Aaron hated math.
It wasn't that he wasn't good at it (he was in Geometry in the eighth grade!), he just did not like the numbers and complications that came with the knowledge. Every teacher he had ever had always told him that math would help him get the right amount of change back, pay taxes, and about a million other things he wouldn't even think about until he was older.
So it came as no surprise when he groaned as he walked into Ms. Bowen's classroom to see "Pop Quiz!" written cheerily on the chalkboard.
"Alright, students," she began as she walked into the classroom. "Clear everything off of your desk and get a calculator out- time for a pop quiz!"
Well obviously, Aaron thought grumpily, isn't that why you put it on the board? He wasn't too worried about it, though. Sine, cosine, and tangent were easy if you knew the phrase SOH CAH TOA.
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"Time!" Ms. Bowen called after thirty minutes. When everyone had turned in their quiz, she changed topics completely. "As you all hopefully know, next Friday is Pi day!"
Nathan, the youngest kid in the class, perked up in his seat, "Pie? As in Pizza pie?"
Aaron barely managed to suppress the urge to laugh as their teacher shook her head, "No, Nathan. Pi," she wrote a strange symbol on the board that kinda looked like an uppercase "T" and a backward "J" mashed together, "as in 3.14, the definite ratio of a circle's circumference to its diameter."
"Hey, isn't next Friday the 14th?" Alayna, the smartest kid in class, interjected, "March 14th? That's 3/14, the same digits as the first three numbers as Pi!"
"That's right, Alayna. And to celebrate, we will have a contest to see who can memorize the most digits in Pi. Whoever wins will get ten points of extra credit on their next test!"
At her words, the rest of the class straightened in their seats, shocked. Even Duke, the jokester of the class, stopped discreetly throwing paper at his friend, Tommy, whenever Ms. B turned away.
She never gave away extra credit.
"Okay, class. Please open your textbooks to page 167 as we begin our unit on quadrilaterals..."
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"Mom, Dad, I'm home!" Aaron yelled as he entered the door and set his backpack down. He paused when he heard raised voices emanating from upstairs. This had been happening more frequently; Mom would argue about Dad getting a better job and Dad would argue about Mom quitting hers. The teenager opened one of the cupboards and pulled out a plate. He licked his lips as he prepared a cheese sandwich for himself before heading into his room to do homework.
He opened his planner to check for assignments; finish classwork in Science, write a paragraph for English, practice the new music for Band, and... Aaron blinked in surprise. He had completely forgotten about the Pi Day contest! The innocent, black ink glared up at him from the page. "Pi Day???" it read. Aaron considered the scribbles for a few minutes before making his decision.
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One Week Later- Friday, March 14th
"Hey, Aaron!" a voice to his left shouted while he was at his locker. "I heard you are going to participate in the contest today!"
"That's right," he responded, turning to Tommy.
"You might as well drop out now because that extra credit is mine."
Aaron smirked cockily, "We'll see." Inside, he could feel the butterflies fluttering within the confines of his stomach, and he knew it was likely that someone like Alayna, or even Tommy, would beat him.
He was nervous all day until, finally, it was time for Geometry. The hopeful teenager stopped in front of the classroom door, taking a deep breath before he entered the room and sat down.
"Good evening, class! Happy Pi Day! If you are participating in the Pi Contest, please take out a piece of paper." When everyone was ready, Ms. Bowen put a timer on the board, "Everyone will have one minute to write down as many digits of Pi they can remember. Ready? Begin!"
For the rest of class, they ate a pie someone's mom had brought in and watched videos on the theory of Pi. Finally, when it was nearly time to go, Ms. B stood up and announced the winner.
"First of all, I'd like to thank you all for trying your hardest to memorize this sequence. It is very difficult, but you tried your hardest and did not let the pressure get to you. In third place, Tommy!" Everyone clapped politely as the tension skyrocketed. "In second place, Aurora!" Murmurs started up around the room; who could have possibly beaten her? "And in first place is...drumroll please." All of the kids started rolling their hands on the desk as she paused for dramatic effect.
"...Aaron! Congratulations for remembering 42 digits of Pi!" The class erupted into applause and Duke came up to clap him on the back.
"Congrats, man!"
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That day, when he got home, he found his parents sitting together on the couch watching a movie together. "Hi, Mom. Hi, Dad. Guess what?"
They turned from the TV to look at him, "What is it, honey?"
His face was split by a huge grin, "I memorized 42 digits of Pi and got ten extra credit points on my Unit Test!"
Dad laughed boisterously, "It's been a long time since this family has had anything to celebrate, son, but I think this is as good a cause as any to go to California Pizza Kitchen."
It seemed that his smile had somehow grown larger. Maybe math isn't so bad after all...
Fin
