Scholarly

September - The Thing About Mondays

Hi, readers! I'm back. :) I'm absolutely thrilled that  I got comments and two new followers (friends of mine, in my math class, and have characters based off of them in this story, but still!). Thank you all so, so much! That feedback motivated me to get off my butt and finish this chapter, so I did, and I hope you enjoy it!  

In the three weeks Sydney Johnson had attended the Aspen Secondary Academy, she had found it to be quite contrary to her expectations. Surprisingly, considering that it was one of the most prestigious high schools in the United States, it lacked the snobbish attitude of the town of Aspen itself. The school itself was aesthetically beautiful thanks to the generosity of a handful of filthy-rich resortgoers who migrated to Aspen every winter, but it didn't strike anyone as a "rich kid school," despite its location and prestige. The students were, for the most part, normal kids, not millionaires, living in surrounding towns instead of Aspen itself. As in most schools, the teachers were generally quite relaxed, although – like at any school – there were a handful of crazy ones.

Sydney's portion of that handful was one Mr. Olzewski, quite possibly the world's least enthusiastic biology teacher. He snapped at everyone, graded mercilessly, and likely had all of his students categorized in his mind as "Ones I Hate" and "Ones I Hate More." He spoke as if merely speaking to his students was exhausting. Sydney counted herself lucky that she had the intelligence and discipline to keep up with him, and he tolerated her because of it. But she wanted to be liked, not just tolerated, and that, try as she might to win Mr. Olzewski over, was looking pretty much impossible.

Then again, it could've been worse. She could've been Ricardo Alvarado.

"What do you mean you didn't do it?!?" He had shrieked when Ricardo did not turn in a worksheet about the criteria for life.

"You two in the back! Whatever you're talking about cannot possibly be more important than your schoolwork!" He snapped when Ricardo asked his slacker buddy Tristan for an answer (which he did not have). It was really only so long, Sydney's desk-mate, extreme introvert Ana Sofia, reasoned, before he was done with it all and expelled Ricardo from his class. That, to everyone's imminent disappointment, was not to be, but they'd not seen the last of Mr. Olzewski's anti-Ricardo bent.

Honors Biology's first quiz was set for the third Monday of school. Mr. Olzewski was allowing them to take in pairs in the hopes that it would help their grades (which, though the students hadn't had his class long enough to realize it, was extremely out-of-character for him), and Ricardo, naturally, made a beeline for Tristan's desk.

"I will be approving all partnerships before I allow anyone to take the quiz," he had warned them. Apparently, the two had not been paying attention (as was their custom); perhaps, if they had, they would have known (though one could never be sure with those two) that Mr. Olzewski would never allow them to work together. Nevertheless, they hadn't, so they were somewhat (very) put-out when he announced, "Tristan and Ricardo, separate!"

When they did nothing, he said, "Tristan, you go with Jana." He pointed to the sulky, currently-partnerless blond, who looked...less than thrilled at this development. "Ricardo, you go with Maya." Maya, whose eyes were huge even under normal circumstances, looked as if her eyes were about to swallow up her face, they went so wide. She turned pale and looked quite concerned. Sydney could empathize, but nevertheless, she went off to pair with Vivian before Mr. Olzewski could pair her with one of the bad kids.

"You have a partner yet?" She asked. Vivian glanced at Leah.

"I'm working with Ana Sofia," Leah replied. Sydney made a mental note to thank her for that later.

"I guess not, then!" Vivian forced a smile. "Wanna go find a table?" Sydney nodded. They claimed an unoccupied lab desk. Mr. Olzewski passed out scantrons, and the game was afoot.