Little Dove | Daniel Hayward

17.

"Which member of George Washington's cabinet died after a duel?" Suzanne asks Sophie.

Sophie ponders for a moment, "I know this, it's uh- Hamilton?"

"Yes," Suzanne responds with a smile as the Eagles congratulate Sophie.

"Your turn Lexi," Suzanne says as she reads out the next question. "What style of painting was developed by George Seurat?"

"Pointillism," I say confidently. Everyone cheers for me when Suzanne nods in approval.

"Daniel. Which performing artist is known as the King of Rock 'n' Roll?" Suzanne asks.

"Elvis Presley," Daniel responds.

"That's correct," I cringe as Brooke pulls Daniel in for a kiss. I catch Alex's eye as he rolls his.

"All right, Parker. I have a math question for you," Suzanne says, holding up her Louie. "This is a graph. I want you to tell me what the equation is."

I notice Sophie turn to Parker with an encouraging smile, "you got this."

Parker nods, then stands up. He walks to one end of the room and starts dribbling his basketball.

"Is everything all right?" Suzanne asks.

"You okay?" I ask, only to be shushed by Sophie.

Parker stops his dribbling, then takes a seat on the sofa. "Y=6x+9"

Everyone looks at Suzanne, who nods, "that's correct."

We cheer for Parker as he smiles proudly, his gaze caught on Sophie.

Suzanne continues, "who was the first African American player to join Major League Baseball?"

"Jackie Robinson," Tammy replies.

Suzanne nods in approval, earning cheers from the Eagles. I turn Tammy and high-five her proudly.

"What do you call a two-dimensional array made up of numbers or letters?" Suzanne asks.

"I think the answer is a matrix," Alex says.

"Good job, Alex."

I smile with pride and clap his back, "dad would be proud."

Alex chuckles, "it is his favourite movie trilogy, after all."

"What do you call a geometric entity with magnitude and direction?" Suzanne asks.

"A vector," I reply. Suzanne smiles, "that is correct."

The Eagles cheer for me. Sophie drops her arm over my shoulder, "who knew you were such a mathematic genius?"

"Everyone," Daniel responds with a laugh, then looks at me. "Well done, Lex."

"All right Brooke, you ready for some American lit? Which novel ends with the line, so we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past?" Suzanne questions.

Brooke repeats the line, searching for an answer. It's obvious that she can't seem to find one. She sighs, "I don't know. I can't remember."

"Well, the answer is The Great Gatsby," Suzanne says softly.

Sophie scoffs and Brooke tries to apologize, "we talked about this last Friday at lunch. You told me the book made you cry."

I furrow my eyebrows, looking at Brooke curiously. She ignores my gaze, "I'm sorry."

...

I sit in the cafeteria beside Hayley and Jackie, who are staring at Apsen. The girl is sobbing dramatically, blaming herself for ruining the Ravens' streak.

"Unbelievable. I mean, this girl always has to be the center of attention," Hayley rolls her eyes, her voice laced with bitterness.

I huff in agreement, "tell me about it. As if she wasn't already irritating."

"I feel sorry for her," Jackie says.

"She's already got enough pity from the cheater," I say, nodding at Leo. "She doesn't deserve pity from someone like you."

"I know how it feels to ruin everything," Jackie says, trying to sympathize with the sobbing girl.

She walks over to Aspen and taps her shoulder. Aspen turns to Jackie, wiping her tears away with a napkin.

"It's not your fault. It's just a game. And you did your best," Jackie says somewhat softly. Aspen gives her a small nod as Jackie returns to Hayley and I.

"Eagles and Ravens," Louis walks into the cafeteria. "Congratulations on an exciting challenge. The results were very close and the difference between your two teams was one answer."

Aspen huffs, "naturally."

"Eagles, you had eleven correct answers in a row," Louis says as the Eagles and I cheer.

"And Ravens, you had twelve correct answers in a row. You won by one answer," Louis says, earning a groan from the Eagles.

I hold out my hand, "congratulations, genius." Hayley laughs and shakes my hand, "no matter how smart you are, you'll never beat your older sister."

I gasp dramatically and hold my hand to my heart, "bold of you to assume that I'm smart anyways."

Hayley chuckles, then stops as something catches her eye. I turn to see Aspen and Jackie conversing happily.

I wrap my arm around Hayley's shoulder and rest my head on it. "I can't believe Jackie, out of all people, fell for her manipulation."

Hayley sighs, "Jackie is her own person, she makes her own decisions. I can't frown upon her judgement."

"You mean lack of judgement," I frown. "But you're right, Jackie is her own person. And we all know she'd choose you over Aspen."

Hayley's frown quickly twists into a small smile. I remove my arm from her shoulder, "I think something might be wrong with Brooke."

"Apart from being a bitch?" Hayley asks sarcastically. I nudge her shoulder, "I don't appreciate you shit talking my friend."

"You mean the friend that played Alex?" Hayley questions.

"Fair enough."

"Anyways, what makes you think something's wrong?" Hayley asks.

"Well," I begin. "Ever since she left with Eric it's as if she's a completely different person. There's no way she was using Alex as a rebound- she was still all over him even when she was with Daniel."

Hayley nods, allowing me to continue.

"She can't remember anything that happened last week. During the quiz she was asked about a book that she discussed with Sophie a few days ago and she couldn't even remember the name!"

Hayley's focused face shifts as she smirks amusingly. "Looks like she's been hypnotized."

"As if," I scoff playfully. "There's a higher chance of me getting abducted by aliens than there is of her getting hypnotized."

Hayley laughs, "so much for being the optimistic sibling."

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