Rose's Outfit:
Amelia's Outfit:
John Quincy Adams Middle School, English Class
"Where's Garaboski?" Maya asks as we sat in English waiting for our English teacher to come in. Mr. Garaboski is a grouchy 82-year old balding man that's very stuck in his way.
"Don't know, don't care," Amelia responds.
"Uh-oh," Lucas says.
"Did we do it?" Riley asks.
"Did we finally break him?"
I put my hands into prayer position. "Please lets us have broken him."
Dad walks into the room, "You broke him." Dad tells the class and we all start cheering. "Quiet!" Dad yells at us. "Mr. Garaboski retired yesterday." we all start cheering again. "Quiet! The guy survives Vietnam and Mrs. Garaboski, and he can't get past you." We all smile at each other.
"It's a gift," I tell him.
"Now, he left a letter here that expressed his feelings." Dad tells us opening the letter, "Dear, you little... okay, I can't read this."
"He always talked about the good old days before 1985," Lucas says.
"What happened in 1985?" Riley asks.
"That was the year the New York board of education said you couldn't hit a kid with a ruler," Farkle answers her.
"'Bored' of education? I do believe I am." Maya jokes.
"Well, now you're gonna need a new English teacher," Dad explains to us.
"That's okay, thanks," Maya tells him.
"Uh, I don't know, Maya. You may want to consider this one." Lucas tells her as he looked out the windows. I turn to the windows to see a young Asian women wearing a biker jacket walk into the classroom.
"Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome Ms. Harper Burgess," Dad says introducing her.
"You got a bike that goes with that outfit?" Lucas asks her.
Ms. Burgess walks over to him. "1800 cc twin cam fat Bob fuel tank wide glide. What do you ride?"
"He rode a sheep." Riley answers.
Maya and Amelia share a look. "62-pound quad hoof white fleece, kind you count before you fall asleep. Baa baa," they say at the same time.
"Wanna race?" Ms. Burgess asks him.
Lucas slowly shakes his head. "No."
"Ms. Burgess is here to teach you about great books and great ideas," Dad tells us. "Please give her the same respect that you give me."
"Oh, we could do better than that," Riley says smiling.
After Dad left Ms. Burgess started passing out Batman: The Dark Night Returns comic.
"Frank Miller, The Dark Knight Returns." Ms. Burgess says.
Farkle grins, "This is Batman."
"A future Batman." Ms. Burgess corrects.
"What's the difference?" Lucas asks.
"This story is the continuation based on an original series of characters," she explains. "Do you guys know what that means?"
"Yeah." We all responded.
"Um, aren't you supposed to be teaching us the important books?" Riley asks her.
"Mmm, this graphic novel was as important to its style of literature as any book you can think of," Ms.Burgess responds.
"What's it about?" Farkles.
"It's about a world that's become so tough that Batman fights Superman," Ms.Burgess explains. "You will tell me why he does that. "
"Spoiler, Batman wins," I say.
"You're gonna start by teaching us a comic book, miss motorcycle?" Lucas asks.
"Yeah," Ms. Burgess says. "And you're gonna start by not calling me miss anything. You can call me Harper.
"Harper?" Farkle questions.
Harper gestures to him. "Yes?"
"I just wanted to see if it would work," Farkle tells her.
"Farkle?" Harper questions.
"You know my name, Harper?" Farkle asks her.
"I know all of your names," Harper tells him. "Mr. Matthews told me all about you."
"When is this due, please?" Riley asks.
"Hi, Riley," Harper waves.
Riley waves, "Hi."
"How do you like having him here?" Harper asks her.
"It's terrible." Riley answers.
"It's wonderful," Harper says. "My father gave me my love of books."
"He did?" Riley asks.
"He's why I became a teacher. It's why he named me Harper." Harper explains to her. "You'll figure it out."
Harper looks over at me. "Rosamund."
I blink at her while Amelia snorts. Everybody looks at me in shock, "Rosamund?" Lucas questions with a smile.
"I'm going to kill him," I say. "He's a dead man, Mom's gonna need a new husband. Riley we're gonna have a step-dad"
"How did we not know this?" Farkle asks me.
"Why didn't you ever tell me this?" Maya asks Riley.
Riley pouts. "She threatened to decimated Barry."
"I think that it's a beautiful name with a beautiful meaning," Harper says.
Amelia snorts again while I scoff. "It means horse protection." I say. "Ho-rs-e protection."
Harper smiles at me. "That's not the only meaning, it also means..."
I cut her off. "Yeah, yeah, yeah Rose of the world I know, but she got Riley and I got Rosamund."
"They named you after a legendary twelve center beauty Rosamund de Clifford. You should cherish that, I'm sure they cherish every moment with you." She tells me.
"I still going to kill him," I mutter petulantly.
"And you have every right too," Haper tells me.
"Riley, stop me right now," Maya says.
"From what?" Riley asks.
"I can't like a teacher, I'm Maya," Maya tells her.
"It's a good day, Maya. School got better and now nothing bad is ever going to happen again." Riley says and I sigh.
"Why would you say that," Amelia asks Riley. "You just jinxed us."
At that moment the Principal walks in, "So, I'm passing by your classroom on this, your first day, and I can't help noticing that somebody has a comic book..." He looks around. "That everybody has a comic book."
"They're graphic novels," Farkle says.
"Pipe down, Farkle." He says rudely.
"I think Harper's trying to teach us something important," Farkle says.
"Oh, Harper is?" He asks. "Hm? Well, she's not. It isn't literature, it's comic books. Which are against school policy, miss Burgess. And so is calling miss Burgess by her first name. You will gather these up, and you will teach something important." He's about to walk back out when he picks up a book. "To Kill a Mockingbird? Are you familiar with this?" he asks Harper.
"I know this book," Harper says.
"Then teach it, Miss Burgess." He says.
"Why?" Amelia speaks up.
The Principal looks over at her. "Excuse me, Ms. Copper."
"You're excused," Amelia says causing the Principal to glare. "But what I mean is that there the same things. They teach the same lessons."
"To Kill A Mockingbird was made into a 1962 American Drama film," he argues.
"And Batman vs. Superman the movie comes out next year," Amelia argues back. "Which is based on," she holds up the comic, "this comic."
"Comics are against school policy." he defends.
"School policy says a student is not allowed to read a comic while the teacher is teaching. There are no rules that state a teacher can't base their lessons on a comic book. While To Kill A Mockingbird- great book- is banned in some school districts." Amelia counters.
He opens his mouth to argue back but I stop him. "Don't, I'm trying to help you here. She won, it's better if you leave now with your pride intact."
He scoffs but leaves the room. I soon as he leaves Amelia speaks. "I don't like him."
I turn to face her. "Really? I couldn't tell."
"So..." Harper starts making me turning back to focus on her. "The dark knight returns. Read it tonight, and tomorrow we will learn something important. We all start cheering.
Harper walks over to Maya. "Ah, stop it. You're not supposed to like a teacher. You're Maya."
"Oh, no, what are you doing to me?" Maya asks as she stands up and claps.
_____________________________
Matthews Apartments, Dining Room
"Girls, slow down," Mom tells Maya and Riley while I glared at Dad who ignored me. "What is the rush?"
"Dinner is keeping us from our homework." Maya answers.
I stop glaring at Dad to look at her in shock. "Who are you and what have you done to Maya?"
"The new English teacher wants us to read this," Riley tells Mom handing her the comic book.
"Well, this looks like a comic book," Mom says
Dad grins. "Yes."
"Didn't we have a teacher who taught us..." Mom trails off.
Dad keeps grinning. "Yes."
"Dad's lessons are becoming too obvious," I tell her.
Mom smiles and turns her attention to Maya and Riley. "Tell me more about this new English teacher."
"Motorcycle," Riley says with her mouth full.
"Leather jacket," Maya says with her mouth also full.
Amelia and I look at the two of them in disgust. "Sallow," Amelia tells them.
"Sounds familiar." Mom says before turning to Dad, "Weren't you on the committee to hire the new English teacher?"
Dad nods. "Yes."
"Principal Yancy doesn't like her very much," Riley tells Mom.
"She's a young idealist." Mom says looking at Dad, "You think she's gonna win him over."
"I'm just looking for a little action," Dad responds.
"Not all history repeats, Cory," Mom tells him.
"Says the one who decided to repeat the bad name tradition of her family," I mutter causing Mom to glare at me and Amelia to snort.
"Rosamund is a beautiful name, I don't know why you dislike it so much," Mom tells me. "You're lucky we allow you to introduce yourself as just Rose."
I scoff. "Your just mad cause Topanga can't be shortened to something nice." Mom looks at me offended and the two of us glare at each other.
"Why?" Riley asks interrupting Mom's and I's staring contest. "What happened to you guys?"
I turn to her in disbelief. "You really don't listen when they tell their stories, do you?"
Riley shrugs. "I listen when it pertains to me, and it pertains to me now."
"Well, we had a pretty cool teacher once," Mom tells her.
"Feeny!" Riley exclaims.
Mom shakes her head. "No, we actually had one other teacher."
"Did that teacher get along with the principal?" Maya asks.
"Feeny was the principal," Mom responds.
"Feeny taught you every year and was also your principal?" Auggies asks in wonder.
Dad grimaces. "Yes."
"That would never happen today," Auggie says.
"We'll see," Dad says.
"I'm sorry Matthews but if you follow me to college, I'm getting a restraint order on you," Amelia tells Dad.
"I wouldn't blame you," Dad tells her.
"Our principal won't let her teach us this," Maya says holding up the comic book.
"But she is anyway?" Mom asks Dad.
"It's a more complicated world now. Heroes and villains aren't as easily recognized." Dad says passionately. "Maybe it takes different teaching methods to tell them apart. She thinks this will help, and I like that she believes in something."
"But Cory, the world isn't so different that the principal doesn't still make the final decision," Mom tells him.
"Yeah, that's interesting, isn't it?" Dad asks. "Yancy has a lot of power. He's like..." he pauses and looks at Riley and Maya. "Who's a guy with a lot of power, girls?"
"Superman," Riley says.
"Whoa." Maya gasps.
"Then Harper's like..." Riley trails off.
"Batman!" Maya exclaims.
"Whoa!" Riley gasps.
Amelia and I share a look before rolling our eyes.
"What's the difference between the two?" Mom asks.
"Well, one has superpowers and one doesn't," Dad answers.
"Well, how can that be a fair fight?" Mom asks. "I mean, that's like a fight between you and me. I know."
"I know." Dad answers.
Amelia snorts. "Need some ice for that burn."
"You know, I don't want Harper..." Riley starts.
"Batman," Maya adds.
"...To lose." Riley finishes.
"Well, maybe you should do your homework and find out what happens next," Dad tells them.
Mom giggles. "Yeah, like they're gonna run..." she starts only for Maya and Riley to run out of the room. Mom turns to Dad. "This is gonna be real trouble, isn't it, Cory?"
"I hope so," Dad responds.
Mom looks at me. "Aren't you two gonna follow them."
"Read it already," Amelia says. "Spoilers, Batman technically wins but "dies" of a heart attack before he could defeat Superman."
"You're such a geek." I tease her.
"And you're an otaku." she teases right back.
_____________________________
Rose's Outfit:
Amelia's Outfit:
John Quincy Adams Middle School, English Class
"Can good change?" Harper asks as she walks around the classroom.
"Good is good," Riley says.
"I disagree. Hitler thought he was doing good, yet he committed genocide. The Holocust systematically murdered some six million European. I don't consider that good, yet he did. Good is a point of view."
"The road to hell is paved with good intentions," Amelia adds.
Harper smiles at us. "Can evil change?"
"It seems like just when we think we've seen the worst that there can be, somebody, comes up with something," Lucas responds.
"Why do you suppose that is?" Harper asks.
"Because it's evil that fascinates us." Maya answers.
"But doesn't good have to win in the end?" Lucas asks.
"Does it?" Harper asks.
"I think balance," Amelia says. "We need good so we can recognize evil, and without evil, we wouldn't know what good feels like."
At that moment Principal Yancy walks into the classroom. "So I'm passing by your classroom on this, your second day, and I see no mockingbird. But I still see comic books." Principal Yancy says.
"Yes, we're studying the nature of good and evil," Harper tells him.
Principal Yancy gasps. "I don't care. Class dismissed."
Harper looks at him in disbelief. "Excuse me?"
Principal Yancy turns to the class. "Study hall, all of you! Except Farkle. You... Go sit in a garbage can."
"Yay!" Farkle says.
"Leave now." Principal Yancy order. We
"Go. Riley." Maya tells her as we all got out of our seats.
"Yes," Riley says heading to get Dad while the rest of us listened to that the door.
"If I may explain my lesson plan." I heard Harper say.
"Oh, there's no need, miss Burgess." Principal Yancy says. "You're fired. You are brand-new, kid. You think there are heroes and villains? There aren't. There are only kids who come and go. You really think that you've affected anybody?"
At that moment Riley comes back with Dad and pushes him into the classroom. "Uh... What's going on here?" Dad asks.
"I've been fired," Harper tells him. We all move to the side window so we could see what was going on. "I want to thank you for believing in me."
"You're welcome." Dad tells her before pausing, "Oh, wait. That hasn't changed." he turns to Principal Yancy. "Uh... How can you possibly fire someone like her, Yancy?"
"Go back to your class, Matthews." Principal Yancy orders Dad.
Dad nods. "You're right, this isn't history, this is English, but... You know what history has in common with the great books? It turns out there are heroes and villains. All through them." Dad walks closer to Principal Yancy. "And the villains will always cause trouble. But there's always gonna be heroes to fight back."
Harper nudges at Dad. "You ruined my entire lesson."
"She was hired to teach literature, but she's not." Principal Yancy says. "She rides a motorcycle and she teaches comic books. How is that a teacher?"
"That can be a great teacher," Dad tells him. "A passionate teacher who doesn't believe that kids just come and go. And if you let her go, then... You have to be prepared to let me go as well."
Principal Yancy exhales. "Let you go? Well, I wasn't prepared for that at all." Principal Yancy says. "Just give me a second... okay, I'm good. You're fired, too."
From the side of my eye, I saw Maya and Riley look worriedly at Dad. I just smiled, this was gonna be good.
_____________________________
Matthews Apartments, Dining Room
"How was everybody's day today?" Mom asks at Dinner.
"It was a good day and then my friends treated me nicely and then my teacher measured me, and I'm growing, and then Jenny Lewis loves me," Auggie tells her.
"Wait a minute, this already happened," Mom tells him.
"Yeah, I'm out of stuff," Auggie tells her.
"Of course you are, you're this many," I say holding up my hand. "Not really happens when you're that many."
"You have to wait until you're our age," Amelia tells him before looking at Dad. "Isn't that right Matthews."
"Nope," Dad says. "He's right. Nothing new happened at all."
"Dad got fired today," Riley tells Mom causing Mom to go into shock.
Dad chuckles nervously. "Well, there's that." Mom folds her hand waiting for him to explain. "You know how you thought there might be trouble between Yancy and the new teacher?"
"The young idealist who was gonna win him over?" Mom asks.
"She didn't... so much," Dad tells her.
"But you defended her?" Mom asks.
"I did," Dad replies.
"So Yancy fired you?" Mom asks.
"So much," Dad says.
"Yancy can't fire you. According to statue 3028, teacher dismissals have to come from the state." Mom tells him.
"Mom, do you know everything?" Riley asks her.
"Yeah." Mom answers.
"So Mr. Matthews is safe?" Maya asks.
"Aw, Maya... you care?" Dad asks.
"No, I just haven't spoken yet." Maya lies.
"I've met Principal Yancy," Mom tells us. "He can be pretty stubborn.
"Yeah, he's gonna pursue this," Dad says.
"Yet, I'm not worried," I say.
"What will he do next?" Riley asks worriedly.
"Well, he has to take it to his boss. He has to take it to the superintendent of schools." Mom says and she and Dad smile at each other.
"And that's why I'm not worried," I say.
"Doesn't that make you guys nervous?" Riley asks.
"Um, they don't seem nervous," Maya says.
_____________________________
Rose's Outfit:
Amelia's Outfit:
John Quincy Adams Middle School, History Classroom
"Today's lesson." Principal Yancy says writing Fired on the board. "Okay. So I've learned it's more difficult to get rid of rabble-rousers than I thought," he says leaning on the desk. He notices Amelia and me in the back. "What are you two doing here? Why do have popcorn."
"We're here to see the show," I respond. "You can't see a good show without popcorn."
"What show?" He asks us.
"The Principal Yancy eats crow show," Amelia answers,
"Impossible," He chuckles. "I've got a great relationship with the superintendent of schools." He responds before looking at Dad. "How's your relationship, Matthews?"
Uncle Jon walks in. "Okay, so why do I have to do anything?"
"And the show begins," Amelia mutters to me and I giggle.
Dad smiles. "Mr. Turner and I go back a bit."
I wave, "Hi Uncle Jon." I hold up some popcorn. "Want some? It's caramel flavored."
Principal Yancy looks at me in shock. "What!?"
"Save me some Rosebud I have to deal with this." He says before turning to Principal Yancy. "So, I hear you want to dismiss a couple of educators, Yancy?"
"She's here one day, and she's teaching comic books!" Principal Yancy yells.
"Yeah, my first day I taught the X-Men." Uncle Jon tells him.
Principal Yancy chuckles, "That's funny." He notices that Uncle Jon was serious. "Oh, no!"
"Now, why would I do that, I wonder?" Uncle Jon asks, Dad raises his hands. "Matthews?"
"Well, you took characters we already loved to show us that good and evil wasn't always so black and white." Dad answers.
"How come?" Uncle Jon asks.
"So we'd understand it better when you taught us real books," Dad responds.
Uncle Jon grins at Dad. "Cory, you were listening."
"How could I not?" Dad asks. "I mean, you wore a leather jacket to work every day. You taught comic books and you rode to work on a motorcycle." Principal Yancy slaps his face with his hands.
"You figured it out yet?" Amelia asked Principal Yancy who looked defeated.
"Right up until the day the bike and I both got totaled." Uncle Jon says. "But things happen for a reason. I married my nurse."
"Aw." Principal Yancy coos. "You fell in love with her?"
"Nah, in case it ever happens again." Uncle Jon jokes.
"I..." Principal Yancy trails not knowing what to say.
"There's a pretty cool bike parked next to your sensible sedan." Uncle Jon tells Dad. "What, did you buy that from Feeny?"
"Well, it only had four Miles on it." Dad defends. "The roll-up windows are a real workout."
"It's horrible Uncle Jon." I say, "I refuse to ride in it."
Uncle Jon smiles at me before turning his attention to Harper, "Hey, Burgess, you be careful on that bike, okay?"
"Thank you, sir," Harper says.
"Jon, I just wanted her to teach to kill a Mockingbird." Principal Yancy whines picking up the book.
"Your Mom or your Dad?" Uncle Jon asks her taking the book.
"My Dad." Harper answers.
"What about him?" Principal Yancy asks.
"This idiot cannot be the Principal!" Amelia exclaims in shock.
"Amelia!" Dad scolds.
"I'm sorry" she apologizes. "but, you cannot be the Principal and not make the connection. You cannot want us to read To Kill A Mockingbird so badly and not figure this out."
"He named her Harper Lee Burgess." Uncle Jon explains to the Yancy who looked equal confused and offended. "I figure she'll get around to it." Uncle Jon passes her the book.
"Isn't this the one about understanding that people turn out pretty good if you give them a chance?" Harper asks Uncle Jon.
" Don't ask me, I read comic books." Uncle Jon says. "Look, Yancy, I'll observe Harper's class, I'll make my decision then. I already made my decision on Matthews long ago. I hired him, you know?"
"I did not know that." Principal Yancy says. "I withdraw my objection."
"Too late for that. Too important." Uncle Jon tells him. "What a kid is taught is what a kid becomes. That's the job we have. You ask me to see how it's being done, and I will." He notices the writing on the board. "Hmm. Interesting lesson. Let's see what comes of it."
_____________________________
John Quincy Adams Middle School, English Class
"We have some special guests in our classroom," Harper tells the class. "Please behave as you normally would."
"You shouldn't have said that," I mutter.
As soon as I said that Riley got out of her seat and walked over to Uncle Jon who was standing in the back with Principal Yancy. "Hi."
"Hi." Uncle Jon greets her back.
"We love Harper," Riley tells Uncle Jon. "Do you understand, Uncle Jon?"
"Real Uncle, or do you just call him that?" Principal Yancy asks.
Riley glances at him. "He comes over like a million times a week... "
Principal Yancy interrupts. "I withdraw my complaint."
"You got them calling you by your first name?" Uncle Jon asks Harper.
"Yes," Harper responds. "I wanted them to put together the mockingbird thing to see how much I care about what I'll be teaching."
"All right, does anybody understand the significance of Harper's name in regards to the author of to kill a mockingbird?" Uncle Jon asks as he walks up to the front. Amelia and I open our mouth. "Anybody but Rose and Amelia." They both of us close our mouth.
"Harper's first name is Charles twain!" Maya exclaims. I look at her incredulously, she was really pushing the I'm no good at school act to the limit.
"You're doing a bang-up job with her, Matthews." Uncle Shawn tells Dad. Dad shrugs from where he was seating: on top of my desk.
"Look, she was told by the principal not to teach us something, but she did anyways, that's got mean something," Maya says.
"Psst, will you stop helping us," Dad tells her.
"Yeah, it means something." Uncle Jon says. "Now, may I see what you've learned? Because that's what means everything."
Farkle stands up raising his hands. "Farkle goes first, Farkle always goes first!"
Uncle Jon walks over to him. "Stuart Minkus' kid?" he asks Dad.
"Yeah." Dad replies.
"Supergenius?" Uncle Jon asks.
"Outer space." Dad says.
"Real human boy?" Uncle Jon asks.
"We're not sure yet," Dad responds.
"Sit down." Uncle Jon tells Farkle.
"I'll make the presentation," Lucas says standing up.
"You like this teacher?" Uncle Jon asks him.
"I like both of these teachers," Lucas replies.
"Are you familiar with the material?" Uncle Jon asks him.
Lucas walks up to Uncle Jon. "Me? No, I never saw this thing before. I never saw this thing before in my life." Lucas lies, before changing his mind. "Yeah, I read it. I read it, actually, a lot."
"Thanks for telling the truth." Uncle Jon tells him.
"Yeah, I can't help myself," Lucas says.
"He really can't," I tell them.
Uncle Jon sighs. "Now, I prefer someone who is unfamiliar with the material." He walks over to Maya's desk and leans on it. "Someone who is notoriously unteachable."
"How you doin'?" Maya asks him. Uncle Jon gestures for her to get up, she does so along with Riley.
"Not you, Riley," Dad tells her.
"I only looked at the pictures," Maya tells him.
"I read the words." Rileys.
"It's a duet," Dad tells Uncle Jon.
"I hope you learned something, girls," Harper tells them.
"I learn something all the time," Riley tells her.
"I come here because my apartment leaks," Maya responds.
Harper gestures for her to come closer. "Come here."
Maya does as told. "Yes...?"
"I know you just say this stuff. I know you're a lot smarter than you want us to know." Harper tells her.
Maya puts her finger to her lips."Shh. Harper swats her.
"We got this," Riley says.
"I hope so." Dad tells them, "Our future's in your hands."
"In Frank Miller's The Dark Knight Returns the keyword is dark. He doesn't write heroes or villains that you are used to. You have to really think about what's right and what's wrong." Riley explains.
"The pictures make you work, too," Maya adds. "You have to look up, down, across, and sideways, but I believe he's trying to get us to look at what our own world has become. Up, down, across, and sideways."
"Heroes that should be friends with a common goal, fight each other instead," Riley tells the class.
Farkle stands up. "One hero was trying to inspire his old friend to take a look at the world and realized that it's changed. So, he needed to change, too."
Lucas stands up. "But he wouldn't, so he fought against him. Which was hard to look at, because the world is dark enough and heroes are supposed to bring light."
Amelia stands up and looks at Principal Yancy. "Everyone in this room knows that someone with real power doesn't need to hit a kid with a ruler to get the kid to want to learn."
"Because this is a new world, and we don't do that here," I add standing up.
"Frank Miller turned a comic book into... " Maya trails off. "What's the word?"
"You know the word," Harper tells her.
"Literature," Maya says, she brings Harper closer. "And Harper here is named after someone who gave us a great story."
Riley walks over to Dad. "Which her father taught her to appreciate, and it means everything to her that her father taught her. She's taught me so much already."
"Just like you've continued to teach us so much, even when we don't realize it," I tell Dad. Dad smiles at the two ods us.
"You did that in two days?" Uncle Jon asks Harper.
Harper laughs. "They're smarter than they want us to know."
"She did that in two days! Shape up, Matthews." Uncle Jon tells Dad.
Harper nods. "Yes, sir."
"Jon, comic books are against school policy." Principal Yancy reminds him.
"Yeah, and you can hit a kid with a ruler in 19 states." Uncle Jon tells him. Principal Yancy nods before leaving the classroom. "Hey, Matthews, I know it was you that chose Harper for these kids. Is that because maybe she, uh... reminded you of someone?" Uncle Jon asks Dad.
"No." Dad lies.
"Okay." Uncle Jon deadpans.
_____________________________
Matthews Apartment, Rose's Room
I was hanging out in my room with Amelia, and Eloise when Maya and Riley come barging in.
"Knock much?" I ask them.
"What do you guys wanna be when you grow up?" Maya asks us.
"Game developer." Eloise answers.
"Child Psychologist," Amelia tells them.
"Public relations," I say. "International Public relations to be exact. Why?"
Riley looks at us in shock, "Why do you already have your future plan out. We still have a while."
Eloise scoffs. "I have three years until I graduate from high school and attend Univerity, you guys have four. Yeah, it sounds so far away but it's actually not that far."
"It's okay if you don't know what to do yet," I tell them. "You can spend your first year explore and figuring things out."
"How did you guys know what you wanna do?" Maya ask.
Amelia shrugs. "We look at our strong points and what we like and figured it out. Besides, it can change in the future." There was a moment of silence.
"Rose?" Riley questions.
"Yes, Riley?" I ask.
"I like your bracelet," she says out of nowhere.
I look at her to see that her eyes were drawn to the charm bracelet Maximo gave me for valentines. "Thanks."
"Can I..." Riley starts.
"No." I cut her off. "And if you take it without my permission and I will be pissed, not mad, pissed," I tell her sternly. "Capiche?"
Riley pouts. "Capache."
"Good." I point to my door. "Now out."
_____________________________
Rose's Outfit:
Amelia's Outfit:
John Quincy Adams Middle School, English Class
"Good morning. Before we begin today, a decision has been reached." Dad says as him and Uncle Jon walk in. "Now, I know you're all going to remain quiet and calm."
Riley and Maya jump up from their seats. "We love her!"
Uncle Jon gestures them to sit down, "Thank you." Uncle Jon says when they sat down. "We appreciate it when students are fond of a teacher. I mean, it factors into a decision, but it cannot be the first priority."
"Uh-oh," Maya mutters to Riley.
"That has to be preparation that a teacher puts into a lesson plan, and what the students take from it." Uncle Jon says as we walked down the aisle, before turning to Dad. "Cory, what are you teaching today?"
"I don't know." Dad answers. "I'm probably making something up."
"All right, now Ms. Burgess went against school policy." Uncle Jon says. "The principal decided what he saw fit. Right and wrong can be difficult to identify sometimes. That's what you just read in English class. But this is history. And what does history teach us?" Uncle Jon points at Dad. "You?"
"When it's a struggle between right and wrong, that's when the real hero fights hardest,"Dad replies.
"So... For the greater good of this school, it has been decided that someone had to go. So I would like to introduce you to your new English teacher." Uncle Jon says as he walks back to the front.
"No!" Maya exclaims.
"Why is it worth learning anything if we can't change the world for the better?" Riley asks them.
"How are we supposed to be heroes if we can't do anything about anything?" Maya asks.
"Hi!" Harper says as she walked into the classroom, we all started cheering.
"Wow! Sometimes you can beat Superman." Maya says.
"Very good, Maya," Harper tells her. "You get an A."
"This new teacher's out to ruin my reputation," Maya says.
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Matthews Apartments, Dining Room
"He was one of your teachers, mommy?" Auggie asks Mom. It was dinner time and my family Amelia, Maya and I was at the table with Uncle Jon.
"Yeah, Mr. Turner helped me learn everything I know," Mom tells her.
"She knows everything," Auggie tells Uncle Jon.
"I know." Uncle Jon responds.
"Was my daddy a good student?" Auggie asks him.
"He was a wonderful student." Uncle Jon replies.
I started choking on my food from laughter. "Lie." Dad gives me affronted look and I smile at him.
"Why would you lie to my kid?" Mom asks Uncle Jon.
"He tried his best." Uncle Jon tells Auggie.
"Why would you lie to my kid?" Mom asks again.
"He was so bad, he became a teacher so he could go back to school again." Uncle Jon says.
"That's more believable." Amelia teases. Dad sticks his tongue out at her and Amelia sticks hers right back at him.
"So..." Maya starts. "Word has it you took care of Shawn Hunter?"
"Yeah, I did." Uncle Jon responds. "His dad was a little off and on. No kid should have that."
"Yeah." Maya agrees, "Did you care about him, though? You weren't his real father."
"No, I wasn't." Uncle Jon tells her.
"But was it possible for you to..." Maya trails off.
Uncle Jon smiles at her, "Yes, Maya. I loved him like a son. I still do."
Maya smiles back, "That's good."
"Dad?" Riley says.
"Yeah?" Dad asks.
"Thank you for being a good teacher," Riley tells him.
"Thanks, Dad," I tell him.
"Yeah, thanks." Maya and Amelia tell him.
Dad smiles, "Boy, there's nothing better than hearing that from your students." he shares a look with Dad before they turned to Uncle Jon. "Mr. Turner," Dad says and Uncle Jon looks up at them.
"Thank you for being a good teacher," Mom tells him.
"Yeah, thanks," Dad says causing Uncle Jon to smile at them.
"You gave me an A-minus once," Mom tells him.
"Uh-oh," I say.
"Topanga." Dad tries. "Topanga."
Mom ignores him. "I want you to change it."
Uncle Jon shrugs. "Okay."
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A/N: Yep Rose's full name is Rosamund, what do you think? If you're interested the name Rosamund (Also can be spelled as Rosamond and Rosemunde) is a girls name that originally combines the Germanic elements hros, meaning horse, and mund, meaning "protection". Later it was influenced by the Latin phrase rosa munda, meaning "pure rose", and rosa mundi, meaning "rose of the world". So Rose is literally the Rose of the world.
Sorry, it took so long with my Macbook breaking, school, and the fact that I'm writing three stories at once now this chapter has taken a while. I have my Mac back now but I still have school and I'm still writing three stories so I'm not going to be updating as fast as I was before. Thanks for reading, please comment and review.