The Napknick

Chapter 1

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"Quill, would you mind answering question six?"

Quill snapped her head up. Everyone was staring at her. Mrs. Bushly, her classmates, it even seemed as if Judo, the class goldfish, stopped swimming to stare.

"Um.." Quill stuttered. She looked around the room. Everyone's eyes seemed turned beady and red. A shuddering gasp came from her mouth. "Uh, a-ahh... Y-you.. U-mm.."

"Quill, were you even paying attention?" Mrs. Bushly asked. Disappointment played on her thin lips, and her brows locked together.

Silence. That's all Quill could do, was sit in silence. Nothing ever seemed to work out for her.. Accept for English class. The only thing that kept Quill going all these years of this jail called school was just that, english; words. Words, colorful words was what Quill lived for. Soft words that rolled off the tongue, loud spiky words, and words that just seemed to pop with excitement What words meant and how they described something, or someone, or how they're used in a story. But, Quill's favorite words were the mysterious kind. The soft, quiet words that never could describe just one feeling or object. Words that seemed so.. Comforting and unforgettable, those we're what Quill called "magic" words. But, math class was much different. All of the words there seemed so urgent and aggressive, and nothing ever seemed to make sense. And it just so happens that every year in math class, she got the worst possible teacher to work with. And Mrs. Bushly was at the top of the list of difficult and rude teachers Quill has had so far. She as tall, bulky, loud, and elegant. She never had sympathy for any of the less advanced kids, and was the type of teacher who kept "Get yourself together." stickers along with the "Amazing work!" stickers.

"Well, Miss Quill?" She sighed, "Don't leave us waiting."

"Yes, yeah. U-uh, is it A?" Quill quickly replied.

Kids around the class room snickered and snorted. Truth be told, Quill seemed to think that's what she deserved. It's not their fault she couldn't seem to pull herself together for even a single math question, let alone a class. Finally, the bell rung.

"Alright, class. Pack up, and don't forget to study for Monday's math quiz. Class dismissed." Mrs. Bushly said, waving her hand at the door, almost as to shoo the class away if they were flies. "Oh, and Miss Burrow? Study, darling. Just because you're not focused in math, doesn't mean you have to hold the other advanced students back by lowering our class average."

"Yes, ma'am." Quill nodded, then scuffled out of class.

How rude, Quill thought.

Last class of the day, was English class. Finally, a safe haven for Quill to relax and have fun after all the horrors of the day beforehand. As she walked into class, she felt warm and tingly. English class was truly her home away from home.

"Good afternoon, Quill! Found any magic words for me today?" Ms. Filly asked. Ms. Filly was the youngest, nicest, most amazing teacher Quill had ever had. She was short and stick skinny, with short curly hair and wore the most beautiful, eccentric clothing you could think of. She was really beautiful; almost every boy at Holly's Burrow Middle had a at least a tiny crush on her. She was really the only person who understood Quill at that school, maybe even in the whole town. You see, Quill was a very lonely girl and didn't have any friends. It seemed the only way to make friends at Holly's Burrow Middle was to jump on the bandwagon of becoming a boring cliche middle schooler, have a perfect life and be the most perfect, intelligent average little girl you could ever become; and Quill refused to ever be like them, to be a Kelly Quinn. Kelly Quinn was the most perfect, average, little blonde brat you could ever meet. She was seriously the most stereotypical person you'd ever see in your life. Tall, ideal body, perfect tan year-round (which she claims is "all-natural"), long blonde hair which always fell perfect no matter what (seriously, that girl could have just ran 5 miles with a bear on her tail and her hair would still be perfect afterwards), the brightest blue eyes Quill had ever seen, big pouty lips, and just perfect in general. Not to mention a teacher's pet. Almost EVERY teacher's pet.. Accept for Ms. Filly. (which was another of the reasons Quill absolutely adored Ms. Filly)

"Yes, ma'am." Quill smiled as she dug in the back pocket of her backpack. She pulled out some crumpled notes and put them in a glass mason jar with a slot in the top that was labeled "MAGIC Word Jar"

"Good, girl. I'll make sure to read these over the weekend." Ms. Filly smiled in return. She stood up with a beat-up clipboard in hand as more kids filed in. "Alright, class. Take your seats, please." Everyone immediately sat down. Everyone loves Ms. Filly's class, and no one dares to waste time with her by getting into trouble. "Alright, Calvin?"

"Here." a deep voice rumbled from the back of the room with a raise of a hand.

"Chloe?"

"Here"

"Quill?"

"Present."

"Harold?"

This went on and on until she had finished calling role. She set down her clipboard and turned to face the class.

"Alright, kids." She sighed as she pulled up a stool from the corner of the room to the center. "I have some.. Unpleasant news." She fiddled with her thumbs and looked down. "Due to the repairs of last weeks thunderstorm, Mr. Xavier has shut down the talent show. Which means,"

"Wait, we can't do Alphabet Aerobics!" Jenna Hiller shouted out from the far left of the room.

"Precisely." Ms. Filly sighed. With that, moans of disappointment rumbled out from across the room. A few "No way!"s, and "That's so unfair!"s piped up from a few of the students.

"I know, I know. But the repairs are going to cost a lot of money, plus the damage was done in the auditorium. And unless we just so happen to have the money in the next 4 weeks, we'll just have to forget about the talent show." More groans and objections spread around the room.

Quill was surprised no one had said the obvious yet, so she was forced to take action. She raised her hand.

"Yes, Miss Burrow?" Mrs. Filly answered.

"Well, um.. Why can't we? We could start a fundraiser, or something.. Yeah. I mean, it's not like it's impossible or anything." Quill mumbled. She looked around the room for approval, then to Ms. Filly. Ms. Filly's face lit up. "Of course!" She smiled and looked around the room. "You kids come up with some ideas over the weekend, and you can share them with me on Monday." She stood up and pulled out a book from her desk drawer. "But for now, it's time for schoolwork. Pull out your books and turn to page 322."

. . .

As class was dismissed, Quill walked over to her locker. She twisted and pummeled the combination into the locked until it popped open. As she opened her locker, she noticed a sticky note pasted onto the inside of the locker door. She pulled off the note, but before she could read it a loud slam came from her locker door. Frightened, she dropped her books, and the note. She heard laughing, and Kelly's little minions shoved past her and walked away, giggling and pointing at Quill. Quill shrugged it off and continued to open her locker again. She picked up her books, and the note, and shoved all the books from her locker into her bag. She closed her locker and looked at the note.

It read, "Fifi's Pizza Palace at 6 pm, bring a purple flower in your hair. -The Napknick".

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a/n

hope you all enjoyed, i update every saturday when I'm available <3

enjoy ; )

-glowwy