophomore playing tight end for Venomous Agendas High, plays the best football game of his life, but as the season comes to a close, his coaches tell him he can't rely on football to go to college, forcing him to buckle down on academics fo...
