It's Complicated

3. An Unexpected Student

3. An Unexpected Student

"I have a feeling today's going to be a bad day," I whispered to Riya, trying to avoid Madame Chateau's darting eyes. If she caught me talking, all hell would break loose. She would probably make me clean the microwave again... for the fifth time this month.

"Why? The day just started," Riya whispered back, trying to move her lips as little as possible.

"I don't know. It's just this feeling in my gu-"

"Aha!" Madame Chateau crowed, catching me in the middle of my act. "Mariela! I've been waiting for you to get into your usual trouble! The microwave needs cleaning! Do it during lunch. Tommy had a nasty spill in there yesterday."

I groaned under my breath while the rest of the class tried to muffle their laughter. Who the hell was Tommy anyway? There was no Tommy in our class. And could Madame get any more annoying? Lunch was my only respite during these boring days, and now I couldn't even enjoy my only time of peace.

Madame Chateau began to spew her usual crap, but luckily the bell saved us all. Riya and I speed-walked out of the room as quickly as we could and headed to our first period: math. How wonderful.

"I told you today was going to be a bad day. It's already starting," I complained to Riya as we approached her math room.

"You get in trouble like every other day with Madame Chateau. I don't think this qualifies as a bad start anymore." Riya's eyes twinkled mischievously while I give her a look.

"Just go to class. I bet Calculus is your favorite class of the day," I said, practically reading the "RACIST!" expression in her eyes.

"Hey, not all of us can have a Drew in our math class," Riya grumbled as she stepped inside her class. Creepy Joe blew a kiss in Riya's direction and Riya gave me a look. "See? This is what I have to deal with. And you said your day was gonna be bad."

I laughed and wished her luck before walking into my own math class. We had taken a really hard math test yesterday, and  I wasn't really prepared to see the big F on my paper. I entered my math room and took my seat, which was diagonal to Drew's seat. Mrs. Laschka handed back our old tests, and I grinned in surprise as I saw the huge 82 and big B- on my paper. Even though it was my first B in the class, I hadn't failed!

I heard Allen groan behind me, and I turned around with a knowing expression on my face. "How'd ya do?" I asked. "24?"

"No. 67, jerk."

"Niiicee."

"Oh, shut up, Mar." He mock glared at me. "I'm not a nerd like you."

I rolled my eyes but otherwise ignored his comment. I was about to draw a crying face on his paper, but Mrs. Laschka cleared her throat to get the class' attention before I could do anything. "Since all of you failed, except for Drew, John, and Mariela, all of you will be retaking this test now."

She took up the old tests and handed out news tests but paused next to my desk with a rare smile on her face. "You and Drew will work on these worksheets while everyone else takes these tests. Good job."

Wow. This has got to be the worst award anyone could get for acing (well, not really) a test. I looked at the worksheet. It was filled with weird symbols and big numbers. I glanced at Drew and caught his eye. He looked confused, too, so I made a shoot myself in the face sign. He grinned and and curled two of his fingers, beckoning me forward. I stifled a wide grin as he pulled up a chair to face his desk.

"Yo, what's up?" I asked, wondering why he called me over.

"Well, since neither one of us knows what language this worksheet is written in, why don't we just talk?" he suggested.