Cluke: A Headcannon Fanfic

Math Teacher Say What?

Chapter Five: Math Teacher Say What?

        Grrrr. Monday mornings sucked. Nothing had gone well that particular morning. First of all, Claire's alarm clock had decided to run out of batteries, causing her to wake up an hour late. She didn't have time to shower or do her hair; she left the house looking like a trash can. Also, her brother had been running late, so her mom made them wait for him to be ready. She had to run to get to homeroom in time. She slid into her desk, panting a little, right as the bell rang. She didn't listen to the announcements, instead letting her mind wander into uncharted territory. She pondered life's mysteries, mainly if she passed her last math test. She didn't think so but there was always that chance...

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        See me after class. Dammit. Upon seeing the big red F on her paper, she knew she was screwed. Claire wondered what Mrs. Rey could possible want from her. 

        Across the room, Luke was staring at his test also. See me after class. But, surely, that couldn't be right. He'd gotten an A+ after all. Maybe she made a mistake?

        Claire tried to concentrate the rest of the lesson, but she couldn't. She kept coming back to what would happen after school. Was she getting suspended? No, she hadn't gotten in trouble yet. Was she being moved into a lower grade math class? She hoped not. That would be humiliating. 

        "Claire, will you please come up here and show us how to solve this problem?" Mrs. Rey's voive snapped her out of her reverie. One quick glance at the board told her that she wasn't going to be able to solve it. 

        2(x-4)+4x=9x-3(4+2x)

        Claire slowly made her way up to the front of the room, making eye contact with Tommy, her friend, on the way up. He shot her a meager smile and a thumbs-up. She shook her head and picked up a dry-erase marker. Glancing at Mrs. Rey, who gestured for her to get on with it, she read the problem. 

        2(x-4)+4x=9x-3(4+2x)

        There was no way she was going to get this right, but Claire took a stab at it anyways. She remembered something called distribution from last year, and hoped she was using it the correct way as she rewrote the equation.

        2x-8+4x=9x-12-6x

        Mrs. Rey nodded encouragingly. "Keep going!" Feeling a bit better, Claire combined all the like terms.

        2x+8=3x-12

        She smiled, somehow knowing that she was right so far. She confidently wrote the next part.

        x-8=-12

        Claire followed that with 

        x=-4

        She stepped away, feeling proud. However, one look at Mrs. Rey's feigned smile told her that she went wrong somewhere. Her heart sank and she flushed. 

        "Very close, Claire." Mrs. Rey motioned for her to take her seat again. "Please do page 43 in your textbooks for homework tonight. You may work on it now before the bell."

        Not bothering to even pretend like she was working, Claire sunk down into her seat. At least this time, nobosy had laughed out loud at her like last time.  Her face still burned as the bell rung. She stayed in her seat and jealously watched the class file out, chattering with their friends. Burying her head in her arms, she dreaded what was to come next.