Chase, Leo, and I were walking down the stairs when Perry walked out of her office, a microphone in her hand. “Morning, herm sacks!”
“Can’t you ever greet us nicely?” I asked, my tone somewhat cold.
“I suggest you shut your trap before I do it for you.” She snapped.
I growled. Chase tightened his grip on my hand. “Relax, babe. Just ignore her.”
“I know you’ve all been complaining that the technology isn’t quite-“ The microphone started malfunctioning. “Isn’t quite-“ It malfunctioned again. She hit it against her palm, and the loudest screech came out of the amplifier, causing us to all cover our ears. “State of the art.” She continued, a sheepish look on her face. “So, thanks to yours truly, we’re getting cutting edge equipment for the whole school to enjoy. Jojo, Betty, come on girls! Let’s wheel it like it’s hot!”
Jojo and Betty both wheeled in a cart of some sort that had a sheet over it. “Behold Mission Creek High’s brand new media center!” Perry exclaimed, removing the sheet. Three words: Not brand new. The TV was old, and there was VHS player. Last time I checked, we all had DVD players.
“I don’t think you can call it technology if you have to change the channel with a pair of pliers.” Leo told her.
“Why do I smell Formaldehyde?” Chase asked.
“’Cause I found it on a curb outside the morgue.” Perry replied. “I’m getting all my Christmas presents there, too. Aunt Dolly’s getting sheets.”
“She’s so cheap.” I muttered.
“How is this thing new?” Chase asked, pointing to the TV.
“It’s new to you, lady face.” Perry shot back before walking away.
I walked over towards my locker, Leo and Chase following. “I seriously hate Perry. All she does is insult us and make our lives miserable.”
“If only we could get her fired.” Leo said, causing us to chuckle.
“No matter what Perry does, she can’t get fired.” Chase said. “It’s ridiculous.”
“Okay,” We heard Perry as she walked back over to the “entertainment system”. We walked back over as well. “Let’s fire up the media center!” She plugged it on, but soon enough there were sparks, followed by the power going out. “Minor setback. For the record, you all look better in this light.”
“Is it me, or does the power go off here a lot?” I questioned.
“I kind of like it when it goes off.” Chase said.
“Um, why?” Leo asked. I couldn’t see him, but I assumed he was looking at Chase weirdly. I was.
“You don’t want to know, Leo.” I was about to ask him what he meant, but when I felt a pair of lips on my neck, I got my answer.
“I have a feeling I know why.” Leo said. “I’m walking away. Bye.” I heard footsteps, signaling that Leo was walking away.
“You are so lucky that the lights are off.” I mumbled, turning around so I could crash my lips onto his.
Suddenly, the lights came back on, causing us to jump apart. “Alright, get to class before Mr. Pack has your head.” Chase told me, pecking my lips.
“Hey, it’s not my fault he doesn’t like me.” I defended.
“Alex, you glued his butt to his chair last month.”
I shrugged. “I was bored.”
He chuckled. “Just go.” He kissed my forehead before walking in the opposite direction that I needed to go. I sighed and started making my way towards Mr. Pack’s class.
Xxx
After school, Chase, Leo, and I were all down in the lab studying for history. Even though we weren’t in the same class, all the teachers taught the same thing, so we also had the same tests and quizzes.
“Guys, read what’s on page forty-seven of your history book.” Chase told us. I flipped to the page and raised an eyebrow. There was a very detailed drawing of a male organ. Gross.
“I don’t have a page forty-seven.” Leo said. “I have a four, a twelve, a thirty-two, and what I hope is gum on ninety-eight.”
“You don’t even want to see what some kid drew in mine.” I told them, shutting my book. When I said it was detailed, I meant it was very detailed.
“This book is so old.” Chase said. “Listen to this. Chapter four, horseless carriages taking over the streets of America.”
“Other schools teach on laptops and tablets. We’re reading from textbooks that warn us the British are coming.” Leo said as he looked through the textbook. “We need to do something to bring Mission Creek High to the twenty-first century.”
Just then, Mr. Davenport walked in, obviously listening in on our conversation. “Ooh! Maybe I can help?”
“No!” The three of us exclaimed.
“What?” He questioned, pointing to himself. “I am a genius tech mogul. I could revolutionize your whole school. Why wouldn’t you want me to help?”
“Because every time you try to help, it starts in a good place, but then your ego takes over and ruins everything.” Leo replied.
“That is not true. Give me one example.”
“Last week you gave me a new backpack.” Leo said.
“You said you needed a backpack.” Davenport told him.
“A backpack.” Leo deadpanned, then picked up a backpack with Davenport’s face on it. ‘Davenpack’ was written underneath. “Not this.”
“All the guys in the office love theirs.” Davenport said.
“Trust me, they don’t.” Leo told him.
“You don’t’ get it.” My boyfriend said. “This is our school you’re talking about.”
“Yeah, whatever disaster you create there will affect us every day.” Leo added.
Davenport placed his hands on their shoulders. “Guys, I promise I won’t embarrass you. This is about your school, not about me.”
“Well, our school could really use the help…” Chase trailed off.
“Fine.” Leo conceded. “But you keep that ego under control.”
“Don’t worry, my ego is officially checked.” Davenport said. Suddenly, his phone rang, and his ringtone was him singing. “What? Come on, that’s just catchy.”
Xxx
Walking into school the next day was interesting. I expected a few minor tweaks to our school, but no. It was completely filled with high tech gear. It was awesome!
Davenport saw us walk in and ran over to us. “Hey, guys! Check it out! Electronic bulletin boards, tablets instead of textbooks…and this is the coolest part.” He led us over to Leo’s locker. “Check it out. By the end of the day, I will have fingerprint scanners on all the lockers. We were going to do retinal scanning, but it turns out eyeballs are highly flammable.
Ouch!
Davenport grabbed Leo’s hand and placed finger over the touch pad. It turned red before flashing green. The locker’s automated voice greeted Leo before opening. That was pretty cool.
“So, what do you think?” Davenport asked.
“I think it’s going to be a lot harder to get out of when someone locks me inside.” Leo said, but I knew he wasn’t joking. He got shoved in his locker a lot.
“I got to hand it to you, Mr. Davenport.” Chase said. “This is amazing.”
“See? I told you it would be great.” Davenport grinned.
I furrowed my eyebrows when I saw Perry walk out of her office. Well, I thought it was Perry.
“Oh, and I see you gave Principal Perry a makeover.” Leo joked. “I especially loved what you’ve done to her face.”
“Zip it, Dooley.” Perry replied in a robotic voice.
Davenport chuckled. “That’s not Principal Perry. That’s Robo Perry! She’s a robot!”
“And she’s beautiful!” Perry breathed, rushing over to the robot. She started giving the robot air kisses. It was disturbing.
Leo placed his hands over his eyes. “Make it stop!”
“Anyway, I designed Robo Perry so she could roam the halls handing out detentions while-“
“I’m on a three hour lunch break.” Perry said, cutting off Davenport. “Or lurking elsewhere.” She giggled.
“How could you do this?” Chase demanded, looking at Davenport.
“Simple.” Davenport said. “I, uh, took the foundations of a robot I built for private security, and I repurposed the software. And then, of course, I matched her vocal pattern. It wasn’t easy matching the sounds of a gravel truck unloading with a bear in labor, but I got it.”
“I always wanted a super cute twin sister.” Perry told us, then gasped. “I’m gonna buy us matching bikinis.” Both Perry and Robo Perry posed.
“And I’m gonna gouge my eyes out.” Leo said with a fake smile on his face.
“Shut it, Dooley.” Both Perry’s said in unison. They then hugged each other.
“I’m gonna have nightmares tonight.” I mumbled, loud enough for Chase to hear. All he did was nod in agreement.
“Thanks, Don!” Perry went to hug Davenport, but he backed up.
“H-hey-yeah, you’re welcome. Yeah.” He stuttered. He didn’t want to hug Perry at all.
Chase grabbed his arm and pulled him to the side, Leo and I following. “Why would you make another Perry?”
“Principal Perry said if I make her life easier, she’s gonna name a wing of the school after me.” Davenport laughed.
“You sold us out just to have your name above a doorway?” Chase asked in disbelief.
“Once again, your ego takes over and ruins everything.” Leo said.
“Hey. If my name on this school brings more prestige and funding because I’m so awesome, then that’s a win-win-win.” Davenport said. “That’s three wins! That’s a Daven-Win!”
He walked away and I turned to the guys. “School’s gonna suck even more, right?”
“Yup.” “I’m gonna die.” They replied.
“Great.” I muttered.
Xxx
“Well, that was just rude.” I mumbled, walking out of the cafeteria. I was kicked out. Like, what the hell. I spotted Chase and Leo in the hallway eating, so I walked over to them and sat down next to Chase.
“Can you two explain to me why I was just kicked out of the cafeteria?” I asked, taking out my lunch.
“It might have something to do with Davenport.” Chase murmured, kissing my temple.
“We were shunned.” Leo frowned. “Stupid Robo Perry.”
“Keep it up, Chip Parker, and you will be in detention forever you-searching database-for-insult…mouth-breather.” Robo Perry dragged Chip across the hall, and all we could do was stare.
“Great. Everybody at school hates us.” Chase said.
“Yeah, but now it’s high-tech hate.” Leo added.
“This is ridiculous.” I said, taking a bite out of my sandwich.
Davenport walked out of the cafeteria and walked up to us. “Hey, how come you guys aren’t eating in the Davenporteria?”
“Funny thing.” Chase started. “When your dad created an even worse version of the worst Principal ever, kids tend to turn on you.” Just then, a kid walked by and swatted the banana out of Chase’s hand.
“Look, don’t worry.” Davenport said. “I’m sure this will all blow over once kids get used to Robo Perry. Remember when you first met Leo? You couldn’t stand him.”
Leo looked at Chase wide eyed, and all Chase did was smile nervously. I kissed the back of his neck. “Nice one.” I murmured.
“Donny D!” Perry exclaimed, walking over to us. Well, Davenport.
“Principal P!” My jaw slightly dropped when I watched them do this weird handshake, followed by a hip bump.
“Old people.” Leo said. “You don’t think you are, but you are.” Davenport glared at him.
“You are a genius.” Perry glorified Davenport.
“And you are a master of the obvious.” They both started laughing.
“Robo Perry is amazing.” Perry gushed. “I know it’s only been a few days, but-“ She inhaled. “Do you smell that?”
“Moist cat food?” Chase questioned. I gagged a little.
“I was running late, I grabbed a can. I thought it was tuna! Live with it!” She snapped. “Fear. It’s fear and it’s everywhere. It’s the best smell in the world.”
“I prefer crisply-minted hundreds, but whatever floats your boat, Perry Bomb.” Davenport said.
“Listen, I was telling the superintendent how wonderful Robo Perry is, and he’s bringing the entire school board by this afternoon to check her out. Soon, if we’re lucky, there will be a Robo Perry in every school in the district.”
“And, after that,” Davenport added. “Every school in America.”
“Great. Now every kid we’ve ever met will hate us.” Leo said.
“I think I might switch schools.” I said, shaking my head.
Xxx
I was in my Biology class when I decided to take a bathroom break. I wasn’t able to concentrate since all that was on my mind was Robo Perry. She was making school a living hell.
As I walked downstairs, I spotted Chase and Leo by Robo Perry. She was recharging, and it looked like Chase was doing something.
“What are you guys doing?” I asked, gesturing to Robo Perry.
“Hang on.” Chase muttered as he continued working. It looked like he was by her armpit. Gross. “There we go. Instead of seeing Robo Perry patrolling the halls, the school board will see this.”
He put her arm down and unplugged her. Robo Perry got up and started dancing, causing me to smile and chuckle. I didn’t know why, but Chase and Leo decided to join her and dance.
When Davenport walked towards us and saw what was going on, he shrieked. “What did you guys do to her?”
“Tapped into her control panel and adjusted the settings.” Chase explained. “You messed with us, now it’s payback time.”
“N-no-no! Robo Perry’s original programming was for military patrol.” Davenport told us. “If any unauthorized user tampers with it, it resets to its factory default.
“So reset her date and time.” Chase said. “Big deal.”
“The factory default is search and destroy.” Davenport spoke through gritted teeth. “Now it’s locked and I can’t stop it!”
Robo Perry looked at Davenport and her eyes started flashing red. “Threat detected.” She grabbed onto Davenport. “Destroy.” She threw Davenport across the hallway, causing my jaw to drop.
We all heard a crash. “Now, that’s what you call a Daven-Splat.” Leo said before we rushed over to Davenport.
“Is there ever a normal day in Mission Creek?” I muttered as we ran.
Xxx
“Out of my way, space-wasters.” Robo Perry said as she started throwing trash cans.
Chase, Leo, Davenport, and I were all huddled next to each other as we watched Robo Perry destroy the hallway. “We’ve got to stop her before she destroys the whole school.”
“I think we can divert her attention and lure her into that empty classroom.” Chase said, pointing to the room right across the hall. “We just need some bait.” Chase and Davenport looked at Leo who was just nodding his head.
“Me? Why me?” He asked.
“Well, because you’re…you are…” Chase trailed off.
“Brave?” Leo suggested. They both agreed.
“Guys, I can do it.” I offered.
Chase immediately shook his head. “I’m not letting you get in there and risk getting hurt.”
“But you can risk Leo getting hurt?” I questioned.
“Alex, it’s fine. I got this.” Leo said. “Hey, Robo Perry, over-“
“Oh, get over there!” Davenport yelled, cutting Leo off. He pushed him towards Perry.
“Hey, over here, buds and bolts!” Leo shouted.
“Tiny threat detected.” Robo Perry spoke.
Leo looked at us. “Okay, I am too big to be tiny, and too tiny to be a threat.” Robo Perry walked over to Leo and he immediately started running and screaming. He led her right into the classroom where Chase, Davenport, and I quickly ran over there to watch.
Leo constantly screamed as he tried to fight Robo Perry. He was doing that great of a job. “Aim for the bolts!” Davenport suggested.
Robo Perry blocked the doorway, but Leo slid underneath her legs and kicked her butt, pushing her into the room. The three of us quickly closed the door and did our best to keep it shut.
“Leo, are you okay?” Chase asked.
I looked at my best friend who was on the floor, rocking back and forth. “Guys, I’ve seen some things.”
“I knew I should have gone in there instead.” I told Chase.
“Alex, Robo Perry is dangerous.”
“I know. And I know how to fight. Leo doesn’t.” I gestured to the frightened boy.
We continued to hold the door shut, but it was getting harder and harder. Robo Perry was strong, and angry. Very angry.
“How could you guys do this to me?” Davenport questioned.
“We had to.” Chase replied. “You doubled the Perry, which doubled our pain!”
“Pain?” Leo questioned. “You don’t know pain! I am a damaged little boy.”
Robo Perry was making noises, and I was getting nervous. “Look, maybe you guys are right.” Davenport said. “From now on, I will not let my ego get the better of me. Which shouldn’t be hard, because I am so awesome at everything.” I just stared at him.
“Here’s where I work with my students…” I heard Perry say.
“Oh, great. The school board.” Davenport said.
“This demonstration will show that Mission Creek High is the school of the future.” Perry continued. “And there’s the man who’s 30% responsible for it, Donald Davenport.” She pointed to Davenport.
Davenport walked over to Perry to try and stall her, so Chase, Leo, and I were left trying to keep Robo Perry in the room. “Guys, this is getting ridiculous.” I told them.
They didn’t get to say anything, since Robo Perry ripped the door off its hinges. The three of us immediately backed up. I gulped.
“There she is.” Perry smiled. “Come give your sissy a kissy.”
Robo Perry’s eyes turned red again. “Threat detected.
“Threat? I’m no threat.” Perry laughed. “What are-what are you talking about?”
“Destroy! Destroy!” Robo Perry started walking towards Perry.
“Destroy me? Oh, honey, many have tried.” Robo Perry got closer. “I don’t think so.” They both grabbed each other at the same time. “Alright, I don’t know what’s going on, but you are going down, metal me!”
“No, you are going down, fleshy me.” Robo Perry shot back. Perry screamed and attacked Robo Perry.
“We’re not getting much of an education, but where else can you see this?” Leo asked in amusement.
Xxx
I wasn’t sure how long Robo Perry and Perry were fighting for, but it had to be for a while.
“Don? What’s going on?” Perry asked, her voice tired. She and Robo Perry were still wrestling. “I don’t think I can hold her much longer. She’s strong. You must have given her some of my unbridled rage.” She screamed as Robo Perry shoved her down the hall. A loud crash followed.
“Careful.” Davenport told her.
“Principal Perry! Principal Perry, you have to help me!” An Irish kid exclaimed, running towards Robo Perry. “Adam and-“ He gasped as Robo Perry lifted him up and threw him over towards the school board. He landed right on top of them.
“Oh! Now, she knows how to lift.” Adam laughed.
“I see stars and yellow moons and green clovers.” That Irish said. He was in a daze.
“Mr. Davenport, how are we going to stop Robo Perry?” Chase asked.
Davenport sighed. “We don’t have a choice. You’re gonna have to use your bionics.”
“You want us to expose ourselves in front of the school board?” Chase questioned in disbelief.
“No, he wants us to use our bionics in front of the school board.” Adam said. “This guys.”
“Look, we have to do something.” Davenport told us. “Robo Perry is going to destroy the entire school. Just do it.”
Adam, Bree, and Chase got into their fighting stances. They were ready to fight when Perry ran straight towards Robo Perry, tackling her to the ground. “There can only be on!” She screamed, holding up Robo Perry’s head that she just ripped off.
“Still too many.” Leo muttered before fist bumping Chase.
The bell rang and the halls were filled with students in a matter of seconds. Some students were staring at Perry since she was holding a head. “Quit staring maggots and move along!”
Adam, Bree, Leo, and Davenport dispersed, leaving Chase and I alone. I wrapped my arms around his neck. “I’m so happy you didn’t have to expose your bionics.” I mumbled, my head in the crook of his neck.
He wrapped his arms around my waist. “Me too.”
We’re getting closed to season three! I’m trying to write as fast as I can, but my hands cramp a lot. But I’ll still write today. Vote and comment!