This ain't a diary, this is a - mirror?

Chapter 18: Learning about the Ann-Tient Times

"Huh, lunch is almost over. That was pretty fast." Samantha pointed out, glancing up at the clock. "Class starts at... uh, two, right?"

"Yep," Sharon replied, looking up at the clock as well. "Well, I need to head to my locker a bit earlier since... you know, I'm a bit of a slow walker." She rose to her paws. "See you!"

"Hey, Shar, wait up," Luna stood up as well. "We need to drop off our trays first..."

"Right." Sharon picked up her tray. "Bye, guys," she said, her voice muffled by the tray, and trotted away. Luna quickly followed with her tray between her jaws.

"Don't we have History together?" Zephyr mumbled, as he watched the two go. He shrugged and turned back to Samantha and Elena. "You have Ms Tient for History, right?"

"Uh, yeah," Elena replied, checking her timetable. "You too?"

Zephyr smiled. "Better yet, we all have Ms Tient for History."

Samantha grinned. "Well, this will be fun. Let's go!"

---

Just as the door to the History classroom opened, Luna and Sharon quickly bounded over to join the end of the line, where Zephyr, Samantha and Elena were waiting.

The dog who opened the door stepped out to survey the line of students. She pulled her white shutter shades off her snout and positioned them in her blond hair. She went for a few moments without speaking as she brushed down her Egyptian styled dress and shawl. Finally, a huge smile broke across her snout. "Welcome, class! I'm Ms Ann Tient, and I'm your History teacher!"

She opened the door wider and stepped back. "Choose your seats! You can sit wherever you want, just don't talk too much and... yeah! That's it!"

The line began to move. Excited chatter filled the air as the students made their way into the classroom.

"Hello, I hope you enjoy History! Good afternoon!" Ms Tient chirped, smoothing down her white, pale grey and beige fur as she spoke. Her yellow-gold eyes sparkled eagerly as she shifted from paw to paw.

Samantha padded past and scanned the room. She quickly selected an empty table and looked behind her. "Hey, guys, here!"

The five dogs quickly settled down at their table. Ms Tient closed the door behind them and padded to the front of the room. "Is that everybody?" She asked cheerfully. "Well, then, hello class! I give you a warm introduction to History! We'll be starting with my favourite project, the Egyptian times! First of all, let's start with seeing how much you all already know..."

---

{{ Dear Mirror,

Uh... I'm in History right now. My new teacher is really... bubbly and kinda forgetful. For example, she told us she'd give us five minutes to read two pages of our textbook... and it's been fifteen minutes.

So... class. I kinda just left off with Art... yeah, it's fine. So, after Art was Maths. Our teacher was called Mr... Syne, and he was pretty strict. He has a pretty cool power though... light bending? Illusions? I'm not too sure - I think it might've been illusions.

I'm bored... basically everyone's chatting, but Ms Tient isn't even looking up. Hmm, what should I do after school?

Maths homework.

Pfft, no, you're kidding. I'm not for doing homework the day it's given - I'm not some sort of nerdy, uh, teacher's pet!

If you do it immediately, you won't have to worry about it later. And if you're fast enough, you might be able to do something after that with your friends.

Fine, fine, I'll... consider it. So, uh, what did you mean about -

Nope.

What?

Distraction!

What are you even going on about - }}

Ms Tient abruptly stood up and trotted to the front of the class. "Okay! Textbook!" She barked. "Now, who wants to give a quick summary about the two pages on the ruling system...?"

---

"Okay! No homework, since it's the first lesson... and I want you all to enjoy History! Dismissed!"

Samantha followed her friends out the door, yawning and rubbing at her eyes.

"That was boring." Elena commented as the door closed behind them. "She takes so long on doing one activity - she literally said five minutes, and she waits for like, fifteen minutes."

"Yeah," Luna added. "I probably fell asleep for five minutes during the reading time."

"Well, at least it's the end of school." Samantha offered. "So, what are you all planning on doing?"

"Homework." Sharon replied immediately.

"Homework? But siiis..." Luna complained.

Sharon frowned. "Come on, Luna, it'll be for your own good." She looked back at the other dogs. "If we have time, we can hang out." She added quickly.

"Sure," Elena replied. "Hey, Sam, do you want to do homework as well?"

"Ew, n -" Samantha frowned as she thought back to her short conversation with 'the Author'. "Actually, fine. Let's just get it over with."

Zephyr nodded. "I'm probably free later, so... we can hang out if you want. But first... back to my dorm. I'll either be sleeping, eating or -" He made a face. "Doing homework. Well, seeya!"

They headed towards the dorms and split up on the stairs. Samantha and Elena headed to their dorm room and waved to Luna and Sharon as they passed. Finally, Samantha closed the door, locked it and flopped onto her bed.

"Ugh, what a tiring day." Samantha said into her pillow, closing her eyes. "I just want to sleep."

"Don't worry, it'll get better." Elena replied, sitting down on her bed. "Let's just take a five minute break and we can do homework after..."

"Agreed. Wake me in five minutes if I fall asleep." Samantha buried her snout into her pillow again and closed her eyes.

---

Samantha sat up and yawned as she felt someone prod at her ribs. "Five minutes already?" She asked sleepily, peering up at Elena.

"Yep. So, Maths homework! If you need help, well... I'm not too bad at Maths myself." Elena answered, padding over to her desk and pulling her Maths books from her bag.

Samantha dragged herself over to her desk and pawed through the contents of her bag. She quickly gave up and pulled out everything inside, before rummaging through the pile of books and papers on her desk.

"Found it," she said, picking up the pile of books and her empty bag and dumping it on her bed. "So, uh, help would be appreciated..."

Elena smiled. "So, what question are you on...?" She asked, leaning over.

"Question... uh, three..."

Elena tutted and shook her head. "You should work faster in class so you have less to do after. Now, question three... oh, that's easy. Just divide that by a hundred..."