The Honorable Quest For Saving a Dishonorable Boy

Chapter 1: Everyday Classes

Author's Note:

This is our first story ever - it's a collaboration! It's meant to be a little bit childish and humorous in this chapter, so feel free to laugh at it - it's meant to be laughed at. And - spoiler alert! - this story takes a drastic turn, but it's pretty interesting. Alright, here's the story!

       "What is 7 times 9?" asked Ms. Claire. This time, she didn't wait for someone to volunteer their hand. "Joshua, perhaps you know the answer?"

       "Oh, right, of course," Joshua fumbled. "Ah. The answer. Well, you see, I just need to ask my friend Jackson where my water bottle is and then I'll certainly tell you the answer." He whipped his head around to Jackson. "Jackson! What's the answer?" he asked urgently.

       "The answer is 31," Jackson said with perfect conviction.

       "Okay," Joshua said. "My water bottle is safe and sound on my desk. Funny I didn't see it before." He chuckled nervously. "The answer is 31."

       "Incorrect!" Ms. Claire said. "How about you try another one; to sort of redeem yourself a little bit." Joshua nodded eagerly.

       "What is 6 times 3?" Ms. Claire asked. "That's a bit of an easy one."

       "Oh, yes, certainly," agreed Joshua, his tone implying that he was very much uncertain. "It's just that I seem to have lost my pencil case. I think Jackson might know where it is." Ms. Claire knew very well that Joshua knew exactly where his pencil case was, but she played along. Inwardly, she rolled her eyes.

       "Jackson!" he asked, panicked. "What's the answer?"

       "It's 87, I believe," Jackson said with a nod.

       "I found my pencil case!" Joshua exclaimed, holding it up for the class to see. Turning his attention back to his teacher, he stated, "The answer is 87."

       "Incorrect," Ms. Claire replied sharply (Joshua looked terribly dismayed), "And I rather think your turn is over. Let's give Jackson a chance." Jackson groaned.

       "Jackson," Ms. Claire turned to Jackson, now trying desperately to squeeze into his water bottle to escape the wrath of having to answer the question. Needless to say, it wasn't working.

       "Jackson, could you be a good boy and tell me what 7+3 is? Rather a simpler one, isn't it?"

       "Oh yes," Jackson coughed. He decided the answer was going to be 73. "7+3 is 73!" He looked happy. He'd discovered a new way to add and subtract - just put the digits together! He beamed with delight.

       "I'm very sorry to tell you, but I'm afraid your answer is wrong. Lucy, would you like to tell him the correct answer?"

       "Of course," Lucy nodded. "Jackson, 7+3 would give you 10."

       "Yes," Jackson was now trying to seem professional. "I knew that the entire time. I'm afraid I may have said 73 instead of 10. Really. 73! What a childish mistake." Jackson conveniently ignored the fact that he, himself, was a child. He coughed and clambered under his desk to reduce humiliation. Unfortunately, it merely increased humiliation. Everyone - everyone but Joshua, that is - stared at him with a frown - they had no idea why Jackson would hide under his desk. 

       This was how school went, every day.

       "Okay, Joshua, perhaps you'd like another turn." Joshua had no more interest in redeeming himself because he already knew he was doomed to fail. He eyed Ms. Claire warily. Ms. Claire ignored him. She looked at her clipboard and read one of the questions. "What is 5+13?"

       "Oh. How very... interesting. That happens to be one of my favorite math problems! 5+13 is one of my favorites! What a coincidence!" Then he gasped and pretended to look around his desk overdramatically. He lifted up papers, trying to find something, but it was obvious that it was all pretend. He put the back of his hand to his forehead. "Ms. Claire," he sighed. "I have lost my eraser! Have you seen it anywhere? Maybe Jackson will know. He doesn't have his own eraser, you see, and often borrows mine. Oh! And did you know that my eraser is pink and very soft and also it's from the brand Pink Pearl! My mom bought it for me at Office Depot. She bought me a pack of three because she's very nice, but I lost one already. I still have two though, but one is at home, so I only have one at school, and if I don't have it then I won't be able to erase stuff for the rest of the day, which would be very sad. Plus I wouldn't want to bring the one at home to school, because then I wouldn't be able to erase stuff at home and that would be simply a tragedy. And if I took it out of my backpack to erase stuff at home, then I would forget to put it back in and I wouldn't be able to erase stuff at school the next day, which is another tragedy. Ooh! I bet you didn't know that Jackson used to have a rubber one, but he lost it and besides, it's not as nice--"

       "Joshua! Just look for your blasted eraser!" snapped Ms. Claire. "We need to get back to class!"

       "Oh certainly. Yes, very certainly. In fact so certainly that I am certainly living inside a big ball of certainness. I am very, very, very, certain. Actually I really like the way the word 'certainly' sounds. It has a very round feel to it, don't you think?" He squinted and made odd gestures with his hands, trying to demonstrate the roundness of the word "certainly". "Kind of like the word 'bum' and 'glum' and even 'plum' and also 'gruel'." Everyone stared at Joshua blankly.

       "JOSHUA! JUST... ANSWER THE QUESTION AND STOP STALLING! YOU CAN LOOK FOR YOUR ERASER LATER!" Ms. Claire screamed.

       "Oh, I'm not stalling, I just conveniently lost my eraser just as you asked the question. It's your fault. Truly it is. You asked me the question. After all, you should have known that I had lost my eraser. No offense. In fact, I need to use the restroom. If you'll excuse me a minute. Goodbye, see you later!" He flew out of the classroom, thinking, HAHA, SEE YOU NEVER!

Thanks for reading!

Until next time!

Cya! <3

_honeywoods_