Second period. The next class I had was Mechanics 101. It would probably be one of the easiest classes for me, since I was pretty self educated in the subject. As I stepped into the classroom, I crossed my fingers, and prayed for a cool teacher.
However when I was gifted with the complete opposite. It was than that teacher who's name I promised I'd forget. He looked up from the stack of papers lounging on his desk to speak to me. "Samuel, nice to see you're in this class." he said.
"At least one of us is" I said sarcastically.
"There are only but so many attitude passes I can give you" he warned.
"I'm sorry, Mr. Matthews. I'll try and be nicer" I lied.
He handed me a piece of paper with the words "Pop Quiz" sprawled across it. "I want you to work on this" he said.
"A Pop Quiz, on the first day?" I asked.
"Do you have a problem with that, Samuel?" He asked.
I cringed when he called me Samuel. I couldn't stand it. "I'm going to need you to stop calling me Samuel, it's Sam, and yes, I do have a problem with that"
"I don't call kids by their nicknames" he said, "So why should I change for you?"
I hesitated at first, because it was so personal. "My father's first name was Samuel, and he died a few years ago." I explained. "So is there anyway else I can help you intrude into my personal life?" I asked sarcastically.
"Im sorry" he said. Mr. Matthews looked away awkwardly. I handed him the pop quiz back. "Your not done" he pointed out the obvious.
"Yeah, but It would've looked the same way when I was 'done', so you might as well take it now to save us both the trouble" I turned away from him, before he could object. I was done speaking. I needed to find a seat before class began.
The desks were organized into lab tables, with three on each side and one in the back. I spotted a familiar face in the back, so I walked back there. Theo had been sitting with some of his friends. Since he was the only guy I already knew, he was my only choice. "Hey Theo" I said to him.
He turned, and realized who I was. "Sam" he said. "How's it going?" He asked. His friends turned to face me as well, curious to who I was.
"It's okay. Kind of hard when you don't know anyone" I told him.
"Well feel free to sit with us." He offered. I took the seat beside him. "I almost forgot. Chris, Robby, this is Sam" Theo introduced. "He came all the way over here from Ohio"
"It's nice to meet you, Sam" Robby said very nicely.
"Yeah, whatever" Chris interrupted rudely. He seemed like a complete jerk. Chris turned back to Theo, and spoke. "I need to know how to fix this"
Theo took a look at the machine. It was very complex, but I already knew what it was. I had also noticed that the machine had many faults in it. "How can I help you, you're smarter than me. Ask your brother" Theo said.
Chris made a doubtful noise, "Do you think that Grant would willingly ever help me?"
I finally stepped in, sure that they'd never get the answer. "Well, Is it a turbine?" I asked.
"Duh" Chris said. "Thats as stupid as asking if plutonium's atomic number was ninety four "
I rolled my eyes at Chris, and continued with my explanation. "Well if you'd replace your current main motor with something just a bit more conducting, the rotor blade would pick up more speed."
"That's impossible" Chris said. "I've tried every conductor that could possibly work. You're wrong"
It wasn't impossible, and I was never wrong. The fact that he even called me wrong had made me a bit angry. "Maybe if you'd open your eyes and see, then you would understand the facts" I said trying not to get angry.
Chris wasn't happy with me already, and now I successfully made it worse. "I know you might be able to count to three, but I've got the third highest IQ score in the state, fifth in the nation. I am in fact the smartest person in this class, and school. So when I say something is wrong, then it's wrong.
"Look guys, theres no need to fight" Theo said finally stepping in to calm us both down.
Chris was obviously not good at nothing else other than showboating about his success and it was annoying.
"Fine. I didn't mean to hurt your feelings, so I'll let you find out for yourself whether or not my idea works." I said.
"And if it doesn't?" he asked with certainty that he would win.
"If it does, and it will, you will do my homework for the rest of the year. And if it doesn't, I will do yours"
Chris thought about it for a bit, but then finally agreed. "Okay" he said, "Deal"
"I hope you're a good writer because I have five AP classes" I informed him.
He rolled his eyes, and continued onto his work.
The bell rang again, but this time it was a lunch bell. I stood up, and grabbed my bag, then walked out of class.
