Chapter 4
"Well since this is the first day of my class for both of you, I think I will start out by introducing myself... My name is Coach Algebra, but you can just call me Coach."
He walked over to his desk, set his papers and laptop down, and walked over to the board and wrote out 'Coach Algebra'. Then underlined it several times for emphasis.
"You two are here in my class because you are too stupid to be in the regular classes." The words 'too stupid' shot an arrow through the kernel of confidence she had mustered as she walked into class. Coach paused his introduction to glare at Marshall, who was currently staring out the window with his headphones in.
"Mr. Lee, is there some reason that you are not paying attention to my introduction? If you decide to show up to class, the least you can do is feign attentiveness."
Marshall pulled the pair of headphones out of his ears and began to twirl them around. "Woops! Sorry Coachie! I am all ears." He replied, using the same mockingly polite voice and smile he had used earlier that day when he was apologizing to Bubba.
"I'd give you detention if I could somehow guarantee you would show up..." Coach grumbled."Alright, well let's not waste anymore time doddeling! Pull out your textbooks and let's start from chapter one."
Fiona spent the next twenty minutes furiously scribbling down everything Coach wrote down on the board. Glob... I will never be able to get up to speed. Then Bubba flashed in her mind. Well, maybe I will...
Coach left them the remaining class time to work on their homework. Fiona pulled out her phone from its hiding place in her lime green backpack, plugged in the matching bunny headphones, and began clicking through her enormous music library. She heard the squeaking of a desk across the wood floors. She looked up to see Marshall looking intently at her.
"Hey..." He began.
She looked up at him, and then looked back down at her phone. Choosing to ignore him.
"What do you have there?" He grabbed her phone from her hands, and began flipping through her music.
"Hey Dracula, give me back my phone!" She lunged at him from her seat, but he blocked her with one hand. He was a lot stronger than he looked.
"So good little girl likes Metallica and Nirvana?" He smirked.
"Who and who?" She had given up trying to get her phone back, and decided to start on her homework without musical accompaniment. The whole time Coach never even glanced up from his copy of Sports Illustrated.
Marshall looked up from her phone with horror. "Are you telling me that you don't know who either of those bands are?" Fiona shook her head no.
"Well then, you have some homework..."
"And why would I want to listen to anything a member of the living dead such as you would recommend?"
"Trust me. I am in a band, I know this sort of stuff." He replied as he tore a sheet of lined paper from her math notebook, and began to scrawl out names, artists, and years.
Who was this boy? Did he not remember her from this morning?
"It's called The Scream Kings..." Marshall said nonchalantly as he continued to scribble down names.
"What?" His comment had snapped her from her daydream.
"The name of my band, we're called The Scream Kings. You should come see us sometime. It can get pretty crazy..." He glanced over at her, sizing her up. "But something about you tells me that you would be just fine." He dotted the last i on his list, folded it up into fours, and handed it to her. She snatched the paper, and began to crinkle it open. He grabbed it back along with her phone he had surrendered during their squabble.
"Not yet!" He wiggled a finger at her like she was a naughty child, and he was her over-indulgent babysitter. "You are only allowed to read the list after school gets out, that way I am well gone, and you can't bug me with your questions until after you have listened to some of the bands."
"Okay, I will respect your wishes..."
"It's best if you do." He interrupted.
"BUT. I don't understand why you have taken my phone again."
He glanced down at the forgotten phone in his hand. "Oh yes... Well, I am going to give you my number so I can tell you when the next show is." He pulled out his own phone from his pocket, and exchanged their numbers, using both his thumbs to type in the names and numbers simultaneously.
"But we will see each other everyday in class. Can't you tell me about it then?"
"Good little girl, that would require me coming to class on a regular basis..."
Coach glanced up from his magazine.
"Which we both know isn't going to happen..." He whispered.
She smiled. Well I guess he isn't so bad.
***
The bell had rung, excusing her from the torture of remedial algebra.
"I expect you to have the first three albums downloaded, and listened to by the next time we meet." Marshall whispered in her ear on the way out the door.
"But when will that be?"
He shoved his hands in his pockets and began to walk away from her. "I guess you will just have to start ASAP. Who knows where and when I might show up! See ya round Fiona!"
She rolled her eyes. Cocky bastard... You remind me of someone.
Just then, her phone began to vibrate. It was a text message from Bubba. She unlocked the phone to reply.
Bubba: Can I just come and meet you outside of your last period?
Fiona: Are you sure? (-｡-;
Bubba: It would be my pleasure.
Fiona blushed. Why am I blushing? He is just meeting with me to discuss a tutoring schedule... Fiona, get a hold of yourself, or else you will turn into one of those stupid girls that fangirl over Prince Gumball back home...
She shook herself. Home, yes I need to get back home.
She responded.
Fiona: Okay. That would be perfect! Thank you ^.^
"Are you popular, or are you popular?" Jake teased.
She spun around to see Finn and Jake standing behind her. Jake, who had once again dawned the out-of-dress-code yellow zip up hoodie, shot her a peace sign balanced beneath his eyebrows and stuck his tongue out. Finn looking slightly bored, being used to his friend's hi jinx, looked around at the bustling hallways filled with quick-footed underclassmen, and lazily slouching fourth years.
"Not only have you won the number of the elusive Prince, but you have also managed to befriend the Vampire Don. AND ALL ON YOUR FIRST DAY!!!"
She began walking, and Finn and Jake fell in line. "The Vampire Don?"
"Oh yeah, hasn't anyone told you that Marshall's mother is the leader of the Methuselah Gang? And that the only reason that VA even keeps him here, is partly due to his mother's lavish donations, and partly to the intimidation of his body guards and entourage?"
"Methuselah Gang?" She choked. The men from that first night... They said they were Methuselah... She felt a sinking feeling in her stomach.
"Entourage? Body guards?" She gasped. "I've never seen any..."
"Aww yeah, well he's persuaded them to leave him alone when he goes to school. God only knows how he managed that, but you should see before and after school. He has a line of body guards and a limo waiting to carry him to and from that expensive house of his up on Night Hill, Jake pointed in the direction of the hill. My feeling is when he is not at school, he is under heavy surveillance."
I wonder how he is able to squeeze in band practice with all this security...
The bell rang. She looked around, but the hallways were empty with the exception of Finn and Jake.
"Crap, what do I do now?" She moaned. "Bernabon won't be able to get me out of my second late class today."
"What class do you have next?" Finn asked.
"PE, but I am still a little lost..."
"WELL WHY DIDN'T YOU SAY SO? Finn and I have that class next too! What was your last class period?" Jake interrupted.
"Remedial Algebra..." She replied hesitantly.
"Perfect!" He flung his arms out, his piercings jingling against one another with excitement. "Coachie there always has his nose plastered in some issue of Sports Illustrated, we can just say we were talking to him, and that is why we are late getting to class."
"But don't we need a note or something?" Finn asked shyly.
"That's the beauty of it Finn, my bro! He never pays attention, so he never writes us notes. Mrs. Muscles will just have to take our word for it! But I warn you, this is a one time deal, we can't use this as an excuse again, or someone might get wise."
They nodded. "Deal."
"Okay, perfect!" Jake sang as he danced down the hallway to the locker rooms.
***
PE was a breeze. Mrs. Muscles -yes that was her actual name, no joke- took Fiona to the uniform room to issue her VA's standard Navy blue running shorts, and white T-shirt with "Vincent Academy Athletics" sprawled across the chest in blue university script. Meanwhile, Muscles made the rest of the class run laps. There were only three other girls in the period, so finding a locker was no problem. She changed into the uniform, and jogged out to the track where the rest of her class was still running laps. She fell into step with the back group which consisted of Finn, Jake, and the girls of the class, but she found that she was outrunning them without even trying. So she moved up to the next fastest group of runners, but they were still too slow. Finally she pulled in front of the pace setter.
"Good job Ms. Keadersen! Keep up the good work!" Mrs. Muscles called from the starting line of the track as she passed it for her third, and final time. It took another 45 seconds for the previous pacer, and then another 5 minutes for Finn and Jake to pass the finish line. Years of adventuring had left her in top physical condition, so she would probably be able to take anything that Mrs. Muscles could throw at her.
"What are you? Are you some secret government experiment? Did you even break a sweat?!" Jake heaved, as he stood doubled over, trying to catch his breath. Fiona turned her attention to Finn who wasn't winded at all, in fact she thought he could have probably kept up with her, but she assumed that he didn't want to leave his "bro" behind, so he trotted beside Jake's panted sprints.
Jake perked up as a girl with long, jet black hair, and large doughy eyes winked at him as he strutted by him in her too tight PE uniform shirt and pants. Her arms covered with strands upon strands of expensive-looking rainbow beaded bracelets.
"Well, if you will excuse me, my lady calls." Jake winked, slicked back his golden blond hair, and trotted after the girl like a lovestruck puppy.
Fiona looked at Finn, who simply shook his head. "That's Jakes 'long term senior girlfriend', Rainbow. He insisted on us taking this class because it is one of the few that third years can take with fourth years. I'm sorry, sometimes he does stupid stuff like that, but he is really a great guy."
Fiona giggled. "Oh it's no problem. You don't have to apologize. My errr..." Her mind flashed to Cake and Lord Monochromicorn. "I used to know somebody like that. Trust me, it doesn't bother me." Her heart hurt a little at the memory.
"Are you sure?"
Before she could respond, a loud whistle was blown. Mrs. Muscles barked "Okay ladies and gents, today we will be continuing our fencing unit. I trust that you will behave yourself, and I won't have to give anyone detention for goofing around like we did last week." She glared at Jake in particular, who shrugged as Rainbow giggled. Her beaded bracelets tinkling as she smacked him playfully in the arm as they walked inside the main gym. "Split into pairs, grab a foil, and we will get started through the basic movements."
Fiona looked shyly at Finn. "Do you have a partner?"
"Oh no, I have mostly been the third wheel this year." He glanced over at Jake and Rainbow. "I would be delighted to be your partner if that is what you are asking." He grinned. "But I am going to tell you now, I will not go easy on you because you are a girl."
"Perfect." She grinned.
They exchanged glances before bolting for the storage room where the foils and masks were kept.
Finn was true to his word. He did not go easy on her. She was still better than him, but with some more practice, she wasn't so sure. By the time Mrs. Muscles blew her whistle to tell them to pack up their gear, and head back to the locker rooms, they were both out of breath and sweaty. Mrs. Muscles stopped them on their way out of the practice room.
"Have you two ever considered joining the fencing club?"
They looked at each other. "Club?" Fiona began.
"Yea, Bernabon Schweet is starting it up again. It was part of his campaigning last year. He promised to start more clubs to help the student body become more active in their school."
"Well, we'll think about it..." Finn replied, as he pushed Fiona through the door, attempting to escape from Mrs. Muscle's questions.
"There are some flyers posted on the bulletin board if you are interested!" She called to them as an afterthought while they walked towards the locker rooms.
Fiona quickly changed back into her school uniform and pulled her hair from its pony tail. I wish I had time to take a shower, but I shouldn't keep Bubba waiting. She looked into the mirror, and stood up a little taller.
"Here, use these!" Rainbow thew a package of wet wipes at Fiona.
"T-t-t-t-hank you..." She stuttered.
Rainbow stood half-dressed, looking at a small mirror on the door of her locker, touching up her makeup.
"You may be wondering why I am doing this. Well, to be honest, any friend of Jake is a friend of mine. And since you are new here, and the fact that Jake doesn't make friends that easily, even after knowing them for a while, you must really be something special." She looked up from her mirror and smiled at Fiona.
Fiona gingerly pulled out one of the wet wipes, and pressed it to her face. Not knowing exactly what to do. Rainbow looked up again, and giggled like she had earlier when she was with Jake.
"Oh here, let me help you."
After Rainbow worked some of her magic, Fiona walked out of the locker room looking, and smelling better than she had walking in. Finn and Jake were waiting outside the girls locker room for them.
"Hey there Lady! You wanna grab something to eat?" Jake wrapped his arm possessively around his tall, skinny girlfriend. She responded by looping her bracelet covered arms around his short waist. "Only if we can being Finn and Fiona along!" Jake sulked for a millisecond, before jumping back into his happy-go-lucky puppy-like personality.
"Of course! Fin, Fiona, do you want to come with?"
"Naw man, I have practice to get to!" Finn waved goodbye, and departed hurriedly from their group.
"And Ms. Fiona has an appointment with me." She whirled around. Bubba was standing behind her.
"Sorry I am late, but I had to talk to someone about scheduling a meeting." He shot her a princely smile. Her knees felt like they were turning to jello.
"Oh, well if that is the case!" Jake said a little too quickly. "I guess Rain and I will be on our way." Jake clasped Rainbow's hand in his and ran away, both of them giggling like little fools as they disappeared down the hallway.
"Well then, now that that matter has been taken care of... Shall we?" He offered her his arm.
"I would be delighted." She blushed.